The year 1941 began as a year full of prosperity but for many, ended as a year of devastation due to the fact that this was the year that the United States joined World War II. As Marjorie Mills said in her 1943 book Cooking on a Ration: Food is Still Fun, “We have taken a sudden nose-dive from happy-go-lucky splashing about with plenty of whipping cream, pounds of butter, sirloin steaks and rib roasts" to having to ration their food to support the men fighting a war to end a great injustice (Mills). The government distributed ration books to each and every citizen to ensure that everyone would have the basic necessities, the way food was stored was changed to save aluminum and tin, and people even began to grow their own food. During World War II, the rationing and food preservation by those in the United States was not only an aid to our own troops but also our allies, and people went to extreme measures to help in any way possible. Those on the home front began to be creative with recipes and began to see food in a different way, by seeing the immense value in food, and they were presented with sponsored propaganda to persuade …show more content…
Each food would cost a certain amount of points and this system was put in place to ensure that the wealthy wouldn’t have a surplus of goods, while those of the middle and lower classes went without. The 1943 “Do with less-so they’ll have enough!” poster persuaded those at home to ration not only to support the soldiers but to also secure everyone’s “fair share”. This ad also features a smiling soldier which made one feel that by conserving a few pounds of food here and there, they are putting smiles on the faces on the men that need them most in such a troubling time. This ad was extremely effective because it encourages those who aren’t on the front lines of the war and makes them feel as if they can still have a positive impact on the outcome by adding their