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WWII Class 4 fuel oil ration coupons

(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
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Rationing became a way of life for people on the home front during World War II (WWII), from 1941-1945, affecting everything from the quantity and kind of food that people ate to the clothes they could wear. This is a sheet of fuel oil coupons, or stamps, from a ration book issued to Sheldon Howe of Deerfield, Massachusetts, by the Deerfield Ration Board. It entitled him to purchase 800 gallons of fuel oil for the year ending August 31, 1946. The ration book was issued on August 8, 1945. While Class 3A allowed an applicant to purchase 300 gallons for the year, Class 4B allowed an applicant to purchase more than 300 gallons. Mr. Howe was a Class 4B consumer. This coupon book indicates that each of the one-gallon coupons allows the bearer to purchase 10 gallons of fuel oil; however, amounts could be raised or lowered by the Office of Price Administration due to changes in the national fuel supply. Consumers were encouraged to budget for their winter heating needs.

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