The following Thursday, Jack was not at breakfast when the kids came down. They were told that Larry Waverly had some kind of problem. Irene told her kids, "He needed your dad's help. I asked what the problem was but he went off so fast. Said he'd tell me when he got home."
Millie and Freddy hated the fact that they were the third ones picked up in the morning. Of course, that made them the third ones off in the evening but the route went clear up to Gott's Corner and almost over west to Pigeon before it got to the school at Elkton. That morning, however, they were glad for the circuitous route. It took them past Larry's place. Janet didn't get on but the exciting thing was that there were a State Police car, the Sheriff's car and a whole lot of men, including Jack in the corner field. They could see from the road that one of Larry's heifers was dead. It looked like someone had tried to skin it.
It was pretty hard for May Whitby to get her class to settle down that morning. Dickie Fenton said that his dad told him that somebody killed the heifer and took some of the meat. There was excited talk about rationing and the black market. Most of the kids had heard stories of that sort of thing happening a lot down around Detroit but it had never happened in Huron County before so it was a big, frightening event. Most kids knew that gas was 12.5 cents a gallon but one boy said he heard from his cousin that you could buy it on the black market for 25 cents a gallon in Detroit.
Millie and Freddy were still excited when they sat down to supper. Jack smiled. They were both throwing questions at their Dad at once.
"So, Freddy, I thought you took after me, not your Mom and your sister. You know meat is rationed, don't you?"
Freddy blushed. "OK, Millie, you go first."
"Can you get meat from a heifer? I thought it had to be a steer."
"Beef is beef. If the heifer is young enough, her meat's just as good as a grain-fed steer."
"But..."
"Isn't it Freddy's turn?"
"OK. Go ahead, Freddy."
"How come meat is rationed? Even if the soldiers are overseas, there's still the same number of people eating meat, isn't there?"
"Well, I'm not sure. I think we're supplying meat to countries like England and probably other countries where there was fighting and the livestock was killed or used by the enemy for food. I read in the paper that people are starving in France."
"Oh."
"I don't know all the details. I just know that people smarter than I am say we need rationing."
Millie was offended. "You're smart. I bet you could run the country better than Roosevelt."
"Well now, I doubt that. Anyway, even if I could I couldn't take my Oliver 66 Row Crop with me. I'm satisfied where I am with my little lady."
Millie's smile was both love and question. She loved her dad but wasn't sure she still liked being called his little lady. After all, she'd soon be twelve. "Janet wasn't at school today"
"I know. Larry told me Janet and her Mom left in the middle of the night. He thinks that a man named Karl whom Janet told me about was the one who killed his heifer."
"Why would he do that?"
"For the meat. He could eat it or sell it on the black market."
"Oh, ya."
During the war years, kids knew about rationing, but not much. That was an adult problem. They knew that gas was rationed and if you got caught using tractor gas in your car, you were in trouble. Their mothers and fathers did the shopping but the intricacies of the program eluded them. They knew about the different colored stamps and had heard their mothers talk about points but the whole thing didn't really affect them. There were always enough red stamps to get shoes when a child's feet got too big or the shoes were scuffed almost beyond recognition.
But World War II farm kids' knowledge of rationing didn't extend much beyond shoes, tires, and gasoline. Farmers always had an ample supply of food. They grew their own vegetables and fruit. They did have some knowledge of sugar problems when their mothers wondered if they had saved enough sugar for canning: peaches, raspberries, both black and red; apple sauce, pears and whatever else took sugar.
While some food items were scarce, others did not require rationing, and Americans adjusted accordingly. 'Red Stamp' rationing covered all meats, butter, fat, and oils, and with some exceptions, cheese. Each person was allowed a certain amount of points weekly with expiration dates to consider. 'Blue Stamp' rationing covered canned, bottled, and frozen fruits and vegetables, plus juices and dry beans; and such processed foods as soups, baby food and catsup. Ration stamps became a kind of currency with each family being issued a 'War Ration Book'. Each stamp authorized a purchase of rationed goods in the quantity and time designated and the book guaranteed each family its fair share of goods made scarce, thanks to the war.
Rationing also involved a point system. Some grew weary of trying to figure out what coupon went with which item, or how many points they needed to purchase them, while some coupons did not require points at all. In addition to food, rationing encompassed clothing, shoes, coffee, gasoline, tires, and fuel oil. With each coupon book came specifications and deadlines. Rationing locations were posted in public view. Rationing of gas and tires depended highly on the distance to one's job. If one was fortunate enough to own an automobile and drive at the then specified speed of 35 mph, one might have a small amount of gas remaining at the end of the month to visit nearby relatives.
http://www.ameshistoricalsociety.org/exhibits/events/rationing.htm
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1674.html
World War II Point Rationing Explained in Larchmont NY