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History and Context

Historical Note

The Office of Price Administration (OPA) expanded to include regulation of production and commodity distribution in 1942, when United States officially entered the Second World War. Initially the agency anticipated shortages of essential war materials such as rubber, gasoline, sugar and manufacturing capacity. Rationing grew to include food and fuel. Most commodities where removed from rationing by the end of 1945. The exception was sugar, which continued to be rationed into 1947.

Chronology

December 27, 1941
Tire rationing begins, per Ration Order #1.
January 1, 1942
Automobile rationing begins, per Ration Order #2.
March 13, 1942
Used typewriter rationing begins, per Ration Order #4. It is replaced by Ration Order #4A on December 28, 1942.
April 21, 1942
Sugar rationing begins, per Ration Order #3.
May 11, 1942
Gasoline rationing begins, per Ration Order #5.
May 15, 1942
Bicycle rationing begins, per Ration Order #7.
September, 29 1942
Footware (rubber) rationing begins, per Ration Order #6.
October 22, 1942
Fuel oil rationing begins, per Ration Order #11.
December 19, 1942
Heating stove rationing begins, per Ration Order #9.

Thermal Zones

Using weather and temperature data, OPA established thermal zones to account for the regional needs for heat, and therefore fuel, along the Eastern seaboard of the United States. Zones, therefore, were established along climatological rather than geographic lines.

Table 1. Zone A

State Counties
Maine all counties
New Hampshire all counties
Vermont all counties
Michigan all counties
Wisconsin all counties
Minnesota all counties
North Dakota all counties
South Dakota all counties
Upper New York Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Fulton, Hamilton, Herkimer, Jefferson, Lewis, Montgomery, Oneida, Otsego, St. Lawrence, Saratoga, Warren, Washington
Iowa Allamakee, Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Floyd, Hancock, Howard, Kossuth, Lyon, Mitchell, O'Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Sioux, Winnebago, Winneshiek, Worth

Table 2. Zone B

State Counties
Massachusets all counties
Rhode Island all counties
Connecticut all counties
New Jersey all counties
Pennsylvania all counties
Nebraska all counties
New York Albany, Alleghany, Bronx, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung, Chenango, Columbia, Cortland, Delaware, Dutchess, Erie, Genesee, Greene, Kings, Livingston, Madison, Monroe, Nassau, New York, Niagara, Onondaga, Ontario, Orange, Orleans, Oswego, Putnam, Queens, Rensselaer, Richmond, Rockland, Schenectady, Schoharie, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Suffolk, Sullivan, Tioga, Tompkins, Ulster, Wayne, Westchester, Wyoming, Yates
Ohio Allen, Ashland, Ashtabula, Auglaize, Belmont, Carroll, Champaign, Clark, Clinton, Columbiana, Coshocton, Crawford, Cuyahoga, Darke, Defiance, Delaware, Erie, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Fulton, Geauga, Greene, Guernsey, Hancock, Hardin, Harrison, Henry, Hocking, Holmes, Huron, Jefferson, Knox, Lake, Licking, Logan, Lorain, Lucas, Madison, Mahoning, Marion, Medina, Mercer, Miami, Montgomery, Morgan, Morrow, Muskingum, Noble, Ottawa, Paulding, Perry, Pickaway, Portage, Prebble, Putnam, Richland, Sandusky, Seneca, Shelby, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Union, Van Wert, Wayne, Williams, Wood, Wyandot
Indiana Adams, Allen, Benton, Blackford, Boone, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, De Kalb, Delaware, Elkhart, Fayette, Fountain, Fulton, Grant, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Henry, Howard, Huntington, Jasper, Jay, Kosciusko, Lagrange, lake, La Porte, Madison, Marion, Marshall, Miami, Montgomery, Newton, Noble, Parke, Porter, Pulaski, Putnam, Randolph, Rush, St. Joseph, Starke, Steuben, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Union, Vermillion, Wabash, Warren, Wayne, Wells, White, Witley
Illinois Adams, Boone, Brown, Bureau, Carroll, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Coles, Cook, De Kalb, De Witt, Douglas, Du Page, Edgar, Ford, Fulton, Grundy, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Iroquois, Jo Daviess, Kane, Kankakee, Kendall, Knox, Lake, La Salle, Lee, Livingston, Logan, Mcdonough, McHenry, McLean, Macon, Marshall, Mason, Menard, Mercer, Morgan, Moultrie, Ogle, Peoria, Piatt, Pike, Putnam, Rock Island, Sangamon, Schuyler, Scott, Shelby, Stark, Stephenson, Tazewell, Vermilion, Warren, Whiteside, Will, Winnebago, Woodford
Iowa Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Audubon, Benton, Black Hawk, Boone, Bremer, Buchanan, Buena Vista, Butler, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass, Cedar, Cherokee, Clarke, Clayton, Clinton, Crawford, Dallas, Davis, Decatur, Delaware, Des Moines, Dubuque, Fayette, Franklin, Fremont, Greene, Grundy, Guthrie, Hamilton, Hardin, Harrison, Henry, Humboldt, Ida, Iowa, Jakcson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Jones, Keokuk, Lee, Linn, Louisa, Lucas, Madison, Mahaska, Marion, Marshall, Mills, Monona, Monroe, Montgomery, Muscatine, Pag, Plymouth, Pocahontas, Polk, Pottawattamie, Poweshiek, Ringgold, Sac, Scott, Shelby, Story, Tama, Taylor, Union, Van Buren, Wapello, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Woodbury, Wright
Missouri Adair, Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Caldwell, Chriton, Clark, Clinton, Daviess, De Kalb, Bentry, Grundy, Harrison, Holt, Knox, Lewis, Linn, Livingston, Macon, Marion, Mercer, Monroe, Nodaway, Pike, Putnam, Ralls, Randolph, Schuyler, Scotland, Shelby, Sullivan, Worth
Kansas Atchison, Brown, Cheyenne, Clay, Cloud, Dectur, Doniphan, Ellis, Gove, Graham, Greeley, Jackson, Jewell, Lane, Logan, Marshall, Mitchell, Nemaha, Norton, Osborne, Phillips, Pottawatomie, Rawlins, Republic, Riley, Rooks, Scott, Shawnee, Sheridan, Sherman, Smith, Thomas, Trego, Wabaunsee, Wallace, Washington, Wichita

Table 3. Zone C

State Counties
Delaware all counties
Maryland all counties
District of Columbia -
Virginia all counties
West Virginia all counties
Kentucky all counties
Ohio Adams, Athens, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Gallia, Hamilton, Highland, Jackson, Lawrence, Meigs, Monroe, Pike, Ross, Scioto, Vinton, Warren, Washington
Indiana Bartholomew, Brown, Clark, Clay, Crawford, Daviess, Dearborn, Decatur, Dubois, Floyd, Franklin, Gibson, Greene, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Johnson, Knox, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Morgan, Ohio, Orange, Owen, Perry, Pike, Posey, Ripley, Scott, Shelby, Spencer, Sullivan, Swotzer;amd, Vanderburgh, Vigo, Warrick, Washington
Illinois Alexander, Bond, Calhoun, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Cumberland, Edwards, Effingham, Fayette, Franklin, Gallatin, Greene, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Jersey, Johnson, Lawrence, Macoupin, Madison, Marion, Massac, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pope, Pulaski, Randolph, Richland, St. Clair, Saline, Union, Wabash, Washington, Wayne, White, Williamson
Missouri Audrain, Barry, Barton, Bates, Banton, Bollinger, Boone, Butler, Callaway, Camden, Cape Girardeau, Carroll, Carter, Cass, Cedar, Christian, Clay, Cole, Cooper, Crawford, Dade, Dallas, Dent, Douglas, Dunklin, Franklin, Gasconade, Greene, Henry, Hickory, Howard, Howell, Iron, Jackson, Jasper, Jefferson, Johnson, Laclede, Lafayette, Lawrence, Lincoln, McDonald, Madison, Maries, Miller, Mississippi, Moniteau, Montgomery, Morgan, New Madrid, Newton, Oregon, Osage, Ozark, Pemiscot, Perry, Pettis, Phelps, Platte, Polk, Pulaski, Ray, Reynolds, Ripley, St. Charles, St. Clair, St. Francois, St. Louis, St. Louis City, Ste. Genevieve, Saline, Scott, Shannon, Stoddard, Stone, Taney, Texas, Vernon, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Webster, Wright
Kansas Allen, Anderson, Barber, Barton, Bourbon, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Clark, Coffee, Comanche, Cowley, Crawford, Dickinson, Douglas, Edwards, Elk, Ellsworth, Finney, Ford, Franklin, Geary, Grant, Gray, Greenwood, Hamilton, Harper, Harvey, Haskell, Hodgeman, Jefferson, Johnson, Kearny, Kingman, Kiowa, Labette, Leavenworth, Lincoln, Linn, Lyon, McPherson, Marion, Meade, Miami, Montgomery, Morris, Morton, Neosho, Ness, Osage, Ottawa, Pawnee, Pratt, Reno, Rice, Rush, Russell, Saline, Sedgwick, Seward, Stafford, Stanton, Stevens, Sumner, Wilson, Woodson, Wyandotte

Table 4. Zone D

State Counties
North Carolina all counties
South Carolina all counties
Georgia all counties