Some time ago I looked through a big book of Gallup polls. Gallup polls aren’t that well-known anymore, but back in the day Gallup did surveys on (I believe) a weekly basis, and sold the results to newspapers as a syndicated column.
The book, which was actually three volumes with about 2,000 total pages (Gallup did a lot of polls), included several questions relating to food rationing. It’s been a long time since food was rationed in this country—I believe the last time was during the Korean War in the early 50s, although gasoline rationing essentially happened during the 1970s. I thought the responses to questions about rationing were interesting.
The first survey was from 1945, the last year of World War II, when rationing was in effect. The survey question was, “What one product that is now rationed do you find it hardest to cut down on or get along without?”
The results were
Sugar: 20% of respondants
Butter: 19%
Meat: 19
Gasoline: 10
Shoes: 5
Canned foods: 2
Fuel oil: 1
Others: 24
Interestingly, the surveyors noted that “”Women are more inclined to name sugar and butter than men, while a greater proportion of men mention meat and gasoline.”
The second survey was from 1951, which was during the Korean War, although I don’t know what exactly was rationed at that point. In this survey several questions were asked.
The first question was, “Considering the items you buy from day to day, which one annoys you most because of the high price you have to pay for it?” The answers were
Meat: 60%
All groceries: 13%
Coffee: 8%
Clothing: 4%
Butter, cheese, eggs: 2%
Milk: 2%
Other: 11%
This was during a time when food prices were increasing, so respondents were understandably irritated by the prices.
The second question asked in that poll dealt with food rationing: “Do you think the Government should or should not ration any of the following: meats, butter, sugar, and fats and oils?” The responses were
Meat: 20% yes, 76% no, 4% no opinion
Butter: 14 yes, 80 no, 6 no opinion
Sugar: 15 yes, 80 no, 5 no opinion
Fats and Oils: 16 yes, 78 no, 6 no opinion
I’m surprised that such a large percentage of Americans favored rationing in one type or another. I can’t imagine that anyone would favor rationing today, but this was just after the Great Depression and World War II, when the government took unprecedented control of the economy. Today, we’ve drifted very far from the idea that it’s the government’s role to be in charge of things like food and gasoline, but back then, it was assumed that, in a time of crisis, the government was the best institution to take charge. Again, things have changed a lot since then.
Source: George H. Gallup, The Gallup Poll: Public Opinion 1935-1971 (New York: Random House, 1972), 488 and 993.