America Had No Gas Rationing Until 1942 - So How Did Drivers Get to Work?

Before 1942, an American could drive anywhere, at any speed, on tires that were easy to buy. Then the rubber ran out, and the government started counting every gallon. Today you fill the tank without a thought. In 1942 a sticker on your windshield decided how far you could go. This is the story of the rubber crisis after Pearl Harbor, the U-boats off the East Coast, the A, B, C and X ration stickers, the Baruch Committee, the five-tire rule, the 35 mph Victory Speed, mandatory car sharing, the gasoline black market, the synthetic rubber industry built from scratch, and the habits of the road that outlived the war. Chapters 0:00 The freedom you never think about 0:57 America runs out of rubber 2:08 Pearl Harbor and the tire freeze 3:29 U-boats starve the East Coast 4:24 The A, B, C and X windshield stickers 6:40 The rest of the country refuses 7:24 The Baruch Committee 9:56 Gas rationing goes nationwide 11:17 The ration board at the kitchen table 11:49 Life on an A sticker 12:42 Tire inspections and the five-tire rule 13:50 The 35 mph Victory Speed 15:00 Car sharing and the poster 17:03 The gasoline black market 20:21 Synthetic rubber from nothing 23:00 The Big Inch pipelines 24:14 Truman ends rationing 25:06 What never went away Sources and footage Photographs, posters and documents: U.S. National Archives, Library of Congress (Farm Security Administration and Office of War Information collection), Boston Public Library and other public-domain collections via Wikimedia Commons. Full file links on Wikimedia Commons. Used under Creative Commons (attribution): "Toyota Corolla 2016 speedometer" by Kskhh (CC BY-SA 4.0) "Kennys Route-66 gas station Bristow OK 2026..." by G. Edward Johnson (CC BY 4.0) "Tire Mechanic, Havana Jan 2014, image by Ma..." by MiltonPoint (CC BY-SA 4.0) "Traffic Jam on Interstate 80, West Sacramen..." by Ken Lund from Reno, Nevada, USA (CC BY-SA 2.0) "SecHaroldIckes-RepEdwardTaylorCO" by BLM Wyoming (CC BY 2.0) "HoumaRMMRationBook" by Infrogmation of New Orleans (CC BY 3.0) "Rationing means a fair share for us all" by Boston Public Library (CC BY 2.0) "World War II Vintage Ration Books Used in t..." by Cindy Shebley (CC BY 2.0) "Turks Shipyard and Chatham Historic Dockyar..." by David Martin (CC BY-SA 2.0) "A modern BP gas station or filling station..." by Harrison Keely (CC BY 4.0) "Abandoned Cundiff gas station Two Guns AZ 2..." by G. Edward Johnson (CC BY 4.0) "Richfield gas pump Bellemont AZ 2026-04-07..." by G. Edward Johnson (CC BY 4.0) "Old gas station and motor court Seligman AZ..." by G. Edward Johnson (CC BY 4.0) "World War II Vintage Ration Books Used in t..." by Cindy Shebley (CC BY 2.0) "Automatic License Plate Reader (ALPR) Disgu..." by Dugan Meyer (CC BY 4.0) "Interstate 15 - Utah - 4032889253" by Dougtone (CC BY-SA 2.0) "Réseau Big Inch and Little Big Inch (États-..." by Saber68 (CC BY-SA 4.0) "Tire close up" by tequilamike (CC BY 2.0) "Boeing 737-522 - Smart Wings - OK-SWU - LEM..." by w:es:Usuario:Barcex (CC BY-SA 3.0) "Strilkove Compressor Station" by Ryeland (CC BY-SA 3.0) "Carpool exit lane" by Epolk (CC BY-SA 4.0) "Interstate 5 northbound near Shoreline, WA..." by SounderBruce (CC BY-SA 4.0) Home Front Ledger, how America paid its way. #history #worldwar2 #americanhistory #homefront #HomeFrontLedger