World War II on the home front: Rationing
Sharing rides to save tires
To save tires, the government asked Americans to cut back on their driving, to save gas by driving more slowly, and to share rides. (The term “carpooling” didn’t exist yet.) These efforts continued throughout the war, as you can see in this 1943 poster. But Americans have never been eager to drive less or more slowly, and by the spring of 1942 it was clear that “voluntary rationing” was a failure.
