Office of Price Administration, Latah County, Idaho Records, 1942-1945

Overview of the Collection

Creator
United States. Office of Price Administration. Latah County, Idaho
Title
Office of Price Administration, Latah County, Idaho Records
Dates
1942-1945 (inclusive)
Quantity
22 c.f.
Collection Number
MG 001 (collection)
Summary
Application files for rationed goods such as fuel oil, food, gasoline, and other products; also application forms, coupons, permits, and publications and audio-visual material explaining the rationing program.
Repository
University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives
University of Idaho Library
875 Perimeter Drive
MS 2350
Moscow, ID
83844-2350
Telephone: 2088850845
libspec@uidaho.edu
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public. Researchers must use the collection in accordance with the policies of the University of Idaho Special Collections and Archives.

Languages
This collection is in English.
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Historical NoteReturn to Top

The authority to ration scarce commodities was delegated by Congress to the President under the Second War Powers Act, and delegated by the President to the three supply agencies: the War Food Administration handled foods, the Petroleum Administrator for War controlled petroleum products, and the War Production Board covered all other commodities. These agencies were responsible for supplying military needs and for controlling civilian production and allocation. When they found consumer rationing was necessary to insure fair distribution of consumer goods, the Office of Price Administration was directed to implement the rationing. There were four types of rationing used, depending on the commodity: point rationing for food, uniform coupon rationing for shoes and sugar, differential coupon rationing for fuel oil and gasoline, and certificate rationing for automobiles and rubber boots.

In 1944 the Moscow OPA office was designated a "record board", one of the few boards in each of the nine regions in the U.S. to be so designated. This insured that the Latah County records would be preserved for future historical use. In a letter to Belle Sweet, University of Idaho Librarian, dated March 7, 1945, Robert E. Stone, Historical Branch, Office of Price Administration, said, "We in the Office of Price Administration. believe that the records of the local boards contain information about people and the way they lived during the war years, and the distribution of commodities and prices which economists, sociologists, and students of public administration in institutions like yours may wish to study in the years to come."

The Boise and Twin Falls boards were also designated record boards and their records were to have been deposited at the University of Idaho, but in December 1945 Belle Sweet received a letter from H. J. Walker, District Price Board Executive in Boise stating that he had received instructions from the national office to discontinue Boise and Twin Falls as record boards and consequently the records had been destroyed.

Milburn Kenworthy was chairman of the Latah County Ration Board, which was located in the Moscow City Hall, from 1942 until its dissolution in 1945.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The records of the Latah County Branch of the Office of Price Administration span the years 1942-1945. Included are individual applications for men's rubber boots, transport and non-highway gasoline, fuel oil, and automobile tires, papers dealing exclusively with fuel oil, applications for special mileage rations--either for medical purposes or military furlough, food ration cards, and applications for war ration books. Also included are examples of ration stamps and purchase permits, a variety of printed material, four film strips and ten phonorecords.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Consult Head of Special Collections and Archives on permission for use.

Preferred Citation

Office of Price Administration, Latah County, Idaho Records, MG 001, Special Collections and Archives, University of Idaho Library, Moscow, Idaho.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The processed records of the Office of Price Administration, Latah County, retain the original order of the records as received. Although each individual had at least one file folder for his applications, these were refoldered into larger groups, retaining the original alphabetical order.

The applications in the fuel oil series are alphabetical, the remainder are arranged by subject and retain the folder headings assigned by the OPA. The Special Mileage Rations are separated by medical and military need, with each having its own alphabetical arrangement. Food ration cards are arranged by town, then alphabetically, while the applications for war ration books are in one alphabetical file. Ration coupons are separated by type as are the blank forms. Each title in the publications series has its own folder; the regulations are separated by subject, and the audio-visual material by type.

Approximately 12.5 linear feet of official government regulations and news letters were removed from this group and offered to the Government Documents Department of the University Library.

Location of Collection

Special Collections and Archives of the University of Idaho Library. Cage area, range 66a.

Acquisition Information

The records of the Office of Price Administration, Latah County, Idaho, were donated to the University of Idaho Library by the OPA in 1945.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series I:  ApplicationsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description
Box Folder
1 1-21
Aa-Ce
2229 items
2 22-42
Ch-Dz
2008 items
3 43-63
Ea-Gk
1873 items
4 64-83
Gl-Hz
1816 items
5 84-99
Ia-Kasp
1557 items
6 100-117
Kass-Lewis, D
1705 items
7 118-135
Lewis, E-MCK
1771 items
8 136-153
McL-Nelson, H
1813 items
9 154-171
Nelson, I-Peb
1943 items
10 172-186
Pec-Rem
1634 items
11 187-204
Ren-Sg
1883 items
12 205-222
Sh-Tz
1880 items
13 223-237
Ua-Whitm
1574 items
14 238-245
Whitn-Zz
836 items

Series II:  Fuel Oil PapersReturn to Top

Container(s) Description
Box Folder
14 246-259
Alphabetical Files A-N
776 items
15 260-267
Alphabetical Files O-Z
337 items
15 268-269
Correspondence
123 items
15 270
R 1101 Private Dwelling
4 items
15 271
R 1101 Other than private premises
142 items
15 272
Auxiliary Applications
3 items
15 273
Reports of Stoves removed from rationing
14 items
15 274
Fuel Oil Exchange Certificates
12 items
15 275
Lost coupons, Fuel Oil
3 items
15 276
Fuel oil transfers from Latah County
2 items
15 277
Canceled and duplicate applications
25 items
15 278
One gallon fuel oil inventory coupons issued
35 items
15 279
Fuel oil bail outs
103 items
15 280
Fuel oil document register
107 items

Series III:  Special Mileage RationReturn to Top

Container(s) Description
Box Folder
15 281-289
Medical A-I
1040 items
16 290-299
Medical J-Z
1438 items
16 300-307
Military Furlough A-Z
1639 items

Series IV:  Food Ration CardsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description
Box Folder
17 308-310
Moscow
2875 items
17 310
Avon, Bovill, Deary
605 items
17 311
Genesee, Harvard, Juliaetta, Kendrick
1110 items
17 312
Potlatch, Princeton
940 items
17 313
Troy, Viola
625 items

Series V:  War Ration Book Application CardsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description
Box Folder
18-20
A-Z
900 items

Series VI:  Coupons, Permits, and PublicationsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description
A: Ration Coupons & Purchase Permits
Box Folder
21 314
Food
9 items
21 315
Fuel Oil
29 items
21 316
Gasoline & Mileage
43 items
21 317
Shoes & Boots
11 items
21 318
Stoves
6 items
21 319
Transportation (Cars, Bicycles, Tires)
6 items
21 320
Typewriters
3 items
21 321
War Ration Books
4 items
B: Forms
Box Folder
21 322
C, M, & 0 Series (Idle Equipment, Inventory and Attendance Reports)
10 items
21 323
R 47 - R 323 (Tires, Ration documents, Food)
26 items
21 324
R 500's (Gasoline & Mileage)
66 items
21 325
R 1100's (Fuel Oil)
26 items
C: Publications
Box Folder
21 326
Community Service Program, 1945
23 items
21 327
Leaflets, 1944-1945
18 items
21 328
Information Manuals, 1943-1945
2 items
21 329
Point Value Charts, 1944
4 items
21 330
Pre-views (Spokane), 1945
1 item
21 331
The Price Panel (Seattle), 1943
3 items
21 332-333
News Letter (Region 8, San Francisco), 1943-1945
101 items
22 334
Ranch News (Region 8, San Francisco), 1945
2 items
22 335
News Letter (Denver), 1942-1943
5 items
22 336
Transport Committee News, 1945
1 item
22 337
Volunteers, 1945
4 items
D: Regulations
Box Folder
22 338
General Information, 1942-1945
16 items
22 339
Administration, 1942-1943
37 items
22 340
Banking, 1942-1943
6 items
22 341
Bicycles, 1942
15 items
22 342
Clothing (including rubber boots and shoes), 1942-1945
6 items
22 343
Coffee, 1942-1943
20 items
22 344
Food, 1942-1945
73 items
22 345
Fuel Oil, 1942-1943
35 items
22 346
Mileage, 1942
3 items
22 347-348
Tires, 1942-1945
82 items
22 349
Typewriters, 1942
14 items

Series VII:  Audio Visual Material, 1942-1945Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
A: Filmstrips
Box Folder
22 350
OPA Reports to Congress, March 1945
1 item
22 352
The Black Market in Gasoline, undated
1 item
22 353
Rent Rackets, undated
1 item
B: Phonodiscs (12 inch)
Box Folder
22
"O.P.A. Fighting for tomorrow," undated
10 items

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Rationing--Idaho

Corporate Names

  • United States. Office of Price Administration. Latah County, Idaho