The American consumer home front during World War II

This paper provides an historical account of the American consumer experience during World War II. It begins with a brief review of the consumption context established in the 1920s and 1930s. Subsequent sections describe price controls and rationing, government poster campaigns and commercial war advertising, the role of women as war consumption managers, neighborhood stores and shopping, and product and packaging changes. The concluding section examines some implications of this era for the history of American consumer culture.