Guide to the Ration Board Cards, 1941-1945

Overview of the Collection

Repository: 
Special Collections & Archives
McIntyre Library
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire
P.O. Box 4004
105 Garfield Ave.
Eau Claire, WI 54702-4004
(715)-836-2739
http://www.uwec.edu/Library/archives/info.htm

Reference Code: USGZE AS243

Accession Number: 22-004

Collection Number: Archives Series 243

Creator: Business Services

Title: Ration Board Cards

Dates: 1941-1945

Quantity: .2 linear feet (1/2 archives box)

Location of Collection: D11/1g

Languages: Collection materials are in English.

Summary: The majority of the collection features correspondence and forms related to Certificates of War Necessity and gas rationing for the university vehicles mainly during WWII. A small amount of correspondence and forms related to the purchase of a Ford pickup truck and obtainment of a certificate of title for it by the university in 1943 and 1944.

Biographical/Historical Note

During World War II, the Eau Claire State Teachers College (ECSTC) was required to get Certificates of War Necessity to be able to use the vehicles regularly and were allowed a certain number of gas rations per quarter depending on how many miles the vehicle was driven. Much of the correspondence in the collection is between the ECSTC and the Office of Defense Transportation (ODT), largely from the Wausau branch of the office which would have been Eau Claire’s district office of the ODT. The correspondence covers the registering and acquiring of the Certificate of War Necessity for the school bus, 1937 Lafayette sedan, 1939 Ford pickup truck, and discussion of the necessity of a tractor and other machinery for property maintenance. It also includes several petitions by the ECSTC to obtain and increase the number of gas rations cards allotted for the various vehicles and equipment used by the university. The bus and sedan are listed in several places as being used to transport students, and later soldiers, to and from different community locations like the YMCA and the local high school for training.

Also included in the collection is correspondence and forms related to the purchase of the previously mentioned 1939 Ford pickup truck by the ECSTC in December 1943. The vehicle was purchased by Wisconsin’s Board of Regents of Normal Schools for the ECSTC from the U.S. Treasury Department. In addition to correspondence and forms related to the sale of the truck, there is also correspondence between the ECSTC and the Wisconsin Motor Vehicle Department in January 1944 to acquire a certificate of title for the truck as they were not given one in the sale.  

Content Description

Correspondence, war rationing and certificate of title forms and cards, and vehicle mileage data related to the ECSTC’s vehicles and their usage during World War II.

Administrative Information

Acquisition Information: Transferred to the University Archives by Business Services before 2007.

Access Restrictions: Collection is open to the public.

Use Restrictions: Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. Copyright owned by the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire.

Processing Note: Processed by Stephanie Much in October 2021.

Arrangement: Flat arrangement.

OCLC #: 1287950774

Subjects

Corporate Names:
University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire—Business Services.
Wisconsin State College at Eau Claire.

Subject Terms:
World War, 1939-1945—Wisconsin—Eau Claire.
World War, 1939-1945—Transportation—Wisconsin—Eau Claire.

Detailed List of Contents

Container

Contents

Dates 

Box/Folder

1/1

Correspondence and forms related to the purchase/use of the Ford pickup truck

1943-1945

Box/Folder

1/2

Correspondence and forms related to the use of the bus

1941-1945

Box/Folder

1/3

Correspondence and forms related to the use of the Lafayette sedan

1942-1944

Box/Folder

1/4

Correspondence and data related to mileage reports

1943-1945

Box/Folder

1/5

Correspondence, forms, and cards related to gas usage for grounds maintenance and other miscellaneous cards

1942-1945, Undated