The Vintage Reader

Yes, that's right: jokes about rationing. Here's one from The Homemaker, vol. 5, no. 3, Nov. 1943:

"...Marjorie Main, who plays a ration Board supervisor in the comedy [Rationing], was telling [Wallace] Beery and other members of the cast about a particularly leathery steak she had had at a restaurant the night before. "That steak was so tough," Marjorie insisted, "I felt I ought to pay for it with my number 18 shoe coupon."

Just as a side note: can you imagine some of today's celebrities confronted by rationing? Some of them--the ones who ordered a Prius before the general public could get one--might embrace it. Others, though, would just have to shrivel up and die of sheer deprivation. For that matter, so would most of the rest of us. It could be a very good thing.

Here's another one from the same publication, from an article about hosting an "our times" party (the invitations specify that you're supposed to walk or ride your bike; party games include "Draft Lottery" and "Fuel Shortage." I suspect I'll be blogging about that later). It's a "variation of the Curious Traveler stunt" (whatever that is):

"The Cautious Motorist got into his car--
He looked to the north,
He looked to the south,
Then to the east,
And to the west.

Then he turned again and faced the north,
Then he faced west,
Then he faced south,
Then he turned to the east,
Where he saw an OPA inspector--

So he got out of his car and walked home!"