Description: Folded identification card for the holder of gasoline mileage ration stamps. The Office of Price Administration was created during WWII to fight inflation and preserve needed supplies for the war effort, and they accomplished this by establishing a rationing system. Many types of goods were rationed, from cloth to meat to rubber tires. Some items, like gasoline, were rationed using a coupon or point system. This ID card validated the use of gasoline ration coupons by matching the number on the card to the number that should be stamped on each sheet of coupons. As this card indicates, there was a thriving black market for rationed goods in the United States during WWII, and this was the government's attempt to combat illegal exchange. The date on this card is the available renewal date, not the date of issue. The card probably belonged to C. Walder Parke, though his name does not appear on it. Charles Walder Parke was born on July 28, 1924, and grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio. He enlisted in the United States Army Air Forces in 1942 intending to be a pilot during WWII, but spent most of his military career as a navigator on B-17 Flying Fortresses in the 94th Bombardment Group. Parke earned two Bronze Stars, an Air Medal with several Oak Leaf Clusters, and the Distinguished Flying Cross for his successful bombing missions, including some over Berlin. He is best known for being on board a B-17 which was shot down over France by German planes on June 25, 1944, during a non-combat mission. The crew managed to make an emergency landing, and everyone inside survived. After the war, Parke founded the Cleveland-based Laurel Industries Inc., which became a prominent supplier of antimony oxide to the plastics industry. He died of Lou-Gehrig’s Disease on September 15, 1996, at the age of 72. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: MSS1510_B02F03_010_01
Subjects: Rationing; Coupons; Gasoline--Prices; World War II
Places: Charles Walder Parke WW2 Collection