History of the United States (1918–1945) (especially poor people) and prevent inflation. Tires were the first item to be rationed in January 1942 because supplies of natural rubber were interrupted. Gasoline rationing proved an even better way to allocate scarce rubber. By 1943 one needed government issued ration coupons to purchase typewriters, sugar, gasoline, bicycles, footwear, fuel oil, silk, nylon, coffee, stoves, shoes, meat, cheese, butter, margarine, canned foods, dried fruits, jam, and many other items. Some items—like new automobiles and appliances—were no longer made. The rationing system did not apply to used goods (like clothes or cars). The ration system was complex and confusing, but
Greenhouse Item the gas correctly without reducing its own efficiency. The 1951 test was primarily to test the nuclear principles involved, and to gain research data, and it was not considered a design for a weaponizable device. Even as late as 1954, no boosted weapon had entered into the nuclear-weapons stockpile, and the only use for the Greenhouse Item nuclear test had been for its research results. The "Booster" device was detonated at 6:17 am on May 25, 1951, from a shot tower on the island of Engebi in the Enewetok Atoll, and its fusion fuel was injected by means of a