Motor Fuel Ration Book

Most people today think of the rationing of goods to be solely confined to the period covering World War II and the period shortly after. However rationing had been a part of life from World War One onwards and it is surprising to most to find evidence of rationing as late as the 1960's and &70's. Books such as this were issued by the British government to combat petrol shortages during the 1973 Oil Crisis. The Organisation of Petroleum Producing Countries (OPEC) imposed an oil embargo on Western countries which had supported Israel during the Arab-Israeli Yom Kippur war resulting in a massive rise in petrol prices at the pump.  Today's 20 to 30 year olds are the first generation in living memory not to have experienced rationing in one form or another.