one thing you can always count on is that the moment you deny something to people or
charge them prices they can't afford an entrepreneur is born getting people things
cheaply even when it's not legal happens all over the world and during wartime
when resources become scarce black markets can spring up to meet any conceivable need
10. meat the rationing of meat during the second world war was one of the biggest opportunities
for black marketeers to latch onto american consumers were accustomed to beef pork and
to a lesser degree lamb and veal but these meats were also needed by the military for the troops
farmers could get more money selling the meat to the government than they could get at the
market so more went to the war effort and less stayed at home the government tried to make it
not a big deal even going out of their way to publish recipes for people to extend their meat
rations it didn't really work the black market met the demands of those willing to risk it
those who were willing to work illegally saw the opportunity to make even more money a good cut
of stake was impossible to legally find but on the black market it could fetch more money than
even selling it to the government and for the end consumer they'd get meat that they
otherwise could not legally find anywhere plus they didn't need to use ration points
which could still be exchanged for less desirable cuts it was a win-win if you ignored the legality
they actually called the black market meat sellers meatleggers and likened them to gangsters
propaganda films were made to scare the public in which anyone who ate black market meat got sick
the efforts were not very successful because people like meat an investigative journalist did
an article on the subject and managed to round up a literal ton of black market me to show just how
easy it was to find finally in 1946 the president removed meat from the rationalist fearing that
restricting it any longer would lead to civil unrest 9. gasoline of all the substances rationed
for wartime gasoline was one of the most important in 1943 the us was running about 500 000 barrels
a day short of what it needed thanks to military use rationing had to account for that discrepancy
there were 1.8 million barrels being filled every day and the military needed 600 000 of them
the fact that some tankers of gasoline had sank in the ocean on the way to keep up the supply
the previous year also made the situation just more drastic the black market was ripe
17 states started rationing gas in may 1942. that was up to 48 states by the year's end
drivers were issued stamps that spelled out the gas allotment the speed limit was reduced to
increase gas conservation and carpooling was encouraged but the black market rose up to meat
demand as well chiselers became commonplace during the days of gas rationing chiseled gas was gas
that someone managed to buy at the regular market price when doing so was technically not legal
basically a chiseler would shop at a gas station and smooth talk the owner they were supposed to be
rationing the gas but if you were someone offering cash and norm was looking a deal could be made
not every gas station did it but many did a writer from collier's magazine drove from
the mexican border to the canadian border in 1943 filling up on nothing but chiseled gas number 8.
sugar while it seems obvious how meat and gasoline were needed for the war effort the rationing of
sugar is less easy to understand devoid of context did the military really need that much sugar it
was certainly necessary for food energy to supply the troops with something that contained sugar but
that was not the reason for sugar rationing in the war japan attacked the philippines and that
meant the major source of sugar for the u.s was cut off the us does not grow sugarcane as
a staple crop and sugar was not produced in the country in great abundance sugar shipments from
places like hawaii or central america were also slowed down the vessels used to transport sugar
were needed for the war effort cargo ships were diverted to other uses and shipments decreased
by as much as half sugar was still making it to america just way less of it sugar was the first
product to be rationed during the war in the us and canada as well it was the last one to come
off the list when it ended at one point rations were down to 15 pounds per year adults were
using one cup per week at a time when baking and canning were common and encouraged black
market sellers faced stiff penalties and those who trafficked in sugar could lose the license to make
anything with it if they were caught 7. cigarettes cigarettes have always been one of those products
that has a huge market despite being not necessary in any way today we understand the health effect
but back in world war ii people just knew that they loved taking a trip to flavor country
rations for soldiers included cigarettes and the tobacco industry was all too happy to provide them
american gis got free cigarettes for their own needs soldiers were actually encouraged to
smoke and they went through 290 billion of them they could also buy packs for 50 cents and then
sell them on the black market in berlin for a hundred dollars closer to home a black market
for cigarettes was established in canada thanks to americans coming across the border they were
easy to get in the u.s but not so much in canada where a pair of enterprising edmontoners were
caught with the stash of 4 200 american smokes the rcmp were quick to find them and arrest them and
the americans who were involved as well 6. tires rubble was one material that the government needed
for the war effort and the demand for it was high unlike many food products which were rationed
rubber sales were essentially halted altogether that meant tires were no longer being produced
those who needed new tires found themselves in a precarious position if you had a spare great if
you didn't well then you weren't going to find a new one gas rationing in the now 35 mile per hour
speed limit was meant to help gasoline supplies last but they were also meant to conserve rubber
at home the rubble was needed for military vehicles and other supplies abroad this meant
that a black market was able to be set up in the early days of the war back home for those in need
remember this was in the days before synthetic rubber was easily produced american needed
access to rubber tires they couldn't be grown in america and supplies from overseas had ended
so great was the demand for rubber that people would go to work for the day and they'd come back
to find that their car tires were missing black market tires were available for upwards of 50
a piece that might not seem crazy in present-day prices but it was five times the regulated price
for a brand new tire during the war number five watches in the closing days of world war ii as
the allied forces came together in berlin black markets sprang up that allowed american british
and soviet forces to mingle and buy items that had been denied in the previous years and americans
soon learned that the thing soviet troops craved more than anything was watches in soviet russia a
nice watch was not exactly a common item watches meant affluence and importance but more than that
it meant money literal money russian currency was not stable but a watch always had value the
soldier could send a watch home to his wife and a single wristwatch could be traded for an entire
cow technically americans were not allowed to participate in black market dealings but the fact
that some russian troops were sporting up to a dozen watches on their arms indicates that it was
probably more common than you might think number four housing of all the things you'd think would
be available on the black market housing seems the least likely in fairness no one was smuggling
houses and selling them behind closed doors but there were shady dealings when it came to
rental expenses in certain areas numerous american workers had gone north to canada during the war
and that created a housing problem in cities like edmonton where rural workers were also coming to
the city looking for jobs rent was capped at 25 a month and landlords were required to register
their properties however those who saw the housing shortage as an opportunity to make money
quickly skirted the rules some people ended up paying 10 a month to stay in a garage others would
pay as much as 40 or 50 per month this eventually rose to 100 or more and house sales reached 300
percent of regulated rates number three ration stamps for some black marketeers the best and
easiest way to work around the system was not to work with individual commodities but to play the
whole system ration books full of stamps were used by citizens in most allied countries you had to
exchange stamps in exchange for specific goods and if you didn't have the stamp you couldn't buy
the product whether it be meat coffee sugar or anything else this presented a fantastic
opportunity for skillful forgers make a fake ration book and you've got yourself a lucrative
business people would pay upwards of 10 pounds for a forged ration book in 1943 in england that
works out to around 400 pounds today stateside is estimated that as much as five percent of all the
rationed gas sold in the country was given out to people using counterfeit ration coupons and those
were just the fake ones it's also believed legit coupons were stolen at a staggering rate to be
resold in washington dc alone 20 million gallons worth of gas coupons were stolen number two
nylons nylons hit the market in may 1940 replacing classic silk stockings they were easier to clean
and lasted longer four million pairs sold out in two days it was safe to say that consumers loved
them and then in december 1941 they vanished the war effort needed nylon to make parachutes
and other items there would be none for the legs left at home the results created a lucrative black
market that saw a single shipment of purloin nylon sell for a hundred thousand dollars people were
literally robbing houses for nylons one house in louisiana was reportedly robbed of 18 pairs
black market pairs went from 1.15 before the war to 20 during to understand just how beloved the
nylon was to american women you need to only look at what happened after the war in 1945 when the
rationing was lifted and nylons hit the shelves again pandemonium broke up lines of women over
a thousand people deep were around stores forty thousand women showed up to buy thirteen thousand
pairs in pittsburgh number one drugs there's always been a black market for drugs so it's
no surprise such a thing existed in wartime as well what is surprising however is how pervasive
this was during the vietnam war the black market wasn't stateside it was in-country and the amount
of drug use by u.s soldiers was pretty staggering according to official reports over 51 percent of
soldiers had used marijuana not such a staggering statistic for modern-day civilians but it would
have been concerning to people back in 1971 when the report was released more concerning
was the 31 who had used psychedelics like lsd or mushrooms and the 28 using heroin or cocaine
if a quarter of your fighting forces are high on heroin and strapped with machine guns that
might be an issue the illicit drug use was in addition to the fully sanctioned drug use
that saw soldiers pump full of speed painkillers and whatever else command thought they needed to
keep going it's somewhat stunning that anyone made it out of the country alive marijuana was
plentiful and cheap for american soldiers a pack of cigarettes could be traded for it when the army
cracked down on pot smoking after an uproar stateside many soldiers switched to heroin
which was just as easy to find and didn't have the tell-tale odor it was only afterwards that the
military regretted their decision so i really hope you found that video interesting if you did please
do hit that thumbs up button below don't forget to subscribe and as always thank you for watching