Office of Price Administration
The Office of Price Administration (OPA) was established within the Office for Emergency Management of the United States government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. The functions of the OPA were originally to control money (price controls) and rents after the outbreak of World War II.[3]
Agency overview
August 28, 1941
May 29, 1947
- 1942 siblings: Office of Economic Stabilization, Office of Production Management
- liquidated in 1947 to Agriculture, Justice, Commerce, RFC and others
- Similar functions later performed by Office of Price Stabilization (Korean War-era price board)
- Council of Economic Advisors (Kennedy-era price board)[2]
- Pay Board and Price Commission (Nixon-era price board)[2]
- Leon Henderson, 1941–1942
- Prentiss Marsh Brown, 1943
- Chester Bliss Bowles, 1943–1946
Women and the OPA[edit]
The success of the OPA’s price controls and rationing policies depended on the support of women who acted as the main shoppers of their households, especially during wartime. Local community organizations, governments, and OPA boards held educational seminars aimed at women, targeted women to join local price and rationing boards, and recruited women for volunteer programs.[7] Many women led local volunteer War Price and Rationing Boards that ensured adherence to stabilization policies through check-ins with stores to report businesses breaking the rules. Women involved with the OPA largely fell into two broad categories: those who were part of already organized groups, such as labor unions, women’s groups, and consumer groups, among others, often with agendas that aligned with OPA’s goals of price stabilization; and women not already part of organized groups, who came from diverse backgrounds. They used the OPA as a legally established and legitimate framework for organizing themselves.[7]
The OPA’s enlistment of women to ensure that local businesses were complying with federal policies extended the public sphere into the private sphere and the effective growth of “state supervision.”[7] This resulted in a pseudo-militant attitude toward regulation and made it more difficult for politicians to curb the power of the OPA.
The OPA worked with consumer activists in a “mutually empowering” and mutually reliant fashion to ensure the effectiveness of its policies and activists’ interests.[7] Thus, a large swathe of consumer activists helped to ensure that businesses were compliant with its policies. Widespread support of the OPA came from the belief that the agency could help establish postwar prosperity.
African Americans and the OPA[edit]
Black consumer activists also were among those who supported the OPA, which gave them support from the federal government in fighting market discrimination.[7]
The OPA had a base of consumer support that included different socioeconomic classes and racial groups who supported the agency because of their belief it would bring about a postwar vision of “broad popular participation and consumer rights."[7] The OPA worked to defend consumers from exploitation by businesses while also acting as a space for citizens to become involved in politics.
OPA points[edit]
OPA points are small vulcanized fibre red and blue ration tokens issued during World War II to make change for ration coupons. Approximately 1.1 billion red and 0.9 billion blue were produced, and even though many were collected and destroyed after the war, they are still quite common today. The red OPA points are a bit more common than the blue. Each token has two letters on it, and some people collect them by letter combination.[11]
An OPA menu with ceiling prices.
A mileage ration book issued by the OPA.
Red and blue OPA points.
