|
Historically speaking, the US declared war on Japan--and entered World War II--on December 8, 1941. World War II is considered to have ended in September of 1945. So any tractor built between 1942 and 1945 is normally considered a wartime tractor. Since natural rubber was imported--and a lot of the synthetic substitutes were still being developed in the laboratory--rubber items, such as tires, were strictly rationed during the war, That is, you received books of ration coupons for war-critical items, such as sugar, tires, and gasoline. Whenever you purchased these items, you had to deliver the proper ration coupons or these products would not be issued (except by black-market businesses), because the retailers couldn't get replacements without turning in the coupons they had collected. [That's how it was SUPPOSED to work; sometimes, people worked around the rules.] Due to the shortage of rubber, IH used cast-iron shift knobs on some tractors (I was told that was 1944 only--as that was the most critical stage of WWII--but I've also heard otherwise), and in some areas of the country, steel wheels were used because of a shortage of rubber tires. But, technically, a tractor built between 1942 and 1945 is STILL a "wartime" tractor, whether it has these items or not.
|
