The baby boom caused a nationwide diaper shortage.

Woman tying a baby’s diaper, 1955

Living in America during World War II often meant going without everyday necessities. At the end of the war, ration restrictions were lifted, but the U.S. still found itself in short supply of a crucial item: diapers. The country was in the nascent stages of a postwar baby boom, and as the young population surged with soldiers returning home and starting families, cloth diaper production remained in its wartime slowdown.

Government agencies such as the War Production Board (WPB) denied the diaper shortage and said manufacturing was on pace to meet the demand. But textile insiders said otherwise, claiming that after the war, manufacturers had shifted looms away from diaper cloth to make more profitable cotton fabrics. The National Institute of Diaper Services blamed government officials who were not fathers and therefore didn’t understand infant needs, while retailers said shipments were not arriving quickly enough. On top of everything else, diaper prices were on the rise. Ultimately, frustrated parents and caregivers were left navigating the consequences.

The shortage wasn’t entirely unexpected. Diaper services — which, before the advent of disposables, collected soiled diapers and delivered fresh ones — were already under strain before the baby boom was in full swing. In 1943, wartime fuel rations made it difficult to run delivery trucks, and with many women working in war industries, fewer families had the time or resources to wash diapers at home. In June 1946, John K. Jones, president of the National Institute of Diaper Services, introduced a new folding technique in an attempt to help families cope with the ongoing shortage. Known today as the “kite fold,” it involved folding the corners of a diaper to create extra thickness in the center, making the diaper more absorbent and thus ideally able to last longer than a traditional triangle fold. The diaper shortage made headlines across the country for years, but by 1947, mention of it had tapered off.

By the Numbers

Did you know?

Sugar was the first and last food rationed in the U.S. during World War II.

After the U.S. entered World War II, many goods, including food, were rationed to ensure military troops and manufacturers had enough supplies, and to enforce fair distribution among civilians. Sugar was the first food placed under rationing, mainly because of supply shortages: Before the war, the U.S. imported most of its sugar from the Philippines, but that supply was cut off after Japan occupied the islands in 1941. At the same time, cargo ships that once transported sugar were, like many things at the time, prioritized for military use.

Even after the war ended in 1945, low crop yields and the rebuilding of trade networks meant that sugar remained in short supply. The U.S. government continued rationing sugar for two years, finally lifting restrictions in 1947 — making sugar not only the first but also the last food to be restricted during World War II.