The food stamps program of 1939 was a pilot program that was eventually expanded to half of the counties throughout the country which helped those who were unemployed afford food.

The first federal food stamps program began in 1939 as an effort to deal with weak grocery sales due to high unemployment and surplus farm prices leading to the price of agricultural good falling.

The pilot program in Rochester, New York provided $1 worth of orange stamps for every one dollar spent, as well 50 cents of blue stamps for every dollar spent for free. The orange stamps could be redeemed at most grocery stores for anything they had in stock, while blue stamps could only be used for select agricultural items that there was as surplus of at the time. 1

Eligible Americans could buy each family member between $1 and $1.50 in orange stamps a week. The program fed 20 million Americans, when it was discontinued due to reduced needed from the economic stimulus caused by the build-up for World War II. 2

Endnotes

1 .https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/short-history-snap#1939

2. https://www.history.com/news/food-stamps-great-depression