A bit of trivia - After Peal Harbor the Japanese seized most of the rubber plantations in Southeast Asia. This was a huge blow to the allies’ rubber supplies. 90- 95% of the world’s rubber supplies were grown within 15 degrees of Singapore and this was one of the first places that the Japanese conquered.
The images below show just how MUCH rubber was used by the allies. Apart from the HUGE recycling drives, this fast forwarded the commercialization of synthetic rubbers ( of which NEOPRENE was one ) more than if there had never been a war! So much so that synthetic rubbers may have come in decades later ....
What wars do, eh?
Dan
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