In 1973, when the first oil crisis occurred, toilet paper disappeared from supermarkets nationwide. The commotion began in the wake of the Yom Kippur War.
There was a public anxiety that the price of crude oil would be raised and the supply amount would be reduced. In addition to toilet paper, hoarding eventually spread to sugar, salt, detergent, and other daily necessities, leading to a nationwide "shortage of goods" panic. The scene of things being bought up in various places is a symbolic scene of the "oil shock"