Fire away! Buy extra bonds
Maker
Schreiber
Date1944
Object number00017804
NamePoster
MediumInk on paper
DimensionsOverall: 709 x 509 mm, 0.05 kg
ClassificationsPosters and postcards
Credit LineANMM Collection
Purchased with USA Bicentennial Gift funds
DescriptionThis poster shows two sailors keeping watch on a surfaced submarine, one is operating a search light out while the other looks through binoculars. This was part of the governments campaign to build funds for the war effort through the sale of war bonds. Investing in bonds was a major way Americans on the home front could contribute and a large numbers of citizins assited the program.HistoryBetween 1941 and 1946 the War Finance Committee was responsible for raising money for the American war effort through a series of loan drives. In total over US$185 billion of securities were sold. By the end of World War II over 85 million Americans had invested in war bonds. No other country had as many people contribute.
The sale of war bonds provided a way in which patriotic attitudes and the spirit of sacrifice could be expressed. Bonds became the primary method through which those on the home-front contributed to national defense and the war effort. Although initially the goal of the bond drives was to finance the war, their greatest accomplishment was the positive impact they had on the morale of home-front Americans.
For the Government, war bond drives had the added benefit of lowering inflation. With more people employed in manufacturing and war related industries there was an increase in individual income at a time when domestic products were being rationed. Patriotic saving through the purchase of war bonds removed this excess money from circulation.
SignificanceThis poster represents the importance of war bonds to the American government and the production of many posters based on this theme.
