We talked briefly last week in Part 1 of this series about War Bonds but I’d wager that many of you have never seen one. They looked a lot like regular savings bonds, didn’t they.
Although they were stamped “War Savings” bonds, they were actually U.S Series E Savings Bonds, first issued earlier in 1941 in an effort to control inflation. After our formal entry into the war in December of that year, they became known as “War Bonds”. Also known as “war loans” and “victory bonds”, they appealed to our sense of patriotism.
;)
Popular contemporary art was used to help promote the bonds. Norman Rockwell’s painting series Four Freedoms toured in a war bond effort that raised $132 million. Some of his Willie Gillis paintings and his Rosie the Riveter painting were raffled off during the United States Department of the Treasury’s Second War Loan Drive.
The music industry got on board with songs and campaigns like the song (and animated short), Any Bonds Today?. The Music Publishers Protective Association encouraged its members to include patriotic messages on the front of their sheet music like “Buy U.S. Bonds and Stamps”. Band leaders and celebrities held rallies where they encouraged the public to help their country by buying war bonds.
Although they were initially marketed as war bonds, Series E Savings Bonds were offered by the U.S. government until June 1980 when they were replaced by the Series EE bond.
To be continued…