The last time a war bond was issued by the US Government in 1945, a good many of our readers were not yet born. Originally called defense bonds, there were seen as a way to help reduce inflation by saving the publics money. In effect,this was a form of rationing the amount of cash people had to spend while providing funds to finance military operations. On average, the return was 2.9% after 10 years of maturity. The average income during those years was $2000 for a family. The bonds were sold at 75% of their face value starting at $25.00. A massive radio and print campaign went to work by the government and private industry to not only sell, but refrain from cashing the bonds ahead of time.
Comic strip writers had their characters hawk the bonds. Movie stars were always recruited to do “road shows” and theaters had free days; all to promote the purchase of war bonds. One set of shows known as “Stars over America” featured Bette Davis, Greer Garson , Rita Hayworth and hundreds of volunteer performers. This tour sold $838,540,000 worth of bonds. Over the course of the war,more than 85 million Americans (half the population) purchased $185.7 billion dollars of them.
While the above photo was never a real bond, it undoubtably helped in the promotion and marketing of them. This particular picture was found on the cover of the July 1944 issue of Hunting and Fishing magazine. The real bonds were offered on the inside of this cover. One more use of the Jeep in Marketing.
Thank you……
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