The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was created on June 13, 1942, to centralize and control the content and production of government information and propaganda about the war. It coordinated the release of war news for domestic use, and using posters along with radio broadcasts, worked to promote patriotism, warn about foreign spies, and recruit women into war work. The office also established an overseas branch, which launched a large-scale information and propaganda campaign abroad. The government appealed to the public through popular culture and more than a quarter of a billion dollars' worth of advertising was donated during the first three years of the National Defense Savings Program. Victory in Europe was declared on May 8, 1945, and in Japan on September 2, 1945. The OWI ceased operation in September.
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US Buy War Bonds poster depicting charging soldiers
overall: Height: 28.000 inches (71.12 cm) | Width: 22.000 inches (55.88 cm)
Color offset lithographic poster reproducing a painting of soldiers in green combat uniforms with helmets, carrying rifles and charging up a brown slope. More soldiers run up from the beach behind them. Three ships can be seen in the water in the distance, with rising clouds of black smoke. Above, a line of airplanes fly in the same direction through a yellow sky. The slogan is in white across the top and bottom. See record 1988.42.41 for another copy of this poster.
Poster from the Buy War Bonds series featuring US soldiers advancing on a beachhead during combat. The posters were issued by the United States Treasury Department to encourage the purchase of war bonds and war stamps. Professional artists were commissioned to create art for the posters which were distributed to retailers to display. There were 8 war loan drives conducted from 1942 to 1945. The public could purchase a $25 war bond for $18.75 to help pay for the military’s expenses. The war bond could be redeemed 10 years after purchase for the full $25. Bond quotas were set up on the national, state, county, and town levels to encourage the sale of war bonds. Volunteers went door-to-door to sell war bonds. It was considered a patriotic duty and an investment in victory. By the end of the war, 85 million Americans had purchased $185.7 billion dollars worth of bonds.
The poster was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1988 by David and Zelda Silberman.
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