US War Bonds poster of a paratrooper with a Thompson submachine gun at the ready
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 27.875 inches (70.803 cm) | Width: 20.000 inches (50.8 cm)
Creator(s)
- United States Treasury Department War Finance Division (Issuer)
- Georges Schreiber (Artist)
- United States Office of War Information (Distributor)
- United States Government Printing Office (Printer)
Biographical History
Georges Schreiber, (1904-1977) was an artist born in Brussels, Belgium. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and worked as a freelance artist for German newspapers as a young man. In 1928, he immigrated to the United States where he found work as an illustrator for books and magazines, a lithographer, and a painter. In the 1930s, Schreiber travelled across America several times, painting images of American life. In 1936, he was employed as an artist by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). During World War II, Schreiber was commissioned by the United States Army and Navy to create images for war posters, and he designed several War Bond posters for the war effort. Schreiber’s work has been exhibited at the Carnegie Institute, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Art Institute of Chicago, Whitney Museum of American Art, Metropolitan Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art.
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.
Archival History
The poster was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1988 by David and Zelda Silberman.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of David and Zelda Silberman
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
Poster for the third War Loan drive showing an alert soldier with his gun at the ready in front of a parachute filled sky. The poster was issued by the Treasury Department to encourage the public to buy war bonds for the third War Loan drive, which occurred from September 8 to October 2, 1943. War bonds were sold at 75 percent of their face value, matured over ten years and could then be redeemed for their full purchase value. Bonds were available in denominations of $25 through $1000. If you could not afford a war bond you could buy war stamps, for 10 cents, which could be saved to purchase a bond. There were 8 war loan drives conducted from 1942 to 1945, and by the end of the war 85 million Americans had purchased 185.7 billion dollars of bonds. The war in Europe ended May 8, 1945, and the war in Japan ended on September 2, 1945.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Offset color lithographic poster depicting the upper torso of a helmeted soldier in an olive drab uniform. He holds a Thompson submachine gun under his right shoulder with his left hand on the barrel grip in a ready to fire position. He wears a white paratrooper harness and the gray-blue sky behind him is filled with parachuting soldiers. On the upper left is a close view of the interior and strings of a descending parachute. A small plane can be seen flying away below. There is large italicized red text across the top and white and black text within a large white border along the bottom. The artist's name is printed in the upper right of the image.
People
- Schreiber, Georges, 1904-1977.
Corporate Bodies
- United States. Office of War Information
Subjects
- Lithography, American--20th century.
- Lithography--1930-1950.
- World War, 1939-1945--Art and the war--Pictorial works.
- Executive departments
- United States
- World War, 1939-1945--United States--Posters.
- World War, 1939-1945--Finance--United States--Posters.
- World War, 1939-1945--Economic aspects--United States--Posters.
- War posters, American.
- Savings bonds--United States--Posters.
Genre
- Object
- Posters
- Posters.