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War Stamps/Bonds/Loans covers - let's see 'em
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226 posts in this topic

I might be ploughing a lonely furrow here, but Overstreet breaks them out (sometimes) so there must be a few others out there chasing these.

 

Here's a 1918 comic promoting war bonds from World War I - The Third Liberty Loan. Odd giveaway, bound on top, with cartoons from many of the major cartoonists of the day.

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I just found an interesting tidbit of information which probably isn't worthy of it's own thread, so I hope you don't mind me posting it here.

 

My mother was a child in the centre of London during WW2, and as part of her Xmas present this year I have bought her a book titled; Wartime Childhood by Mike Brown and whilst flicking through it, I came across this passage:

 

"Comics and books could still be bought in shops, although, like newspapers, comics shrank, both in size and in number of pages. There were many favourites, including, for younger children, Beano, Dandy, Jingles, Film Fun and Radio Fun, and for those in their teens, Champion, the Girl's Own Paper and the Boy's Own Paper. These would be read and re-read, then swapped in the playground. With the arrival of 'The Yanks' in 1942, came American comic books, lavish compared with the austere British versions, and highly prized in swapping circles."

 

Now, my mother actually encouraged me to read comics as a child in the 1970's, which was an unusual attitude for an adult at the time. This was due to the fact that as a kid in the West End of London, she and her little friends would follow G.I.'s around with the cry of "any gum chum?", often the American soldiers would take pity on these blitz ravaged kids and pass them a stick of gum or tatty old comic book. My mum's elder brother was also in the merchant marine and would return from the U.S. After braving the U boats With comics, gum, and nylon stockings for the family back home.

 

Mum developed a love of those comics, particularly Captain Marvel, Batman and Flash, and passed that love onto me. Sadly, none of those comics survived the war, and I often wonder what if? But at least I can thank my mum for my love of comics!

 

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I just found an interesting tidbit of information which probably isn't worthy of it's own thread, so I hope you don't mind me posting it here.

 

My mother was a child in the centre of London during WW2, and as part of her Xmas present this year I have bought her a book titled; Wartime Childhood by Mike Brown and whilst flicking through it, I came across this passage:

 

"Comics and books could still be bought in shops, although, like newspapers, comics shrank, both in size and in number of pages. There were many favourites, including, for younger children, Beano, Dandy, Jingles, Film Fun and Radio Fun, and for those in their teens, Champion, the Girl's Own Paper and the Boy's Own Paper. These would be read and re-read, then swapped in the playground. With the arrival of 'The Yanks' in 1942, came American comic books, lavish compared with the austere British versions, and highly prized in swapping circles."

 

Now, my mother actually encouraged me to read comics as a child in the 1970's, which was an unusual attitude for an adult at the time. This was due to the fact that as a kid in the West End of London, she and her little friends would follow G.I.'s around with the cry of "any gum chum?", often the American soldiers would take pity on these blitz ravaged kids and pass them a stick of gum or tatty old comic book. My mum's elder brother was also in the merchant marine and would return from the U.S. After braving the U boats With comics, gum, and nylon stockings for the family back home.

 

Mum developed a love of those comics, particularly Captain Marvel, Batman and Flash, and passed that love onto me. Sadly, none of those comics survived the war, and I often wonder what if? But at least I can thank my mum for my love of comics!

 

Great story! Could be a worthy start to several different threads!

 

My mother also loved comics. Other kids had to deal with mothers who would throw out their comics. I had a mom who would buy stacks of comics, but I had to wait until she was done reading them herself!

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I might be ploughing a lonely furrow here, but Overstreet breaks them out (sometimes) so there must be a few others out there chasing these.

 

Here's a 1918 comic promoting war bonds from World War I - The Third Liberty Loan. Odd giveaway, bound on top, with cartoons from many of the major cartoonists of the day.

 

That's a great item - I hadn't even thought of Platinum Age war bonds books!

 

Thanks for posting it.

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Thanks to AJD for letting me know about this thread. Many of the issues already posted are certainly examples of why I enjoy WWII-era comics. They show unity against a common enemy, creative and interesting art and some really unusual ways to crush an enemy (quite literally with that awesome Target Comics post with the steamroller)!

 

Posted below are my 7th War Loan issues which mostly have cover dates of July, 1945 though some publishers had dates slightly before or after depending on their print schedules.

 

The 7th War Loan was the final campaign to get consumers to purchase savings bonds to fund the war on Japan after Germany had been defeated. Fawcett and DC put out 13 titles that specifically mentioned the 7th War Loan on the covers while some other publishers (primarily Dell, Eastern Color and Novelty Press) put some type of call for buying more bonds on their covers.

 

Many of the Dell covers highlight a copy of a letter that was distributed to the media with the signatures of 7 military leaders speaking of the need to fund the end of the war. According to the May 28th, 1945 issue of Time Magazine, the letter was printed in "Some 3,000 magazines with a combined circulation of 175,000,000" and had a goal of selling 7 Billion dollars worth of bonds to individuals. An earlier post in the thread shows a Readers Digest from June, 1945 with the letter on its cover as well.

 

Other issues I've found to be part of the 7th War Loan campaign are:

Super Comics 86, Our Gang 17, Target Comics Vol.6 No.5, Heroic 31, Popular 113, Speed Comics 38, Big Shot 57 and Boy Commandos 13. I imagine I'll just have to get those as well at some point so I don't have an incomplete collection of this theme. And because of this thread I'm sure I'll have also get some of the other great issues already posted here. Thanks a lot... :mad: ... lol

 

 

Mickey

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These are my non-specific 7th War Loan covers. The Jingle Jangle was one I found almost by accident...it was the right date but looked completely non-war bond related until I noticed the relatively small print at the bottom that just says "Buy More War Bonds". I'm guessing it was a last minute addition so they just added it but didn't want to detract from the original bear-focused cover. :)

 

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