Monday, April 03, 2023
Selling It: The Liber T. Loane Family
Wars are bloody, that's for sure, and they're bloody expensive, too. And one of the ways that governments pay for their little exercises in world domination is by making their own citizens foot the bill. They start by jacking up taxes, which is a good ploy, but that doesn't really give them access to savings, just income. And there's a LOT of money being wasted on stuff other than bullets and bandages, just whiling away the time in bank accounts and the stock market.
Governments that are a little shy of outright demanding that money often go with plan B, making citizens feel like heels if they don't pony up those savings to the government of their own free will. To make it most palatable, governments issue bonds that eventually pay a small dividend, assuming they manage to win the war.
Hmm. This is reading more like a rant than a blogpost so far. Let's try this...
In 1919, after World War I ended, governments still had huge bills pending for rebuilding. Even the U.S., never the home turf to the war, had soldiers to bring home, armed forces to rebuild, an economy to revitalize, and refugees to feed and clothe. Therefore, the 1919 U.S. Victory Loan (the ones during wartime were termed Liberty Loans) admonished citizens to dig deep one more time in aid of the nation. Newspapers were always important venues for the appeals to patriotism that formed the advertising for these fund drives. Famous illustrators and cartoonists were often called upon to lend their abilities to these drives.
In World War II comic strips and comic panels were often used for these drives, but I can't recall any comic strip used during World War I by the government to sell bonds, except for this one unearthed by Mark Johnson, The Liber T. Loane Family. The strip was penned by Harold B. Lentz, who later made a name for himself illustrating children's books, especially well-remembered for those of the pop-up variety.
Looking at the various digitized papers that used the series, it appears that there were eighteen installments, and the earliest users started it in April 1919*. Others used it later that year, and its running often coincides with a local push to sell bonds, often with lots of hoopla, speeches and entertainment in the town square and such.
Thanks to Mark Johnson for the sample strip!
* The earliest start date I found was April 4 1919 (mid-week) by the Wilmington Daily News.
Labels: Advertising Strips
