Here's a Fabulous Find in honor of Veterans Day here in the States, and Remembrance Day in the U.K.
This is an original, never displayed, WWII War Bonds poster: the classic poster that inspired Clint Eastwood's movie "Letters from Iwo Jima." I discovered it in a sealed government envelope, tucked inside the pages of a book that belonged to my grandfather. Because the original envelope was sealed, I'm pretty certain this poster was never unfolded until I took this photo. The poster was printed in 1945, measures approximately 26" x 37", and is in excellent condition. I'm planning to sell the poster, but have not yet decided if I'll put it on eBay or consign it to an auction house. Please send me an email if you are interested in purchasing this wonderful piece of WWII memorabilia.
The 7th War Loan campaign began on May 14, 1945, just 6 days after the unconditional surrender of Germany, now known as VE (Victory in Europe) Day, as America turned its full attention to the challenge of defeating Japan. Fears that the bond drive would be hurt by the surrender of Germany and victory in Europe were unfounded, certainly due in part to this heroic poster. During the six weeks of this drive over 26 billion dollars worth of war bonds were sold.
During WWII, war bonds were a source of cash income for the U.S. government, used to finance the war. Purchasing bonds was patriotic, and was seen as making a personal investment in victory. While the initial goal of selling war bonds was to finance the war, it had the positive side-effect of raising morale on the home-front. By the end of the war, 85 million Americans had invested in war bonds.
The "Now .. All Together" poster features C.C. Beall's painting of Joe Rosenthal's Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of soldiers raising the American flag on the island of Iwo Jima, taken on February 23, 1945. Iwo Jima's importance lay in it's location, midway between Japan and American bomber bases in the Mariana Islands. During the 36 day Battle of Iwo Jima, there were 25,851 United States casualties, plus the deaths of virtually all of the 22,000 Japanese soldiers on the island.
