Number 632


Billy Dollar


This is the second World War II-era strip I've posted with a theme of buying U.S. War Bonds. The first is here. Someone at the U.S. Department of Propaganda probably approached comic book publishers and asked them to encourage the kiddies to spend their money on savings stamps or bonds.

After you read this story by Walt Kelly from Our Gang Comics #6, 1943, I'll tell you something about War Bonds.






OK, back again, are we. Here's what I just read from the Associated Press on Sunday, October 25, 2009: War Bonds matured after 40 years. By the 1980s, when the 40 years were up, many bonds had been lost, destroyed, forgotten, the owner had died, were sitting unclaimed in safety deposit boxes or at the bottom of landfills. The U.S. government made no announcements, they made no effort to inform or find original owners of these bonds, so according to a lawsuit filed by several states, $16.7 billion is owed by the federal government as unclaimed property on unredeemed bonds. The states figure they are owed the money. Huh. Well, I guess they can try to get it.

In the 1940s and 1950s there was always a push to get kids to buy savings stamps every week. I never bought in. I guess I'm just not very patriotic, or I didn't want to wait 40 years to get my money out. (Too bad. The forty year maturation period would have been up for me years ago and I could've cashed in!)

During World War II even Bugs Bunny got into the act.