Poster, 'Serve Your Country By Saving Money'

Buy war savings stamps!

This First World War poster was created by the United States Government to advertise the sale of Treasury Department war saving stamps to help fund the country's participation in the war. These stamps were mainly aimed at citizens. The poster depicts a small black and white lithograph image of Uncle Sam handing over saving stamps through a window to a man in a queue in exchange for money. Text dominates the majority of the poster, asking the viewer to 'Invest in U.S. Government War Savings Stamps'.

British and American Posters in New Zealand

This item is part of a collection of First World War posters sent to New Zealand as examples of British and American wartime propaganda. From 1917-1919, the Dominion Museum (now Te Papa) collected such war material with the help of the New Zealand High Commissioner in London and the Department of Defence. This particular poster arrived with the second batch of posters of over one hundred British and American war posters, sent by the High Commissioner in London via the Department of Internal Affairs in June 1919 and New Zealand War Records Section in London (Department of Defence).

The museum intended to collect and display such objects in a planned national war museum in Wellington which never eventuated. Instead, the museum toured over 100 war posters around New Zealand in the early 1920s in the context of increasing commemoration of the war during peacetime. For many, the posters illustrated important aspects of the war and the history of New Zealand's part in the war. This commemorative function was far removed from their original function to encourage wartime contribution.

Varnish streaks and drips can be seen on the surface of this poster as varnish was used in the early 1920s to coat and protect the posters on display instead of glass. Varnish was cheaper and made the posters easier to transport.