Poster, '200,000 subscribers needed'

This poster was created to advertise the 3rd Liberty Loan which was issued from 8 June to 10 July 1943 by the New Zealand government. New Zealand's Second World War effort was financed from internal resources, including loans, taxation, and savings. Posters such as this one played a significant part, appealing to New Zealanders' sense of patriotism and sacrifice. The imagery shows a wide range of the civilians targeted by the loan campaign (workers, women, businessmen), while also portraying occupational and fashionable dress.

Seven loans were floated during the war, with the aim of raising a total of £145 million. These schemes were huge and dramatic, were held only once or twice a year, and generally attracted larger investments from business firms, public bodies and wealthier individuals. A key intention of the loans was to absorb New Zealanders' private savings, which had increased owing to the paucity of goods and services (which had been diverted to the war effort), thereby offsetting inflation. The emotional premise of the loans was to conscript wealth in the same spirit as the conscription of people, essentially making ordinary citizens shareholders in the war effort. Even though it was acknowledged that money could never equal the loss of life or injury to soldiers, the risks were to be shared between soldiers and civilians, who would be rewarded with pay and interest, respectively.