SPEND! The last war . . . remember? Then what? Or geoe Silk shirts! Pink ones, green ones, blue ones with white stripes — millions of them. _ Those same war-factory wheels will again slow down and stop. Men will walk out of factories and hear the gates grind closed behind them — many of them to stay closed. And silk stockings for the women — on legs that had never felt anything but cotton before. There's no special Providence watching over this country, in spite of all our songs and slogans. Wrist watches... rings... bracelets... hand-tailored suits... ten-dollar felt hats . . . better, larger, sweller apartments. Then it happened. 1918 and the Armistice. This war boom petered out. In factory after factory the wheels turned slower— slower — then stopped. The cuffs on the silk shirts were frayed, and the colors faded... and the silk stockings were gone, and the rings and the watches were in pawn shops... and people moved back where they'd come from. eo So we started on the second lap, on the same circular track. 1923-1929. Prosperity. Nothing ever like it before in the world. Stocks — up 50 points in a week — thousands, millions—billions of dollars of profits — on paper. Bootleggers ... parties... automobiles... new suits... radios, ow 2s + * Speer ee eo Se refrigerators, real estate, furniture, Then—1929 diamond rings, boats... Luckier, yes. Our land is fairer — endowed with more riches than any other lands. And we've worked hard — or used to, anyway. Nobody knows how much is left of American spirit and guts — yet. We think it's greater than before. The Japs and the Germans will find that out. But listen, Mister... Don't fool yourself! The time's going to come when you'll need those dollars you're throwing around now. And when your pockets are empty it won't be because you'll be taking money out of them—but because no money will be going into them, How about those bright kids of yours? Will they have to work instead of going to high school or college? So look... and crash again! “Sorry, Mr. Jones... more margin, or we'll have to sell you out - +. Dear Mr. Jones... unless you send us a check to cover two unpaid installments on your furniture... worry... worry... sorry, Jones, better look around for a new job... no help wanted..." Remember? How come? How did we get that way—again? We're people — just like any other people. Why did it happen here, when it couldn't happen here? Well, let's look back — let's see how it did happen. Bond's weren't good enough for us. Savings banks weren't exciting as brokers’ offices. We were trying to compress our lives — to squeeze the juice of three score years and ten into a decade. We wanted for next to nothing the things our fathers had worked and sweated and saved for. My wife's clothes had to be better, smarter — more expensive than your wife's — and her jewelry, too. And say —looka my new radio! Twenty-two tubes, three loud speakers, record chaner, home recorder, and three short-wave bands! The old one? Oh, | traded it in when | bought the new one — and the new refrigerator, and the dining room furniture — slick, eh?— "modern," they call it. How much? What's the difference? — Twenty-four payments of cighty dollars instead of sixty-five! I'll never miss it... Hold on a minute, brother... Did we "miss it"' in the early "thirties?" Did we "miss it" when some fifteen million men walked the street — camped out — lived in huts and shacks and lean-tos? Did we “miss it'' while brave women scrubbed and scoured and patched and mended until their finger tips were raw, their hands rough — and their hearts dull with the pain of abandoned hopes? Where's the money coming from — "prosperity?" No... war. From the Business of Death we've been forced into. From things made to kill people. From things made to kill other people so they won't kill us. Win, lose, or draw, the war will end some day. No war has lasted forever. ) When you want to spend money or buy something imagine you were spending your next-to-the-last-dollar. What? Oh, you're making more money? Then new, save more just — don't spend more! Because the money we all save now will play a tremendous part in the after-war economy of our country. The money we save now will be a cushion of buying power — those sorely-needed dollars to ‘start things up again’ in our civilian economy — to keep us from national bankruptcy until the wheels start moving again. The dollars you waste now may be the dollars you'll need then — yes, perhaps such matter-of-fact things as bread and milk and meat. even for Remember, we're at war! Dollars are needed just as much as men — to back up those men — to give your boy, your brothér, or your pal the stuff he needs to beat the Axis, and come back alive. Money wasted on foolish luxuries won't do this. Once spent, it's gone, and neither you nor the boys fighting for you are better off for the spending. But the dollars you save in War Bonds or your saving account will help Uncle Sam buy the guns, the tanks, the ships, and the planes we must have to survive and win. And those savings will guarantee your future — the financial fu- ture of you, your family, and the boys who are fighting for us all. Nobody can tell you what's going to happen after the war, of its searing effect on the nation. But somebody can tell you what will happen to you. You can. Make a plan and stick to it. Guarantee your own future. So many dollars every pay day into War Bonds and into your savings account. Then, come hell or high water, follow your plan. Protect your family. Build up reserves. Create a stock of money and make it grow. Your money. Your Bonds. Your protection. So, when you save wisely, you're helping your country and yourself at the same time. Honest, now... Could you ask for anything better?