University of Virginia Library

Defense Bonds

At a luncheon of the Charlottesville Kiwanis Club on December
15, 1941, at which he read an appeal urging all wage-earners to
buy U. S. defense bonds and stamps, Hildreth reported that the
citizens of Charlottesville and Albemarle had been purchasing “defense
bonds” for months but that in the week since Pearl Harbor
sales had increased from $1,000 daily to $5,000 daily.[1]

By the New Year daily sales had climbed until Charlottesville
averaged over $10,000 per day. This figure would have been even
higher had not a bond shortage developed. Local banks, having
sold out of the popular bonds and being unable to secure an adequate
resupply, were holding large sums of money with which to buy
when bonds again became available.[2]

This fast pace continued, and by the middle of March Charlottesville
had bought nearly $900,000 worth of “offense bonds” since
the Japanese attack, an average of $45 per citizen. But April saw
a decline in sales.[3] The first wild enthusiasm passed and was replaced
by a more systematic war bond program.

The most intensive effort since the Victory Loan Drive of World
War I was initiated on May 1, 1942, all over the United States.
In President Roosevelt's Fireside Chat of April 28, Americans were
asked to pledge ten per cent of each pay check to the bond campaign.
A goal of $600,000,000 of war bonds and stamps was
set for the month of May, for June, $800,000,000, and for every
month thereafter, $1,000,000,000.

The first E bond quota assigned to Charlottesville and Albemarle
County was $143,950 for the month of May, 1942, but sales

totaled only $104,573. This figure, however, does not give the
complete picture, since other types of bonds were bought in large
blocks and a number of persons had made important purchases in
other communities. Sales in the three Charlottesville banks for the
six months following Pearl Harbor amounted to a maturity value
of $1,146,675. There had been a marked drop after the record
average of $10,000 a day for January, February and March.[4]

Bond selling campaigns were carried on in the city and county by
groups of every type. Schools and industries, civic clubs and
women's organizations, had their goals. Accounts of only a few
of these campaigns can be included here.

Manned by volunteer workers dressed in patriotic pinafores and
caps, the American Legion “40 and 8” car, replica of the French
railroad car of 1918, was stationed on Main Street in Charlottesville
to assist in the Retail Merchants' campaign to increase the sale of
war stamps and bonds in the city during July, 1942. Other booths
were located in various parts of the city.[5]

The first wartime parade was sponsored by the Retail Merchants
Association in an effort to sell $25,000 in bonds and stamps on
American War Heroes Day, July 17. E. R. Newman, parade chairman,
assembled a colorful series of units which took six minutes to
pass a given point. Randolph H. Perry, the marshal, and most of
the other participants, including the city officials, traveled on foot.
There were, however, a number of bicycles and saddle horses in the
parade. The Charlottesville Muncipal Band and the Jefferson High
School Band furnished music to which marched the Virginia Protective
Force, the various veterans organizations, the Red Cross units,
and others. The University Volunteer Unit, which consisted of
forty-five students who had cut classes at the last minute to shoulder
realistic wooden rifles, was cheered as it marched along Main Street.
Overhead droned the Civil Air Patrol. The city's American Heroes
looked on by proxy from a store window where their photographs
were displayed. The spirit of the day led customers to flock to
the bond booths. All morning a line stood before the “defense
window” at the post office.[6]

The visit of movie actress Greer Garson to Charlottesville in September
was a gala event. Judge Armistead M. Dobie, toastmaster
at the dinner given Miss Garson, paid high tribute to her and to the
sunshine of her radiant presence. She in turn spoke of how much
she enjoyed visiting Virginia. “Here in the Old Dominion you
have wonderful towns and great little cities,” she said. “The heart
of the country is in the big little towns.” At her appearance at
a local theater she was heartily applauded. Stimulated by Miss
Garson's visit, E bond sales soared, and reached a peak of $294,922
for September.[7]

“Women at War Week” the latter part of November saw about
twenty women's organizations selling bonds and stamps in booths
located in various stores in Charlottesville. On the first day,
November 23, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, led by
their president, Mrs. John R. Morris, set a record by selling $10,570
worth at their booth in the C. H. Williams department store.
During the week the American Legion Auxiliary sold $7,984 worth,
and the Jack Jouett Chapter of the Daughters of the American
Revolution sold $4,119 worth. All together, more than $27,000
in war bonds and stamps were sold during the six days.[8]

On December 3 the Scottsville Lions Club put on a highly successful
minstrel show at the Victory Theater in Scottsville. Edward
N. (“Uncle Jim”) MacWilliams of Keene directed the show. From
admission charges a sizeable contribution was made to the Lions'
fund for the blind. A number of servicemen, including some
British seamen, were in the audience, and several had an impromptu
part in the show. The highlight of the evening was the auction
of objects to purchasers of war bonds and stamps. The necktie of
Sergeant Merril L. Carter of Scottsville, then serving in India,
brought the high bid of $2,000. More than $20,000 worth of
bonds and stamps were sold.[9]