It was strange to see HM The King mentioned on this World War Two poster. Having had a Queen reigning over us for the last seventy years having a female head of state seems ingrained in our way of thinking, from the National Anthem to our stamps, coins and banknotes.
The idea behind the War Savings Certificates was to appeal to the patriotism of the people, encouraging them to save, thereby providing the Government with money with which to fight the war.
People organised Street Savings schemes. Stamps of various values could be bought weekly and stuck onto a card, then once the card was full – equal to fifteen shillings – a Savings Certificate could be bought.
More substantial savings could be invested in War Bonds, first introduced during World War One to allow the government to borrow more money. Both schemes proved a huge success. Although the scheme continued during the inter-war years, it saw its second period of massive growth during World War Two. By the end of 1945, it had reached the amazing figure of £1,754 million (worth around £80 million today!).
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