"Well boy, you've done your bit"

Place Oceania: Australia
Accession Number ARTV00059
Collection type Art
Measurement Overall: 76.7 x 50.6cm
Object type Poster
Physical description photolithograph on paper
Maker Unknown
Commonwealth Government of Australia
EB Studios
Place made Australia: New South Wales, Sydney
Date made c. 1919 - 1921
Conflict First World War, 1914-1918
Copyright

Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain

Public Domain Mark This item is in the Public Domain

Description

Depicts an old farmer welcoming a young veteran, symbolising the assistance that men who were no longer eligible for recruitment could give. The text encourages the viewer to buy peace bonds. Many countries involved in the war realised that they would need more funds to resource their campaigns, and accordingly developed war loan programs. These programs encouraged the population to purchase government war bonds which would be repaid with interest, and assist the war effort. The loan subscriptions were extremely successful in Australia, often exceeding the targeted amount. As the conflict drew to a close, the posters promised that the purchase of bonds bring a speedy resolution to the war.

Following the war, 'Peace Loan' campaigns were launched to recoup the cost of the war and fund soldier pensions. Peace loans functioned along the same lines of the war loans, in that people 'lent' the government money in return for interest.

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