Thelma and Lowell's Diary: March 5, 1943

They buy a war bond; so did 85 million other Americans

Thelma’s notations today are all about income and expenses. Lowell got net pay of $90.90, having $4.17 in retirement pay, $5.99 in taxes and $18.75 for a war bond deducted. The bond would mature in ten years and could be redeemed then for $25. It was his third bond purchase, and he would buy dozens more by the end of the war, typically in denominations of $25 and $50. This promotional poster bore President Roosevelt’s picture and his words, “Every single man, woman, and child is partner in the most tremendous undertaking in our American history.” It is offered for sale on eBay.

Read on about the impact of war bonds, but only if you are a “Bootie” or paying subscriber of Baptists, Bootleggers and Everything in Between. Subscribe in March for the year ($50, or less than 14 cents a day) and you’ll get a signed and inscribed copy of my book Gertie: The Fabulous Life of Gertrude Sanford Legendre: Heiress, Explorer, Socialite, Spy. Legendre, who worked for the OSS, was the first American woman in uniform captured by the Germans on the Western front and spent six months as a high-ranking POW in 1944 and 1945. This drawing was done by a guard at one of her prisons. She was married to the son of a prominent New Orleans family and sent her children to live with her in-laws while she and her husband, Sidney Legendre, served in the war. Courtesy Legendre Archive, College of Charleston Libraries.