Redeemable Savings, or How to Become Ascetic through Consumption
Journal
Substance : a review of theory and literary criticism
ISSN
0049-2426
ISSN-Digital
1527-2095
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2017
Author(s)
Abstract
During World War II, both the US and Canadian governments issued a series of propaganda posters aimed at reducing spending and redirecting private households’ financial expenditures into the general war effort. Many of those posters, developed by some of the cleverest advertisers of the time, drew on Puritanism’s most deeply rooted principle: self-restraint. One propaganda poster (distributed, in this case, by the Canadian government) succinctly exemplifies the underlying logic: as an elegant couple looks up at a gigantic elephant for sale, the caption sternly reminds them to be thrifty: “If you don’t need it … don’t buy it!”
Language
English
Publisher
The Univ. of Wisconsin Press
Publisher place
Madison, Wis.
Volume
46
Number
3
Start page
3
End page
15
Official URL
Division(s)
Eprints ID
251626