In 1942 the world was at war. In December of 1941 the U.S. had been attacked by Japan and the fear of an enemy invasion meant that most Americans were ready to sacrifice at home in order to help the war effort.
During the spring of 1942 a ration system was begun that set limits on the amount of food, gas, tires, clothing and fuel oil a family could purchase. Stamps were issued to buy items like meat, sugar, butter and vegetables.
Scrap metal drives rounded up old trucks, printing presses, wash tubs, bed springs, and other metal odds and ends to make the tools of war.
An ad in the local paper said you should donate everything you may have saved thinking you might use it sometime in the future because “This is it! The Greatest Emergency Possible!”
People were expected to sacrifice and donate to the war cause. Another way Americans could support the war effort was to buy government bonds that supported the military costs of fighting on three continents.
The U.S. government set purchase quotas for each county in Vermont. In 1942 it was expected that citizens in Windham County would buy a minimum of $100,000 of war bonds.
It was in this environment that famous movie screen star, Dorothy Lamour was scheduled to come to Brattleboro in late September, 1942 in order to hold a War Bond Rally on the Town Common.
Dorothy Lamour was traveling cross country to stop at various locations and sell war bonds. Brattleboro was the smallest town on her war bond selling tour.
When she arrived at the Common the Brattleboro high school band played the Star Spangled Banner and Ms. Lamour gave the following speech, “The purchasers of bonds are buying eyes, legs and arms for our fighting boys who are keeping our country as it has always been and always will be. Let’s dig down and let those boys know we are back of them one billion per cent!”
Highlights of the rally were when Ms. Lamour auctioned off an autographed photo of herself for $1,000 and gave her handkerchief away to the highest bidder, who purchased a $2,000 bond.
While Windham County was expected to raise $100,000 in war bond sales, the Dorothy Lamour War Bond Rally in Brattleboro sold over $247,500 worth of bonds. Many of the purchases were made in anticipation of her arrival as businesses and civic organizations went to extremes to promote the event.
1942 was a time of patriotism and fear as the outcome of the war was far from certain. Dorothy Lamour went on to become known as the “Bond Bombshell” as she sold about 300 million dollars’ worth of war bonds during the course of World War II.
Some of the war bonds sold in Brattleboro became the funding for the creation of Living Memorial Park in the 1950’s.