A look at Lucille Ball’s support of the US Savings Bond program from 1942 to 1973.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF US BONDS
Liberty
Bonds (World War I)
During
World War One (1917-18) the
US government used movie stars to host bond rallies. Al
Jolson, Elsie
Janis, Mary
Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and Charlie
Chaplin were
among the celebrities that made public appearances promoting the
patriotic element of purchasing Liberty
Bonds. Chaplin
also made a short film, The
Bond,
at his own expense for the drive.
Defense
/ War Bonds (World War II)
Secretary
of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr. began planning a national
Defense
Bond program
in the fall of 1940. The intent was to unite the attractiveness of
the baby bonds that had been implemented in the interwar period with
the patriotic element of the Liberty
Bonds from
the First World War.
The
name of the bonds was eventually changed to War
Bonds
after the Japanese attack
on Pearl Harbor on
December 7, 1941, which resulted in the United States entering the
war.
Philadelphia Daily News ~ June 6, 1942
Reports that Lucille Ball sent a $25 War Bond to each of the ten girls that were fired from backing her up on “The Big Street”.
US Savings Bonds
After the end of World War II, the US Federal Bond program continued but was renamed the US Savings Bond program. The proceeds still were used towards national defense in such military events as the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War.
Artists,
entertainers and schools pitched in to support the war bond effort.
Occasionally, movie premieres offered admission with the purchase of
a bond, while star-studded parades and touring shows entertained
audiences and promoted bonds. The
Hollywood Bond Cavalcade (1943),
for example, was a traveling variety show featuring such stars as
Lucille Ball, Judy Garland, and Mickey Rooney.
“Christmas
Previews with Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz”
1:00 minute, December 1955
Lucy
and Desi play themselves in a living room (not the Ricardos),
trimming the tree with Savings Bonds for their children. Dividing their gifts, Lucy is surprised that one addressed “Mrs. Desi Arnaz” is for her! This one
minute black and white spot was meant to be shown in cinemas.
Desi:
“There’s
no better way to express the spirit of Christmas than US Savings
Bonds.”
In
a 1962 episode of “The
Lucy Show,” Lucy
Carmichael volunteers for a women in space mission. Fearing
the dangers of space travel, Lucy tearfully regrets her decision.
“The
Lucy Show”
45 seconds, filmed mid-1965 through early 1968
Starring
Lucille Ball (as herself) sitting in Lucy Carmichael’s California living
room, the main set from “The Lucy Show.”
Lucille
Ball recommends United States Savings Bonds to support President
Johnson and the Vietnam War.
Similar
PSAs were done by Irene Ryan as Granny from “The Beverley
Hillbillies,” Dan Blocker and Lorne Green (“Bonanza”), Ann
Marcus (“Peyton Place”), plus film stars like John Wayne and
Charlton Heston.
“Twenty Five Years of Savings Bonds”
7:30 minutes, filmed 1966
Written
by Frank Ashe. Starring
Lucille Ball (as herself) sitting in Lucy Carmichael’s California
living room, the main set from “The Lucy Show.”
This
film is part of “The Lucy Show” Season 5 DVD bonus
features.
As
Lucy narrates there is footage of actor Gregory Peck on the set of
Pork
Chop Hill (1959)
holding a poster for Savings Bonds, followed by footage of singer Pat
Boone in front of a suburban home.
When Boone’s bonds are shown in
close-up, the address given is 10201 West Pico Boulevard, the
location of 20th Century Fox Studios. In 1959, Boone appeared in Journey
to the Center of the Earth
for Fox.
Footage
from a parade of stars recruited to pitch bonds (then called War
Bonds) includes Jimmy Cagney, Greer Garson, Fred Astaire, Harpo Marx,
Kay Kaiser, and Lucille Ball.
Lucille Ball: “We had rallies, parades, all the old hoopla and boom-de-boom.”
Lucy
remembers the Hollywood stars that went off to fight: (Clark) Gable,
(Jimmy) Stewart, (Robert) Taylor, (Henry) Fonda, (Robert) Montgomery.
Lucy recalls that it was during a war bonds tour in January 1942
that her dear friend Carole Lombard perished in a plane crash. Only
the day before she had raised $2.5 million at an Indianapolis bond
rally.
Lucy
mentions that the US Armed forces continued to fight communism in
Korea and (now) Vietnam. She also mentions the “shameful wall”
in Berlin.
Lucille Ball:
“I
don’t pretend to understand it all. I’m just Lucy, you know.”
Lucy
says that the space program also benefits from Savings Bonds. In 25
years nearly 150 billion dollars of Bonds were sold. Two thirds of
those were cashed in for personal use.
“Here’s
Lucy”
12 minutes, filmed September 27, 1973
Directed
by Coby Ruskin ~ Written by Bob O’Brien. Lucille
Ball (as
Lucy Carter and herself),
Gale Gordon (as
Harrison Otis Carter and himself), Lucie
Arnaz (as
Kim Carter and herself), and Roy Rowan (Announcer).
A
short ‘episode’ (shot on the Unique Employment Agency set) in which
Lucy, Kim, and Uncle Harry discuss the importance of Savings Bonds.
It’s done in sitcom fashion, although there
was no studio audience and no laugh track.
The
last minute and a half of the ‘episode’ the actors play themselves
and talk to the camera.
Lucille
Ball:
“I
have been a supporter of the Bond program as long as there’s been a
Bond program.”
It
was filmed on the same day the cast and crew filmed “Tipsy Through
the Tulips” (HL S6;E10), an episode featuring guest-star Foster Brooks.
It
can be viewed on disc 4 of the “Here’s Lucy” Season Six DVD set
Bonus Features.
It
is unclear whether this Public Service Announcement / ‘episode’ was
ever aired, shown, or to whom.
The
film opens with Harry at his desk reading a pamphlet about the
Payroll Savings Plan.
As
usual, Lucy is late to work. First thing, Harry dictates a letter to
Henry Jones of the US Treasury Department [not a real person]. Harry
tries to convince Lucy (who pleads poverty) to enroll in the Payroll
Savings Plan to buy bonds. Harry tells Lucy that Bonds help manage
the national debt. In previous decades the push was for military
defense.
Lucy
makes a joke about John Wayne, one of Lucille Ball’s favorite guest
stars. He played himself on both “I Love Lucy” and “The Lucy
Show.” Wayne was also a supporter of the Bond program, filming his own PSAs on the subject.
Kim
enters and says that lots of kids at her college are only there
because their parents saved for their education through US Savings
Bonds.
Kim
reminds Lucy that she may want to take a trip to Hawaii some day.
Script writer Bob O’Brien either has a short memory or didn’t do his
research. Lucy and Kim went to Hawaii in a two-part episode just a
year and a half earlier!
The
“Here’s Lucy” opening credits are the same, but the closing
credits features original music by Marl Young.
Sometime during “Here’s Lucy” Lucie Arnaz (as herself) also did her own PSA for US Savings Bonds.
Gale Gordon (as himself) also did one, on the set of “Here’s Lucy,” where he talks to “Uncle Sam” on the telephone.
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