Consumption and Citizenship During the Second World War

Abstract

Most research on advertising and consumption during the Second World War focusses on rationing and deferred spending, suggesting that consumers curtailed spending and focussed on saving for postwar purchases. In fact, spending increased steadily during the war and non-rationed goods ‘were gobbled up’ by consumers eager to spend the money earned through war production. The following study seeks to provide a more complete understanding of consumption during the Second World War. This research combines an exploration of archived data from the advertising industry and government bureau reports on advertising and the wartime economy with anexamination of advertisements in women’s magazines during the war period. Archival data suggest that the advertising industry not only weatheredthe wartime crisis, but also profited from government campaigns to sell thewar and business campaigns to sell products. Data from a content analysisindicate that American women received a consistent message of unrestricted consumption during the war that overshadowed messages about rationing and deferred spending. The types of advertising campaigns used during the war period reflect the divergent needs of producers and consumers during the crisisand reveal the continued capitalistic ideology of consumption in spite of established restrictions on spending.