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.

The dilemma of frugality and consumption in British women's magazines 1940–1955

“…When it comes to the relationship between frugality and consumption during Second World War rationing, things are similarly more complex than previous accounts would expect, even allowing for my interest in a different nation-state. While both Witkowski (2003), with his emphasis on the ideology of frugality, and Adkins Covert (2003), with her emphasis on unrestricted consumption, do acknowledge the alternative imperative in their respective but opposing accounts, I think that it is fair to say that this material shows evidence of a more messy and complex relationship between frugality and consumption than either might expect. In particular, I have shown some of the ways in which the two can combine in subtle ways that make generalisations about the primary influence of one or the other insufficiently rich to understand the nuances of relationship between them when it comes to advertisements for food in Britain while rationing was in place.…”

“…In a significant critique of this view, Adkins Covert (2003) explored the idea that American women were significantly confronted with ''messages'' advocating unrestricted consumption rather than frugality. Based on a quantitative content analysis of American magazine Ladies Home Journal, she concluded that, during the war, American women were confronted with a ''consistent message of unrestricted consumption'' (Adkins Covert 2003, 315).…”

“…It provides an empirically-based account of the rhetorical strategies that were used to position goods in relation to the war and the rationing policy between 1940 Á the year that rationing began Á and 1955 Á the year after it ended. The paper addresses two competing narratives concerned with this period of history Á one emphasising an ideology of frugality, and an alternative that identifies a drive towards consumption Á exemplified by the competing accounts of Witkowski (2003) and Adkins Covert (2003).…”

Robertson's model: a framework for exploration of World War II conservation consumption policy influence on fashion in the US

“…During this time, the US government encouraged the frugal use of scarce goods that were needed for the war effort. Advertising and propaganda during the WWII were being positioned as a ‘wartime tool’ (Covert, 2003). The activists and the media lobbied for prudent spending as a patriotic duty (McGovern, 2006).…”

Frozen Jet Set: Refrigerators, Media Technology, and Postwar Transportation

“…Despite the Great Depression, refrigerators were installed in 50% of American households by 1940 (Friedberg 44–45). World War II rationing of the devices did not stop nearly 85% of homes from gaining a unit by 1944 (Covert 315–42), with another 20 million refrigerators sold by 1949 (May 166). Throughout these periods, research on the appliance has argued that strategies for inserting the refrigerator into domestic life were largely unvaried.…”