"Your '19'" Vintage WWII U.S. Treasury Poster, 1944

Presented is an original WWII U.S. Treasury Poster, issued to encourage railway workers to purchase War bonds through the Payroll Savings Program. The poster was designed by Duncan Coburn and issued in 1944. The poster shows a train dispatcher, hanging off the side of a train, ready to receive a note from the station agent. The text “Your ‘19’” is printed at top in bold green script. At the bottom of the poster, a green Form 19 is shown with an order for “All Trains” at “All Stations” to “Meet Payroll Savings.” 

Form 19 was a special order from the Dispatcher to the Engineer and Conduction of a train that either gives them the authority to operate or modifies the timetable schedule. The orders were transmitted from the Dispatcher to a Station agent, and then passed to the crew of a moving train via a train order hoop. This poster is equating the importance of that Form 19 to meeting Payroll Savings goals. 

During WWII, the government received funding directly from United States citizens in the form of war saving bonds and stamps, which were paid back later with interest. Purchasing war bonds was viewed as a way for American citizens to support the war effort. Bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financial securities to many citizens for the first time.

Employees could authorize a certain allotment from each paycheck to be saved towards the purchase of a war savings bond. Known as the Payroll Savings Plan, the employer would deliver the bond out of the designated savings from his paycheck. There was an outpouring of poster art on both the local and national levels for these loan programs.

CONDITION:

Good condition overall, considering age and past use. Original color lithograph. Very vibrant coloration. Paper is healthy, save fold lines from past storage and slight creasing in poster margins. Poster is signed by the artist in the lithographic stone. Poster is printed with "U.S. Government Printing Office: 1944-O-572592 Official US Treasury Poster WFD 885" in the bottom margin. The poster is stamped in ink at top left, “Chesapeake and Ohio RR Engr. Maint. of Way, Richmond VA, Mar 3-1944, File No.___". The poster is sold unframed, as-is. Unframed Dimensions: 14"H x 10" W.