VICTORY — it’s in the bag

The VICTORY SHOULDER TOTE BAG has been made from a cotton herringbone twill and features “Victory” and “Keep em flying” stencil detailing - battle cries that were widely used following the attack of Pearl Harbour in the Second World War and throughout the US Governments “Salvage for Victory” campaigns and ‘Do Your Part’ part programs.

The Salvage for Victory campaign was a domestic initiative devised by the US Federal Government in 1942 and encouraged American civilians to support the American war effort by collecting and saving materials that could be used to achieve military goals.

Girl Scouts and other community groups helped with the salvage drive by manufacturing and distributing Victory Bags, often to their own design, that could be used to collect scrap, deposit it and then re-used.

Governments heavily relied on the deployment of propaganda posters to instil a sense of community spirit and patriotism throughout the American population who would rally together to answer the call for reusable materials and purchase Victory bonds. By the end of the war millions of tons of scrap had been collected and repurposed for war, with most counties in the United States having a functioning committee working alongside the War Production Board (WPB).