1918 Membership Certificate - World War 1 Maximum War Savings Club in Chicago, Illinois For Sale

March xxxx membership certificate to the Maximum War Savings Club of Illinois, This club was a by-product of an aggressive campaign by the U.S. government to demonstrate patriotism by purchasing Liberty Bonds to help subsidize the enormous cost of World War 1. Because the first World War cost the federal government more than 30 billion dollars (by way of comparison, total federal expenditures in xxxx were only $970 million), these bond fund-raising programs became vital as a way to raise funds. The government solicited popular performers and movie-star celebrities to heavily promote the wildly successful bond campaign which produced a Liberty Bond over-subscriptions for the second, third and fourth bond issues.
This serial-numbered certificate is framed by a neat black border and bears a graphic (at bottom- center) of a single hand raising a lit torch to symbolize the Torch of Liberty. The organization's secretary and president hand-sign the document to the respective left and right of the torch. The signor as president was famous economist James B. Fargan, who was also president of Chicago's First National Bank.
The document is in Good condition, but not Very Good. It has begun to show some age-fading and bears a 1/2 inch rip at the lower right edge and a 1 inch rip at the upper left edge. There are also two small rips along the center crease line where the document was folded. However, none of these rips will be discernible once the document is under a glassed black frame.