This post appeared as a 2 part post on our social media platforms. Information and photos were supplied by Greg Sigurdson, our archivist.
The photos below are of a small artifact donated to the CATP Museum by our “Darkroom Guy’’ Lyle. Lyle, of course likes this nickname, but hasn’t developed any films or prints for many years having joined the digital world like the rest of us.
During the Second World War, even children were asked to support the war effort. A child could buy War Savings Stamps for 25 cents each; after saving $4 worth of stamps and sending this form to the federal government, the child would receive a War Savings Certificate worth $5. The Savings Stamps are part of the overall War Savings Certificate (War Bond) program which generated over $318 million ($4,939 million today) to the war effort. Canada’s WWII War and Victory bonds were redeemable after seven years after purchase.
Part 1, above, was about the War Savings Certificates that kids were encouraged to buy in Canada during World War II. In part 2, we present the CATP Museum’s largest ‘small’ artifact – a blackboard which was dedicated to recording the progress one class in Room 12 at the Greenway School in Winnipeg made in their savings via the War Savings Certificate program (first photo below). The fact that this artifact was discovered and moved to the CATP Museum is a remarkable story in itself. We also include a portion of the Volume 16 Issue 2 of CONTACT magazine in which Frank Scardina, one of those students, recounts his visit to Brandon to see the blackboard about 50 years after he last saw it. We also include an article from the Brandon Sun about this artifact (last photo below – we apologize for the quality of this image).
Commonwealth Air Training Plan Museum & RCAF WWII Memorial 