Mr and Mrs America

Series

Series Name

The March of Time 8th Year

Issue

Issue No.

8

Date Released

Feb 1943

Length of issue (in feet)

1789

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1Mr and Mrs America

Story

Story No. within this Issue

1 / 1

Summary

The March of Time synopsis: America has suffered less than the countries of Europe and the Pacific, but she too is being gradually transformed by war. What these changes are, and how they are being brought about is told in the form of a pictorial letter from "Mr and Mrs America" to their son in the service, telling him what the folks back home are doing. The letter tells of the scrap drives, how volunteers got in the harvests, recounts Civilians Defence activities and sums up the state of mind of the people about the war and their determination to see it through.

As the demands of war increase, the people of the U.S. are seeing their way of life drastically changed. The March of Time reviews some of these changes - the institution of rationing, the new realisation of women’s importance in the war economy, the spread of centrally coordinated Government control over the individual, and, lastly, the awakening of the spirit of service. From the outset of the war the work of the U.S. Press has proved to be invaluable in exposing the evils which sabotage the war effort - rationing violations, labour’s jurisdictional struggles, war profiteering and the Black Market. Typical of the enterprise of the U.S. Press is the idea of the Rumour Clinic - one publisher’s contribution to the war on axis propaganda. Rumours collected and submitted by readers are analyzed and traced to their source. The clinic’s findings are regularly published and enemy inspired rumours are denounced for what they are.

Reflecting the unmistakable temper and will of the American people, the press has been almost unanimous in voicing to the nation’s Commander-in-Chief one urgent plea above all others; for able and unified leadership, both military and economic, to be entrusted with full responsibility for the prosecution of the war. For it is recognised that, despite all the nation has accomplished within a single year, the war has gone badly - that however great today’s rate of production, tomorrow’s must be immeasurably greater. They know that this war can only be won by superior planning, superior co-ordination of all their forces, and, above all, by more work and more sacrifice from all the people - fighting soldiers and fighting citizens.

Researcher Comments

This story was included in Vol.9 No.3 of the US edition.

Keywords

Domestic life; War and conflict

Written sources

Documentary News Letter   Vol.4 No.2 February 1943, p182.
The March of Time Promotional Material   Lobby Card, Used for synopsis

Credits:

Production Co.

Time Inc.