Bob in the Pound

1943
Silent
3m

Fun-filled singalong savings ad with a dangerously catchy theme tune.

Learn to save with this animated karaoke-style cinema ad! Featuring a cartoon character with the name Bob - the colloquial term for a pre-decimalisation one-shilling piece - the film was made to encourage the wartime public to invest in government savings bonds for a 'brighter' post-war future.

The voice speaking from the radio in comic interplay with 'Bob' belongs to Tommy Handley, the presenter of the BBC's hugely popular wartime radio comedy show It's That Man Again. ITMA, as it was affectionately known, involved an extensive and eccentric cast of characters - including charlady Mrs Mopp, who featured in a number of humorous cinema advertisements for Persil washing powder. These included Mrs Mopp Asks Why (1943), also available to view on BFI Player.

Ration Book Britain

As if the bombs weren't enough, wartime Britons faced another fearsome foe: the ration book...

Everyday goods, from food and fuel to clothing, became luxuries - especially with supplies from Britain's Empire territories routinely intercepted by Nazi U-boats. Public information messages urged housewives to get creative with dried eggs and potato peel. Austerity was soul-sapping, and lasted long after the peace was won.

But rationing did help foster a sense of 'all in it together' and focused minds on managing scarce resources (while also creating profitable opportunities for the entrepreneurial 'spiv'). Make-do-and-mend became second nature, and wartime Brits recycled and salvaged more diligently then even today's eco-conscious citizens.