1942. Hedy Lamarr is delighted to accept the challenge when the Treasury Department asks her to help sell bonds to raise money for the war effort. She leaves in late August to take part in Salute to Our Heroes Month, which involves teams of movie stars touring 210 US cities holding war-bond rallies to raise money for the effort.
The campaign kicks off on 31 August on the steps of the Treasury Department. The event is filmed by the newsreels as well as being broadcast on the radio. Hosted by Senator Henry Morgenthau. Hedy says just a few words but she’s visibly moved: “I don’t want to make this long. I just want to say that I’m very proud and happy that I too can do my bit in the war effort.”
She then turns her hand to signing autographs for some of the 30,000 or so bond buyers at the rally. That day alone, $1.5 million of war bonds are sold. A caption on the back of the photo reads:
UNCLE SAM’S SALESLADY…Hedy Lamarr, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s lively star as she appeared throughout the country during the great September drive to promote the sale of War Bonds and Stamps. After arriving in Washington for an informal luncheon with Secretary of the Treasury Morgenthau, she started her tour which took her throughout the East where she addressed thousands of employees in war factories. In Elizabeth, New Jersey, she sang one song for the sum of a thousand dollar War Bond.