The Squander Bug was a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

character created by the British

National Savings Committee The National Savings Movement was a British mass savings movement that operated between 1916 and 1978 and was used to finance the deficit of government spending over tax revenues. The movement was instrumental during World War II in raising fu ...

to discourage wasteful spending and consumption. Originally designed by freelance illustrator

Phillip Boydell Phillip Boydell (1896 - 1984) was a British designer and illustrator. Life and work Boydell was born on 21 May 1896 in Tyldesley Lancashire, to Oliver Boydell (a master decorator) and Merinda. He obtained a scholarship at the Manchester School ...

for press

adverts Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

, the character was widely used by other wartime artists in

poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...

campaigns and political cartoons. It is one of the few propaganda campaigns from World War II to be fully documented from the original concept sketches to the finished adverts.

Joseph Darracott Joseph Corbould Darracott (22 February 1934–6 March 1998) was a British writer, art historian, editor and museum curator who for 14 years was Keeper of Art at the Imperial War Museum in London.HMSO The Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the body responsible for the operation of His Majesty's Stationery Office (HMSO) and of other public information services of the United Kingdom. The OPSI is part of the National Archives of the Un ...

, London, 1972. p. 62.

Creation

During the Second World War, the British National Savings Committee became concerned that inflated prices were being paid for

scarce In economics, scarcity "refers to the basic fact of life that there exists only a finite amount of human and nonhuman resources which the best technical knowledge is capable of using to produce only limited maximum amounts of each economic good. ...

consumer goods A final good or consumer good is a final product ready for sale that is used by the consumer to satisfy current wants or needs, unlike a intermediate good, which is used to produce other goods. A microwave oven or a bicycle is a final good, but ...

and believed that the money would be better spent on savings certificates to finance the war.

, London, 1972. p. 21. The Committee felt that a way to ridicule indulgent spending was needed, without being boring or high-handed. To meet this need, Boydell produced a series of six sketches depicting an

imp IMP or imp may refer to: * Imp, a fantasy creature Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Imp (She-Ra), a character in ''She-Ra: Princess of Power'' * Imp a character in '' Artemis Fowl: The Lost Colony'' * Imp, a character in the '' Clan ...

-like creature named the 'Money Grub' that could 'push, pull, scratch, bite and steal'. The concept was accepted almost as it stood, aside from the name being changed. The character was intended as a positive alternative to endless government warnings on what ''not'' to do, for example 'Don't waste fuel' or 'Don't waste paper'. Instead, the Squander Bug's

speech balloon Speech balloons (also speech bubbles, dialogue balloons, or word balloons) are a graphic convention used most commonly in comic books, comics, and cartoons to allow words (and much less often, pictures) to be understood as representing a char ...

s encouraged shoppers to waste their money on useless purchases, accompanied by captions urging consumers to fight or starve the creature. The character eventually gained

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

tattoos and was even placed in

Madame Tussauds Madame Tussauds (, ) is a wax museum founded in 1835 by French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud in London, spawning similar museums in major cities around the world. While it used to be spelled as "Madame Tussaud's"; the apostrophe is no longer us ...

wax museum alongside other war enemies, such as

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

Usage

Boydell was mainly involved in developing the Squander Bug for press adverts, but the character was also adapted for use in poster campaigns with the same message. British wartime cartoonists such as David Low and Carl Giles also used the character, sometimes ironically. For example,

Victor Weisz Victor Weisz (25 April 1913 in Berlin, Germany – 23 February 1966 in London, England) was a German-British political cartoonist, drawing under the name of Vicky. Biography Weisz was born in Berlin, Germany, to Hungarian-Jewish parents. He stu ...

lampooned Hitler's manpower shortages by giving him his own pair of squander bugs. The character developed an international reputation, and an adapted version was used in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, where the Squander Bug was given a Japanese appearance. A Squander Bug character was also created by Dr. Seuss to encourage

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

to buy

war bonds War bonds (sometimes referred to as Victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are a ...

, although the design was quite different from Boydell's version."Starve the Squander Bug: buy more war bonds."
University of North Texas Library. Accessed 13 October 2022.

In media

The Squander Bug is referenced in the 60s/ 70s

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

about the Home Guard, '' Dad's Army'', in the episode "

Knights of Madness "Knights of Madness" is the third episode of the ninth and final series of the British comedy series ''Dad's Army''. It was originally transmitted on 16 October 1977. Synopsis To support the Wings for Victory Week, the platoon restages the Bat ...

" (Series 9: Episode 3), with Private Pike ( Ian Lavender) dressing up as the bug.

References

External links

"Don't Let the Squander Bug Fool You"
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927235403/http://www.cyber-heritage.co.uk/women/bug43.jpg , date=27 September 2007 —Women's Magazines at Cyberheritage
The War Years in Monkwearmouth by Sunderland Libraries
WW2 People's War at the

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. Fictional characters introduced in the 1940s 1940s in Australia Economic history of the United Kingdom Fictional demons and devils Fictional insects Military history of Australia during World War II Propaganda cartoons United Kingdom home front during World War II Imps Swastika