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Protection Assured

Many insurance companies offered coverage to Canadian soldiers who enlisted for military service during the First World War. And the ink blotter was an effective advertising medium in the days of fountain pens.

Canada Life Assurance

Soldiers travelling in 1914, were given a chance to buy a life policy with the Canadian Life Assurance Company. This ad also provided a free war map to soldiers.

The Toronto Star: "unable to accept increase orders for the duration of the war."

The Toronto Star had to do its best to produce as many Star Weekly issues with the available paper during the war. However, in this communication by R.B Cowan, the Toronto Star's circulation manager, explains that they are unable to increase orders above 750,000 copies. 

The Toronto Star Communication on Extra Star Weeklies Available

In light of rationing measures that affected paper, the Toronto Star had difficulty producing as many issues as it had done in the past. Nevertheless, this communication from R.B Cowan, the Toronto Star's circulation manager explains that a small increment in orders for the weekly issue of July 29th is possible, just not exponentially more than the 714,000 copies that were already being made each week! 

The History of our Flag

Laura Secord Candy Shops created a line of patriotic advertising novelties featuring pieces of information on Canadian British history, This example gave a short historical description of how the Union Jack came into existence.  

The war so far ...

Smart-Woods was one of Canada's biggest manufacturers of bags, cloth, canvas, and clothing, but its products were barely mentioned in this advertising magazine, which offered a statistical compendium of the nations involved in the First World War.

Sacklopedia.pdf (9.41 MB)

Useful gifts for soldier boys

It was up to Canadians at home to remember their loved ones overseas with the odd gift - bought, of course, from a local retailer.

Made in Canada

This multilingual decal was made in 1943, likely to affix to Canadian war materiel, perhaps vehicles, being exported.

Buy Canadian!

During the Second World War, the federal government aggressively promoted a "buy Canadian" strategy, to prevent an outflow of currency to pay for foreign-made goods.

The war so far ...

Because so much of the fighting took place in regions that were unfamiliar to Canadians, war maps were enormously popular, for they simplified complicated events and allowed civilians to make sense of news coming from the war fronts.