On the afternoon of April 8, 1918, Charlie Chaplin and Douglas Fairbanks decided to do their part in the fundraising and made their way to the Sub Treasury Building. Between 20,000 and 30,000 people turned out to see their antics, the largest crowd ever assembled on Wall Street up to that time. Chaplin threw himself into the war effort, embarking on a nationwide tour to promote the sale of bonds. That year he would make a propaganda film called 'The Bond'. But there may have been a bit of self-promotion in his appearance at the Sub Treasury. His film 'A Dog&rsquo;s Life' would conveniently open in movie theaters five days later. People weren&rsquo;t used to hearing their movie stars speak in 1918. &ldquo;I never made a speech before in my life,&rdquo; he proclaimed through a megaphone that noon, standing in front of the statue of George Washington. &ldquo;But I believe I can make one now.&rdquo; Fairbanks &mdash; known for swashbucklers and romances &mdash; happily broke character, goofing around with Chaplin to the delight of the crowd. &ldquo;Folks, I&rsquo;m so hoarse from urging people to buy Liberty bonds that I can hardly speak.&rdquo;

The 4th Liberty Loan ceremonies in New York City and Washington, Sept. 1918, inaugurating a national drive for the sale of liberty bonds, President Wilson, his wife Edith, and mother-in-law, Mrs. W. H. Bolling, arrive in New York on Sept. 27, 1918. At Pennsylvania Railroad Station they are greeted by crowds and joined by the President's two daughters, Margaret Wilson and Eleanor McAdoo, as they enter a touring car en route to the Waldorf-Astoria. Views of flag-lined Fifth Avenue on the following day, with flags of the twenty-two Allied nations and banners supporting liberty bonds filling the Avenue. Emile Cartier, Belgian Minister to the United States, speaks at the dedication of the Altar of Liberty, an open-air structure in Madison Square designed by Thomas Hastings in support of the Liberty Loan effort; marching soldiers and band. On the south portico of the U.S. Treasury Building in Washington, D.C., Geraldine Farrar, member of the Metropolitan Opera Company, ceremonially sells bond to Secretary of the Treasury William Gibbs McAdoo as Leo S. Rowe, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, watches.

The United States had entered the conflict the prior year, on April 6, 1917, and began selling bonds to raise funds for the war effort. Although many Americans were caught up in a patriot fervor, war bond sales were initially quite weak. Most Americans in the late 1910s had never bought a bond of any kind. To promote sales, the government began enlisting celebrities from several fields of entertainment, most notably motion pictures. Since the New York area was filled with film stars &mdash; Hollywood not yet being the center of the film business &mdash; its streets were soon filled with dutiful movie stars, extolling the patriotic and moral virtues of supporting their county through bond sales. Celebrities drew tens of thousands to Wall Street and the foot of the United States Sub Treasury building (today`s Federal Hall) to drum up support for World War I war bonds / Liberty Bonds. Another example, the sale of doughnuts &mdash; considered a symbol of wartime &mdash; on the street by glamorous movie stars like Martha Mansfield.

 Throughout World War I, Sons of the Revolution sold Liberty Bonds in the Long Room to help raise money for the wartime effort, 1918  

New York Stock Exchange

Selling Liberty Bonds in New York City

 The 1st Academy Awards ceremony honored the best films of 1927 and 1928. Tickets cost $5 (which would be $75 in 2020, considering inflation), 270 people attended the event and the presentation ceremony lasted 15 minutes. Awards were created by Louis B. Mayer, founder of Louis B. Mayer Pictures Corporation, now MGM.  

Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel

The 1st Academy Awards ceremony

: The legendary actor received three Academy Awards in his career. The first one was an Honorary Award for "versatility and genius in acting, writing, directing, and producing The Circus" during the first ceremony in 1929. 

 Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin KBE, was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, The Tramp, and is considered one of the most important figures in the history of the film industry. His career spanned more than 75 years, from childhood in the Victorian era until a year before his death in 1977, and encompassed both adulation and controversy. 

Charlie Chaplin

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