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 — Hollywood not yet being the center of the film business — 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 — considered a symbol of wartime — on the street by glamorous movie stars like Martha Mansfield.
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