Donald Duck Victory Garden sign

[disneydave]

This post features a great Victory Garden sign featuring Donald Duck chasing pests from his garden. This sign was manufactured by W.L. Stensgaard and Associates of Chicago. This company was a Disney licensee in 1938 and from 1941 to 1962.

 

The sign is composed of a Masonite-type board attached to a yellow colored 24-inch long stake. The sign’s multicolored scene pictures Donald chasing a chicken, worm and a caterpillar from his garden. This version of the sign was back coated, produced in six oil colors and had a wholesale price of $10.80 per dozen. The suggested retail price was $1.69 each. A second version of the sign was smaller, made of cardboard and only used four oil colors.

 

 

Victory Gardens were an important part of the home front war effort. Americans were encouraged to become self-sufficient by growing their own food. Victory Gardens sprang up on vacant street lots and boulevards as well as former commercial properties like horse racing tracks and zoo grounds. During the war Americans produced some one million tons of produce worth an estimated $85 million in Victory Garden plots.