Description
The Bomb Tokyo With Your Extra Change poster
Bomb Tokyo With Your Extra Change was printed by the U.S. Government Printing Office in 1943 for the Treasury’s war stamp programme. Under a bold red panel, a blue aircraft carrier ploughs through the sea as its planes take off, and the poster asks every American for one dollar in war stamps to build “the mystery ship… Shangri-La.”
The name was a joke that became a warship. After the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo in April 1942, President Roosevelt told reporters the bombers had flown from Shangri-La, the hidden kingdom in James Hilton’s novel Lost Horizon, to keep the carrier USS Hornet a secret. The Navy then gave the name to a real carrier. USS Shangri-La (CV-38) was launched at Norfolk on 24 February 1944, sponsored by Josephine Doolittle, wife of the raid’s leader, and saw action off Japan in 1945.
The artist is not recorded. The poster carries the code WSS 817-A and the GPO imprint 1943-O-531075.
Read the full history of the poster.
Restored edition
Restored from a photograph of an original print. The colour was cleaned and brought back, with folds, stains, tears and wear removed. The lettering and printed marks are kept from the original.
Sizes and options
- Paper print: 11.7 × 16.5 in, 20 × 28 in or 23.4 × 33.1 in
- Framed print: 12 × 17 in, 20 × 28 in or 23 × 33 in, in a black, white or natural wood frame, ready to hang
Printed to order in the USA on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Art paper. Free Standard shipping to the US. Compare the print sizes.
More posters
See War Bonds: To Have and to Hold!, or browse the home front collection.













