Bob in the Pound

Fun-filled singalong savings ad with a dangerously catchy theme tune.

Learn to save with this animated karaoke-style cinema ad! Featuring a cartoon character with the name Bob - the colloquial term for a pre-decimalisation one-shilling piece - the film was made to encourage the wartime public to invest in government savings bonds for a 'brighter' post-war future.

The voice speaking from the radio in comic interplay with 'Bob' belongs to Tommy Handley, the presenter of the BBC's hugely popular wartime radio comedy show It's That Man Again. ITMA, as it was affectionately known, involved an extensive and eccentric cast of characters - including charlady Mrs Mopp, who featured in a number of humorous cinema advertisements for Persil washing powder. These included Mrs Mopp Asks Why (1943), also available to view on BFI Player. This government film is a public record, preserved and presented by the BFI National Archive on behalf of The National Archives, home to more than 1,000 years of British history.