Care Coupon 1951, August

CARE packages became one of the most recognizable forms of postwar American aid, but the organization also issued these coupon books as a remittance mechanism — a way for Americans to send purchasing power rather than physical goods to relatives and contacts in Europe. The coupons functioned as a hybrid instrument, redeemable through CARE's local distribution networks rather than through any banking system.

By 1951, the Marshall Plan was already redirecting aid away from simple relief toward economic reconstruction, and CARE was repositioning accordingly. These coupons reflect that transitional moment, when private humanitarian logistics were adapting to a Europe no longer in immediate crisis but still far from self-sufficient.