 Authors of fiction were encouraged to show their characters buying warbonds, conserving, planting victory gardens, and otherwise acting war-mindedly; characters could refrain from calling loved ones to avoid straining the phone system, or a romance would start when a man and woman carpooled.Many stories were set in the frontier era or on family farms, to emphasize traditional virtues such as hard work, innocence, piety, independence and community values.The Office of Civil Defense was created to inform Americans what to do in case of enemy attack.