FIELD SERVICE REPORT FORM 1940s



In the 1940s JWs filled in a report of their ministry every day they went door to door. The form was titled PUBLISHER'S DAILY FIELD SERVICE REPORT.

Company publishers (i.e. congregation publishers) had "quotas", not "goals" which came in the 1950s.

The hour "quota" for ordinary publishers who otherwise had full-time employment or went to school was 60 hours per month in the 1940s, much higher than the ten-hours "goal"  in the 1960s and afterwards.

The 1940s quota for "pioneers" was also higher than today — 175 hours per month for special pioneers and 150 hours for regular pioneers.

The reason why the Watchtower Society put JWs under such pressure is that Armageddon was about to strike and destroy all nations and religions. In 1938 Armageddon was a "few years" away and in 1941 this was down to "months":


Those Jonadabs who now contemplate marriage, it would seem, would do better if they wait a few years, until the fiery storm of Armageddon is gone, and then to enter marital relationship... (Face the Facts 1938, 50)

Receiving the gift [the book Children], the marching children clasped it to them, not a toy or plaything for idle pleasure, but the Lord's provided instrument for most effective work in the remaining months before Armageddon. (The Watchtower 1941 9/15 288)