July 30th, 2015: Book Posters

[xoxoxoBruce]

At the end of The Great Depression and the start of WW II, FDR's administration was trying to get things moving.
Most of the schools taught little more than the three Rs, between the end of harvest and spring planting.
Atlas Obscura tells how the WPA promoted the arts and reading books to educate people.

The goal was not just providing funding and work for artists, but also promoting and sharing the work being done by American musicians, writers, and theater professionals. It reflected the belief of New Deal administrators that art could, and should be, a part of everyday life.

"The government unwittingly launched a movement to improve the commercial poster and raise it to a true art form," Richard Floethe, who headed up the Poster Division in New York, wrote in an essay.

The group designed posters for art programs as well as for public parks, and organizations devoted to health and education. The posters were first made by hand before moving to the silkscreen process, which allowed for a greater volume to be printed. From 1936 to 1943, over two million posters were printed. The lion's share of the Work Project Administration poster trove is held at the Library of Congress.

Books, for more than pressing flower and killing spiders.