Antiques

It was the spring of 1976 when I went into the garage of a house that was built in 1934 as a residence for the refuge keeper of one of the Pennsylvania Game Commission’s wildlife refuges. Those tracts of thousands of acres were located on both state forests and state game lands and were surrounded by a single strand of heavy gauge wire to mark the boundaries. Within the refuges hunting was prohibited for most, or all, species of “game”. The refuges are long gone now, but some of the old wire can still be found in old trees along what had been the boundaries.

Fastened to one wall in the garage were some old posters –

The posters had been printed on lightweight poster board which was, in 1976, brittle and deteriorating, the ink on most had faded with age. I decided to photograph them before they fell apart or were torn down and thrown away. All but one were Game Commission posters, the other was a Department of Forests and Waters poster which was in much better condition. On each one were the letters “WPA”. These photos are digital copies of my old slides.

According to the National Park Service the WPA was a Depression-era federal program, the Works Progress Administration (1935-43), including the Federal Art Program that provided jobs to  unemployed artists, both men and women. The posters’ artwork was done by WPA artists and provided to the two state agencies.

Many millions of posters were printed, on 35,000 different themes. Since only a few thousand are known to still exist, originals in excellent condition have become collectors items, some commanding hefty prices. Others have been reproduced on paper and sheet metal.

These six posters piqued my interest: who put them up in the garage, how did they survive until 1976, how many others are tacked up in attics, garages or sheds, are these still in that particular garage?