Jill Harness
11 Great Zoo Posters Created for the WPA
by Jill Harness - January 11, 2012 - 9:11 AM

During the Great Depression, the Works Progress Administration was established to help put Americans back to work. While every state used the WPA differently, Illinois and Pennsylvania employed the artists on staff to promote their local zoos. Many of the resulting posters lived on far beyond the WPA itself. Here are a few notable examples organized by artist.

Carken

Frank W. Long

Mildred Waltrip

Arlington Gregg

Hugh Stevenson

Louise Welsh

Unknown Artists

Sidney Jacobson

To be fair, this one isn’t a poster, but the cover for a natural history book created for the NYC WPA.

Who wants to go to the zoo?

[All images courtesy of The Library of Congress.]

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Comments (13)

  1. I live right by the Brookfield Zoo in IL! Too bad they still don’t have free Thursdays, Saturdays, and Sundays!

    posted by Katie Rose on 1-11-2012 at 9:52 am

  2. These are neat. I love Brookfield Zoo. Is there anywhere I can buy some of these prints?

    posted by Natalia on 1-11-2012 at 9:56 am

  3. Some of these are really wonderful. Do you know if reproductions are available anywhere?

    posted by Betsy on 1-11-2012 at 9:57 am

  4. I did a little research after seeing the posters as I was curious about the two with pandas on them. As far as I knew, Brookfield Zoo doesn’t and never has had pandas. How wrong was I!

    Turns out they were the first American zoo ever to have giant pandas (3)! But the last one died in 1953 and sadly, no more have been exhibited there since then.

    posted by Katie Rose on 1-11-2012 at 10:40 am

  5. Wow. I used to go to Brookfield Zoo all the time as a kid. I’m suddenly feeling rather nostalgic.

    posted by Susanna on 1-11-2012 at 11:43 am

  6. These are cool and I wouldn’t mind a print myself.

    posted by Chris on 1-11-2012 at 11:57 am

  7. Here’s a source to buy prints: http://vintagraph.com/wpa-posters/travel-tourism-posters/4422519

    Don’t know if all of them are available, but you can at least buy the panda poster.

    posted by Will on 1-11-2012 at 12:49 pm

  8. The other posters are available here: http://vintagraph.com/wpa-posters/travel-tourism-posters/

    posted by Will on 1-11-2012 at 12:55 pm

  9. The Toledo Zoo’s Aquarium, Aviary, and Reptile House (among possible others, I know these for sure) still have plaques on them that state they were built by the WPA. So I don’t know how much of the Ohio funds were spent on Zoo works, but at least enough was for there to be a legacy there as well.

    posted by Amauriel on 1-11-2012 at 1:07 pm

  10. Betsy and Chris,
    Here are some links where you can find the posters for sale:
    #1 http://www.amazon.com/WPA-Poster-Visit-Brookside-free/dp/B004IZBTRG/thechesguitol-20
    #2 http://www.amazon.com/Visit-Brookfield-Vintage-Reproduction-Poster/dp/B004YXWPNE/thechesguitol-20
    #3 http://www.amazon.com/Visit-Brookfield-Vintage-Reproduction-Poster/dp/B004YXVYD6/thechesguitol-20
    #4 http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-Brookfield-Africa-Hippo-Poster/dp/B0057YMJMQ/thechesguitol-20
    #5 http://www.amazon.com/WPA-Poster-Visit-Brookfield-LGregg/dp/B004IZ9M7A/thechesguitol-20
    #6 http://www.amazon.com/Visit-Zoo-Vintage-Reproduction-Poster/dp/B004YXUWD4/thechesguitol-20
    #7 http://www.amazon.com/WPA-Poster-Visit-the-zoo/dp/B004UIHRI6/thechesguitol-20
    #8 http://www.amazon.com/Visit-Penguins-Vintage-Reproduction-Poster/dp/B0052GLT70/thechesguitol-20
    #9 http://www.amazon.com/Vintage-WPA-Philadelphia-Poster-Print/dp/B004LI4B66/thechesguitol-20
    #10 http://www.amazon.com/Visit-Cranes-Vintage-Reproduction-Poster/dp/B004YXVQ6Q/thechesguitol-20
    #11 http://www.amazon.com/Whos-Who-Vintage-Reproduction-Poster/dp/B004YXW8S6/thechesguitol-20

    Hope those help!

    posted by Jill Harness on 1-11-2012 at 3:59 pm

  11. Thanks for the post. I love the beautiful Art Deco artwork the WPA put out in the thirties.

    posted by YoSan on 1-11-2012 at 8:57 pm

  12. Other things they could have done to increase zoo attendance:
    -a parrot birthday party
    -a monkey graduation
    -a penguin wedding.

    posted by Lindsay on 1-12-2012 at 12:19 am

  13. My husband and I met while working together at Brookfield Zoo.

    Thanks SO much for the great article!

    posted by Emily on 1-12-2012 at 3:17 am

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