The LOC.GOV Wise Guide : Need a Calendar . . . From 1939?

You certainly don't need a 1939 calendar, but this calendar (January shown above) created by the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration (WPA) is a fine example of the quality and creativity of this New Deal agency. This calendar is a special presentation in the American Memory collection "By the People, for the People: Posters from the WPA, 1936-1943."

John Is Not Really Dull - He May Only Need His Eyes Examined

The site consists of 908 boldly colored and graphically diverse original posters produced from 1936 to 1943 as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal. Of the 2,000 WPA posters known to exist, the Library of Congress's collection of more than 900 is the largest. These striking silkscreen, lithograph and woodcut posters were designed to publicize health and safety programs; cultural programs, including art exhibitions and theatrical and musical performances; travel and tourism; educational programs; and community activities in 17 states and the District of Columbia. The posters were made possible by one of the first U.S. government programs to support the arts and were added to the Library's holdings in the 1940s.

Another special presentation is an interview with Tony Velonis, in which you can hear him discuss his work for the WPA. In Collection Highlights are some of the best of the posters, as chosen by Library of Congress staff.

Another WPA program was the Federal Theatre Project. This online presentation includes more than 13,000 images of items selected from the FTP Collection at the Library. Featured here are stage and costume designs, still photographs, posters and scripts for productions of "Macbeth" and "The Tragical History of Dr. Faustus" as staged by Orson Welles, and for "Power," a topical drama of the period. Also included are 68 other playscripts and 168 documents selected from the Federal Theatre Project administrative records. The FTP was one of five arts-related projects established during the first term of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt under the Works Progress Administration.

If you do need a new calendar for 1995, a great place to shop is online at the Library's Sales Shop. Hundreds of unusual, educational and fun books, games, puzzles -- and calendars -- are available.

A. Harry Herzog, artist. [January], WPA calendar for 1939, created 1938. Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction information: Reproduction No.: LC-USZC4-7674

B. WPA Federal Art Project. "John Is Not Really Dull - He May Only Need His Eyes Examined," [1936 or 1937]. Poster recommending eye examinations for children having difficulty learning, showing a woman holding an eye chart (?) in front of a boy reading a book. Prints and Photographs Division. Reproduction information: Reproduction No.: LC-USZC2-5332 DLC (color film copy slide), LC-USZCN4-205 DLC (color film copy neg.); Call No.: POS - WPA - NY .01 .J64, no. 1