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The WPA & the Golden Age · Reading & the Stage
Federal Theatre (on) Treasure Island "Swing mikado"
Federal Theatre Project, Work Projects Administration, 1939
What it is
This 1939 silkscreen poster announced the Federal Theatre Project's "Swing Mikado" at the Golden Gate International Exposition on Treasure Island, San Francisco.
Why it matters
The design centres on a woman dancer, her figure carried in flat screened colour rather than line — the standard economy of WPA poster shops, where every additional hue meant another pull of the squeegee.
What to notice
A woman dancer in mid-motion advertises the Federal Theatre's swing-band Mikado at the 1939 Treasure Island fair.
Made by artists on the public payroll — art the country already owned.
Provenance
- School
- WPA — Federal Art Project (United States)
- Format
- Theater poster
- Poster published
- Federal Theatre Project, Work Projects Administration, 1939
- Source
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division · LCCN98517765 (cph.3f05540)
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. government program work (WPA Federal Art Project), any year. Gated by the poster’s own publication year. Cleared by registry on 2026-07-18.
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan supports sizes up to 18x24" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
