The WPA & the Golden Age · The Public Good
Keep your teeth clean
Work Projects Administration, 1938
What it is
The Library of Congress dates this poster only to a range, between 1936 and 1938, with a September 2, 1938 stamp on the verso.
Why it matters
It is a colour silkscreen reducing dental hygiene to a flat geometric face beside a brush and tube, the kind of poster-shop economy that came from cutting stencils by hand.
What to notice
A stylised face, a toothbrush, a tube of paste - WPA graphic design stripped to three shapes.
Made by artists on the public payroll — art the country already owned.
Provenance
- School
- WPA — Federal Art Project (United States)
- Format
- One-sheet
- Poster published
- Work Projects Administration, 1938
- Source
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division · LCCN 92517367
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's resolution doesn't clear our floor for a physical print, so this piece is offered as a digital download only.
Size
$29.00
