The WPA & the Golden Age · Reading & the Stage
October's "bright blue weather"
Albert M. Bender (attributed) · WPA Statewide Library Project, 1936
What it is
A WPA silkscreen library poster, "October's 'bright blue weather'," attributed to Albert M. Bender for the WPA Statewide Library Project. The Library of Congress dates it between 1936 and 1940; a verso stamp reads August 30, 1940.
Why it matters
The Works Progress Administration put unemployed artists to work making posters that sold public goods to the public, and reading was among the most persistent pitches. Here the argument is quiet and seasonal: October is for books. Bender lets Halloween assemble at the edges but keeps the boy and his book at the center — the holiday is the hook, reading is the sell.
What to notice
The bat, ghost, and witch are pushed to the margins while the boy bends over his book at the center, so the eye lands on the reading, not the haunting.
The season spooks; the reader keeps turning pages.
Provenance
- School
- WPA — Federal Art Project (United States)
- Designer
- Albert M. Bender (attributed)
- Format
- Exhibition poster
- Poster published
- WPA Statewide Library Project, 1936
- Source
- Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division · LCCN 98509532
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 24x36" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
