Ranger of the Lost Art: WPA National Park Posters

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After Lily's post last week about the WPA's wonderful old posters, reader Diana wrote to let us know about Doug Leen, a Seattle-based artist who dug up a rare collection of National Parks posters from the same WPA Federal Art Project. The original posters were produced between 1938 and 1941, and for many years these and the other WPA posters disappeared into private collections or were destroyed. But Ranger Doug, as he calls himself, has been able to locate images of all fourteen National Park posters, and now he makes and sells beautiful silkscreen reproductions...

In muted colors and blocky art deco style, the posters depict some of our country's most memorable and familiar landmarks. Lovers of typography will appreciate the titles and captions too.

We've had Ranger Doug's Glacier National Park poster ever since we paid that stunning place a visit eight years ago, when we were living in Montana. Not sure if we'll ever get back to Glacier, or at least not while there are actually still glaciers there, but the poster has a wonderful nostalgic feel that reminds us of our time in the Rockies.

Visit Ranger Doug's site to see all available posters and to purchase. (They're available in postcard sizes as well.) Also be sure to check out Doug's own contemporary designs, commissioned by the U.S. Travel Bureau and in the style of the WPA posters.

Comments (9)

Thanks Diana! These are beautiful; I really want the one of Yosemite.

posted by Sydney on April 23rd 2009 at 8:51pm
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These are awesome! I'm a bit mixed on the idea of simply reproducing someone else's work, no matter how beautiful it is, especially if it's just taking another design and making money off it [I assume that these are in the public domain, and I'm not saying that he shouldn't be paid for his time, but it would be a better sell for me if part of the proceeds were to benefit those parks, or something like that].

I've made a similar criticism of the "Keep Calm" posters. The design is great, but it's completely not the design of the myriad people who print them nowadays. All creative people want to make a buck, but why not do something creative?

The work of my studio has some references in local vernacular signage, but I think that we find our own ways to treat found content and make it new:

http://visualingual.wordpress.com/2009/04/02/free-shipping-in-our-online-shop/

There's another amazing series of National Parks posters by the incredible Charley Harper, which is definitely worth a look:

http://fabframes.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/national-parks-posters-by-charley-harper/

posted by visualingual on April 23rd 2009 at 8:59pm
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I just checked Ranger Doug's site and found that he donates 1% to the parks:

http://www.rangerdoug.com/ourfoundation.html

posted by visualingual on April 23rd 2009 at 9:02pm
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We bought a bunch of these a couple months ago. We were looking for art for our living room and couldn't agree on anything. Then we saw a Doug Leen picture at a friend's house and decided to buy prints of the parks that we had been to (well, actually the prints that we both liked the most since we have been to almost all the parks). The prints are amazing and now we have a feature wall that has a personal meaning for both of us.

My original order had the not yet available General Grant poster. The owner of the company called me that night to tell me and find out what she could do to make me happy. Awesome costumer service.

Oh, in addition to having amazing prints, Ranger Doug ships their prints with eco- friendly packing peanuts.

posted by tjsm on April 23rd 2009 at 11:42pm
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i got these in postcard version a couple of years ago when i went to the grand canyon. they are so delightful!

posted by art_brutale on April 23rd 2009 at 11:47pm
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These are great! (not all of them are Park Service posters though)

The Canadian equivalent are the vintage Canadian Pacific posters done between the 1920s and 1950s.

Here are a couple of sources for the reproductions:

http://www.enjoyart.com/canada.htm

https://www.allposters.co.uk/gallery.asp?CID=B55ED4BABACB45E09A89FB790D8575B1&startat=/getthumb.asp&Search=canadian pacific&c=&CID=B55ED4BABACB45E09A89FB790D8575B1&prevPage=1&prevAmt=12&CategoryID=&SortBy=PD&ecard=&psize=48&FilterType1=0&FilterType2=0&FilterType3=0&MinWidth=&MaxWidth=&MinHeight=&MaxHeight=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&ItemType=

posted by mschatelaine on April 24th 2009 at 6:45am
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I really love these - I need to save up my pennies to buy a bunch for my bedroom!

posted by Miss Jess on April 24th 2009 at 7:36am
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Ooh! What a great gift idea for my husband!

posted by averillh1 on April 24th 2009 at 12:49pm
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Since I commented on these posters before, I have to add that I've received one of the poster [Acadia -- not part of the original WPA posters], and it's simply stunning. The inks are so rich and velvet-like on the paper, the colors are really vibrant, the registration is perfect for such a complex, multi-colored design, and the over all effect is really dramatic. I'm so, so pleased. Even the white is printed; it's a technically well-executed design. The one thing about my poster is that there's a little flaw in the gradient, but then again, I know that screenprinted gradients are really difficult to get right, so I appreciate the flaw as evidence of this laborious process.

posted by visualingual on May 27th 2009 at 9:04am
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