Work pays America! Prosperity.

Title: Work pays America! Prosperity.

Maker Credits: Vera Bock

Date: Between 1936 and 1941

Format: A color silkscreen print on a board that is 710 x 559 mm. 

Location of Production: New York City, U.S. 

Annotation:

 “Work pays America! Prosperity.” is one of the many artworks that were created between 1936 and 1943 for the Works Progress Administration. According to the Library of Congress, the Works Progress Administration was created by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The intent was to rectify the effects of the Great Depression, so, as part of his New Deal, he wanted to allow unemployed Americans to get new jobs. One method in doing so was having artists, who were sponsored through Federal One’s funding from the Federal Art Project, create artworks to inspire people to come together and work to help the country. The art was meant not just for the elite, but for the everyday American to get through the rough economic conditions of the time. Artvee reveals that the designer of this poster is Vera Bock, who was born in Russia but built her career in the U.S. Her artistic style, especially for “Work pays America! Prosperity,” is simplistic and childlike to establish a friendly, welcoming tone (Posters: WPA Posters, n.d.). 

Arpie Gennetian, from the Parsons School of Design, expands on the idea that both the simple typography and art style were strategic choices, as they are meant to be quickly and easily read by anyone. Easy access meant that the artworks and posters from the WPA era during the Great Depression became widely spread, and encouraged many Americans to be part of the workforce and even the labor force despite its less-than-glamorous implications. The poster says “Work Pays America,” which is a short but sweet message that makes the American population feel that they can get to a better place if they work together. This mindset created a social identity that instilled a strong work ethic. People at the time saw this poster, among others, and internalized the message that they too should take jobs such as farming or other positions in order to help everyone in the U.S. People of a lower social class were finally being depicted, so many people took the designs that represented them to heart and reflected the designs in their personal lives (Gennetian, 2021).