Snapshots of the Past

Blackout means black / CH. – Antique Poster Print

Blackout means black / CH., 1941 — vintage poster
Blackout means black / CH., 1941. Vintage poster from the WPA Posters collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

Blackout means black / CH. comes to life in this vintage poster, reproduced from the original with every detail intact. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.

The framed print arrives ready to hang; the unframed option suits custom framing. Perfect for a home, office, library or classroom wall, and a gift with a story behind it. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Since 2001, Snapshots of the Past has shipped historic prints to tens of thousands of customers around the world.

Blackout means black / CH.

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Issued by the Oakland Defense Council in 1941, this silkscreen poster carries the blunt slogan "Blackout means black," a warning that a partial light in a darkened city was no longer acceptable. Coastal cities in California practiced blackouts as the United States moved toward war, because lit streets and windows could guide enemy aircraft and ships at night. The Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration, later renamed the Work Projects Administration, sponsored posters like this one, which turned civil defense rules into quick visual messages for the public. Its bold color blocks and short text were designed to be read at a glance on a street corner or in a shop window.

Created / published1941
Medium1 print on board (poster) : silkscreen color.
NotesIssued by the Oakland Defense Council. Work Projects Administration Poster Collection (Library of Congress). Posters of the WPA / Christopher DeNoon. Los Angeles : Wheatly Press c1987 no. 271 · Federal Art Project sponsor.
SubjectsWorld War 1939-1945--Civil defense--California--Oakland. War blackouts--California--Oakland--1940-1950.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Work Projects Administration Poster Collection
Original scan2,849 × 4,109 px · prints to 9 × 14 in at 300 dpi
Reference899_Blackout_means_black_1941

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