Vintage Travel & National Park Posters

See America — Welcome to Montana WPA Poster, 1936

Richard Halls — WPA Federal Art Project, New York, for the United States Travel Bureau

From the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, WPA Poster Collection · 1936

$35

Rights & provenance record

Source scan: LOC (Prints & Photographs, WPA Poster Collection).
Rights statement of the archive: “No known restrictions on publication. Work Projects Administration poster — a work of the United States federal government, in the public domain.”
Original poster: Richard Halls, WPA Federal Art Project, 1936, 1 print on board (poster) : silkscreen, color.. Verified 2026-09-13.

This product is a new archival print made from a restored scan of that poster. It is not an original antique and is not sold as one.

The story of this poster

The Travel Bureau’s “See America” series gave each participating state a sheet, and Montana got two. Richard Halls’s version is the cooler of the pair: a snow-capped peak with a glacier in its lap, a lake in flat blue, a screen of pines, and a small camp of tipis in the foreground, with the slogan set in the studio’s tall letters along the bottom.

It was silkscreened on board by the WPA Federal Art Project in New York in 1936. The Library of Congress copy keeps its black mount, trimmed here to the sheet, and the studio’s colour bar. The greens and creams have been cleaned and balanced without brightening.

The scan supports one print size, 16×20, where it carries 215 dots per inch; the poster floats on a narrow margin in its own edge tone because the sheet is a little squarer than the frame. Pairs with Rothstein’s Montana sheet from the same year.

Printed to order on archival matte paper, framed in the country of delivery.

Before and after

Left: the archive scan exactly as published. Right: the file that goes to the printer.

See America Welcome to Montana WPA Poster, 1936: archive scan compared with the restored print

Archive scanRestored

Restoration notes

Restoration: trimmed the mount board and scanner margins, balanced levels while keeping the silkscreen's flat inks and paper tone (90% of the original colour retained), removed dust and specks, and applied gentle sharpening. Creases, edge wear and registration slips of the original screen printing are kept where they belong to the object; nothing is redrawn.

Every print carries its archive credit on the packing slip. Paper tone and small imperfections of the original are kept on purpose; nothing is redrawn.

Questions

What does the poster show?

A snow-capped peak above a lake, pines and a camp of tipis in the foreground, in the flat greens, blues and creams of the New York Federal Art Project, with SEE AMERICA — WELCOME TO MONTANA lettered across the bottom.

Is this an original WPA poster?

No. It is a new archival print made from a restored, full-resolution scan of the original silkscreen poster held by the Library of Congress. Original WPA park posters survive in very small numbers and sell for thousands of dollars; we never sell originals.

Can these posters be sold legally?

Yes. They were made by the Works Progress Administration for the National Park Service, so they are works of the United States government and in the public domain. The Library of Congress record states no known restrictions on publication, and its link is in the rights record on this page.

Which sizes are offered?

Only sizes that fit the poster's own proportions and that the scan carries at 200 dpi or better — the original sheet is roughly 14×19 inches, so 12×16 and 18×24 are the natural sizes. Nothing is cropped or upscaled.

Does it come framed?

Yes, if you choose a framed option: a black, white or natural oak wood frame, ready to hang, made in the country of delivery. Unframed archival paper is also available.

Colours vary between screens and paper. The tone you see here is a close match to the archival matte print; framed prints have no glass glare in these previews.

Pairs well with

Hang them together — 10% off the second framed print

Welcome to Montana Rothstein WPA Poster, 1936

Jerome Henry Rothstein, WPA Federal Art Project · Library of Congress

$95 12×16 in framed · paper from $35

Yellowstone National Park WPA Poster, 1938

C. Don Powell, Ranger Naturalist Service (WPA) · Library of Congress

$129 18×24 in framed · paper from $35

The discount is applied automatically at checkout when two or more framed prints are in the cart.

More from this collection

Zion National Park WPA Poster, 1939

Ranger Naturalist Service, National Park Service (WPA) · Library of Congress

$129 18×24 in framed · paper from $35

Yellowstone National Park WPA Poster, 1938

C. Don Powell, Ranger Naturalist Service (WPA) · Library of Congress

$129 18×24 in framed · paper from $35

Lassen Volcanic National Park WPA Poster, 1938

C. Don Powell, Ranger Naturalist Service (WPA) · Library of Congress

$129 18×24 in framed · paper from $35

Grand Canyon National Park WPA Poster, 1938

C. Don Powell, Ranger Naturalist Service (WPA) · Library of Congress

$129 18×24 in framed · paper from $35

Size guide

Size	Metric	Best for
12×16 in	30×41 cm	Desk, shelf, small wall, gallery groupings

Sizes are the print size. Framed prints add about 1 in on each side. Sizes marked “aged-paper margin” keep the whole poster and float it on a toned margin — nothing is cropped.

Informational purposes only, no warranties, not professional advice. All products are new archival prints made from restored scans of historical maps held by public archives; they are not original antiques. Colours vary by screen and by paper.