A New Deal Winter & Christmas: "New Year's Eve" print - and a New Year's Eve WPA vaudeville show

Above: "New Year's Eve," a wood engraving print by Albert Abramovitz (1879-1963), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935-1939. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Above: A WPA poster, promoting WPA vaudeville performances in San Diego, on New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and January 2nd, ca. 1935-1939. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: Vaudeville shows featured a wide variety of performances, for example, music, dance, juggling, comedy, dog shows, and escape artists. Above is a WPA vaudeville act in San Francisco, ca. 1935-1939. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: "Mountains in the Snow"

Above: "Mountains in the Snow," an oil painting by Jenne Magafan (1916-1952) and her twin sister Ethel Magafan (1916-1993). The painting is in room 5051 of the Wilbur J. Cohen Federal Building (originally the Social Security Administration Building), and the General Services Administration describes it as "a quiet, idyllic scene of stately trees, vast plains, and soaring mountain peaks. In the lower right portion of the mural, two horses pull a large wagon heaped with hay, atop which sits a red-shirted farmer. Traveling behind tall, barren trees, the horses’ path leads to the middle distance, where a herd of grazing cattle awaits their bounty. Beyond this, the land swells into a range of mountains, covered in places by delicately rendered evergreens, brown and yellow vegetation, and snow." Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and Olin Conservation, Inc.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: WPA recreation programs vs. social media

Above: The caption for this photo, taken in Minneapolis ca. 1935-1943, reads, "Mrs. Thelma Nemetz, WPA recreation leader at Fairview Park, helps Frances Schmit with her skates." Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

The Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43 (1946), notes that "WPA recreation projects provided leadership and instruction in recreational activities of many kinds, supplementing the existing public services of local communities. The aim of this work was the year-round operation of a varied and well-balanced recreation program, including social, cultural, and physical activities, for adults as well as young people" (p. 62).

In America today, we have social interaction and obesity problems. Television, video games, the Internet, texting, celebrity worship, and more, are making us more secluded from one another and more sedentary. In other words, we're fat and lonely. (See, e.g., "Adult Obesity Facts" and "Childhood Obesity Facts," CDC, and also, "Social isolation, loneliness could be greater threat to public health than obesity," Science Daily, August 5, 2017).

In modern America, it seems to me that we are more engaged with technology than we are with each other. Social media (again, as it seems to me) is creating a culture of superficial interaction, perhaps even an excuse not to actually meet and talk to each other in the physical world. This is not to say that social media cannot bring people together, for example, organizing events, meetings, and trips, but the net effect seems to be weighted towards digital interaction, not real-world interaction. This is great for marketing, as we are bombarded with Internet advertising and our personal information is bought, sold, and traded, but perhaps not-so-great for our mental and physical health.

Technology and social media are here to stay, of course (and I'm not oblivious to the fact that I'm being critical of social media on a blog), but perhaps we could still learn a thing or two from the WPA recreation programs, and have a little more balance in our lives. Perhaps social media can do a better job of bringing us together, in the physical world, to talk to each other and also reduce the size of our waistlines.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: Timberline Lodge

All photos below are courtesy of the National Archives, and were taken around 1937-1938.

Above: Oregon's Timberline Lodge, built by the WPA between 1936 and 1938, is still a popular winter recreation area today. The lodge has a history web page that discusses its WPA origins. In this photo, we see Mt. Hood in the background.

Above: A skier at Timberline Lodge. Did you know that WPA workers created 310 miles of new ski trails across the country, and improved another 59 miles?

Above: Another skier at Timberline Lodge.

Above: The Timberline Lodge coffee shop.

Above: A room at the Timberline Lodge.

Above: Getting ready for a day of leisure and recreation at the Timberline Lodge.

Above: A cozy common area in the Timberline Lodge.

Above: WPA artists and artisans of all kinds were employed on the Timberline Lodge construction project.

Above: A WPA worker makes window drapes for the Timberline Lodge.

Above: A mural of Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox, at Timberline Lodge. This mural was recently restored after suffering water damage.

Above: Dining at the Timberline Lodge.

Above: Guests enjoying a winter scene in the warmth and comfort of Timberline Lodge.

Above: Skiing amongst the clouds at Timberline Lodge.

Above: During the New Deal, Americans were encouraged to take vacations, participate in recreation programs, visit parks, etc. It was important to New Deal officials that Americans enjoy their lives, and so they created or operated many recreation projects, like Timberline Lodge. In fact, it was so important to President Franklin Roosevelt, that he included it in his famous-but-ignored Second Bill of Rights speech. He wanted Americans to have "The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation." Today, America's wealthy CEOs & shareholders, through their job policies, investment choices, wage stagnation, political puppets, and general greed & selfishness, have done their best to thwart FDR's wishes. They have created a culture of fear, where workers are hesitant to use their already-pitiful vacation time because they don't want to be viewed as replaceable or less-than-dedicated to their millionaire & billionaire masters. And wealthy CEOs & shareholders have kept wages as low as possible, so that even if someone has vacation time, they might not be able to do much with it (for example, visit Timberline Lodge). Worse, many people must use their vacation time to take care of personal business or doctor visits. (See, "The State of American Vacation: How Vacation Became a Casualty of Our Work Culture," Project: Time Off). Americans should end their slavish devotion to the super-wealthy and demand more recreation time. After all, the super-wealthy are not shy about taking time off themselves (that is, if they work in the first place), as President Trump's weekly vacations highlight. So why should we be shy about it?

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: Children enjoy a WPA mural in Minneapolis

Above: Children enjoy a WPA mural depicting winter activities, at the Sidney Pratt School in Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1938. The school building still exists today, but it's unclear whether the mural does. All across America, in schools, libraries, hospitals, post offices, and other public buildings, New Deal artists painted murals to inspire and brighten the country. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: Mr. Potter's Republican Party - "They're not my children"

Above: Mr. Potter, the miserly and grumpy businessman from the Christmas classic, "It's a Wonderful Life." Image used here for educational, non-commercial purposes.

President Trump and Congressional Republicans recently passed long-term tax-cuts-for-the-rich, thereby fattening the wallets of their super-wealthy donors as well as their own. For the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), however, only short-term and inadequate funding could be agreed to. Millions of parents across the country have been worrying, for months, about whether their children would continue to receive good healthcare. Now they are granted a few months reprieve until their next bout of anxiety and stress. 

The Republican Party's attitude toward CHIP, as well as their attitude toward every other program that helps underprivileged children (for example, food stamps, drinking water infrastructure improvements, and debt-relief for their parents) is reminiscent of a scene from "It's a Wonderful Life," where a loan officer is pleading with the greedy & selfish Mr. Potter to allow debtors to have more time to pay their bills:

"Times are bad Mr. Potter. A lot of these people are out of work."

"Well then, foreclose."

"I can't do that. These families have children."

"They're not my children." 

To be fair, Republicans are a little kinder then Mr. Potter. Because Republicans not only love their own children, but they also love the children of their millionaire & billionaire donors. In fact, they just gave those children a large estate tax cut, thereby fortifying their privileged status in America's caste system.

Think about it: For rich children, who need no help, and often brag about their idle & luxurious lives, Republicans enacted a large and permanent estate tax cut. For poor children, who do need some help, Republicans reluctantly agreed to a small and temporary funding band-aid for their healthcare.

Mr. Potter would be impressed.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: "Christmas Eve, Taos Pueblo," and FDR's last Christmas message

Above: "Christmas Eve, Taos Pueblo," an etching by Gene Kloss (1903-1996), created while she was in the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project and/or Federal Art Project, ca. 1934-1936. Kloss was a prolific artist and "Her work graces scores of major private collections here and abroad as well as the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Smithsonian Institution, The Carnegie Institute, The San Francisco Museum of Art, The Library of Congress and the National Academy of Design" (Gene Kloss, Taos Fine Art). Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the New Mexico Museum of Art.

"It is not easy to say 'Merry Christmas' to you, my fellow Americans, in this time of destructive war... This generation has passed through many recent years of deep darkness, watching the spread of the poison of Hitlerism and Fascism in Europe, the growth of imperialism and militarism in Japan, and the final clash of war all over the world... We pray that with victory will come a new day of peace on earth in which all the Nations of the earth will join together for all time. That is the spirit of Christmas, the holy day. May that spirit live and grow throughout the world in all the years to come."

--President Franklin Roosevelt's last Christmas address to the nation, December 24, 1944.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: "Christmas Program"

Above: "Christmas Program," a lithograph by Anne Michalov (1904-2001), created while she was in the WPA, ca. 1935-1942. Michalov was known for her lithography, taught art at Hull House (a settlement house in Chicago), and married Charles Johnson, also an artist. Charles worked for the U.S. Forestry Service and the Bonneville Power Administration. The two settled in Oregon, and a 1951 newspaper article reported that they lived "near Portland in a rambling old house of 15 rooms, set in the middle of five acres of land. Here they maintain a studio... in their spare time the couple are remodeling the house..." (announcements section of the Daily Capital Journal (Salem, Oregon), October 27, 1951; also see "Oils, Watercolors Are In Exhibit," Statesman Journal (Salem, Oregon), October 28, 1951). Image courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: "Sawing Wood in Winter"

Above: "Sawing Wood in Winter," an oil painting by Hugh Hegh (1909-2000), created in 1935. The image is from the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), and SAAM includes "New Deal--Civilian Conservation Corps--Maine" in the painting's description. But it's unclear whether Hegh himself was in the CCC when he painted this. He would have been 26 in 1935, a little higher than the usual age for CCC enrollees, and too young to be a World War I veteran enrollee in the CCC. But he definitely had some  type of relationship with the Corps and the National Park Service (NPS) (see another of his paintings on the website of the NPS - "Jordan Pond and Bubbles in the Fall").

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: "Toy Shop, Staten Island"

Above: "Toy Shop, Staten Island," a lithograph by Mabel Dwight (1876-1955), created while she was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1937. For more information on Mabel Dwight, see my blog post from a few days ago, A New Deal Winter & Christmas: "Christmas in Paris". Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: WPA Christmas Carols

Above: These WPA federal theatre workers traveled around the Seattle area in December 1938 and sang Christmas carols for the public. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: "Walnut Hills Landscape"

Above: "Walnut Hills Landscape," a watercolor by Robert Fabe (1917-2004), created while he was in the New Deal's Section of Fine Arts. According to the Eisele Gallery of Fine Art, Fabe "was drafted into the United States Army, where he served for five years. He participated in the Battle of the Bulge and [the] D Day invasion in Europe. He was wounded twice while serving in Europe and then discharged in 1945," and then taught art at the University of Cincinnati from 1958 to 1987. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: "Sleighing Party"

Above: "Sleighing Party," a mural study by Roland Schweinsburg (1898-?), created while he was in the New Deal's Section of Fine Arts, ca. 1938. Very little information about Schweinsburg exists, and it's not even clear when he died (but probably between 1955 and 1963). According to the East Liverpool Historical Society (East Liverpool, Ohio), Schweinsburg lived a trauma-filled life. He may have served during World War I, his 11-year-old son, Roland, Jr., was struck and killed by a car in 1936, he developed a drinking problem which may have cost him his teaching job at the Butler Institute of American Art, and it seems he died alone. Creating and teaching art probably helped him cope with all the stress. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Above: A closer look at the left-hand side of the mural study.

Above: A closer look at the right-hand side of the mural study.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: "Sleigh-Racing on Euclid Avenue"

Above: "Sleigh-Racing on Euclid Avenue," a watercolor painting by Joseph B. Egan, created while he was in the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project (PWAP), ca. 1933-1934. Very little information seems to exist about Egan, but the final report on the PWAP (1934) shows him living on Silsby Road in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, during the time of his New Deal work; and the Living New Deal shows that he created another PWAP painting, "Old Reservoir Walk," that now resides in the Cleveland Public Library's main branch. Image courtesy of the Cleveland Public Library.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: "Christmas in Paris"

Above: "Christmas in Paris," a crayon lithograph by Mabel Dwight (1876-1955), created while she was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1939. Dwight studied art in San Francisco and Paris and, "During the mid-1920s she produced a series of lithographs that earned her international recognition... Her main artistic interest was in people engaged in every-day pursuits or on holiday in the New York City area..." ("Mabel Dwight, Artist, Dies," Philadelphia Enquirer, September 6, 1955). Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Baltimore Museum of Art.

Above: This is a fantastic hand-colored lithograph that Mabel Dwight made in 1928, around the time of her rising fame. It shows an aquarium scene in New York. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Above: A self-portrait, created by Mabel Dwight in 1932. Dwight had no immediate survivors when she died, and there doesn't appear to be many (or any) photos of her online, so it's possible that this is the only image we have for her. When she became a WPA artist in the mid-to-late 1930s, she had either fallen on hard times (private buying of art dried up during the Depression) or she could've been hired into a supervisory or teaching position. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: Ice Skating

Above: "Skating in Central Park," an oil painting by Saul Kovner (1904-1981), created while he was in the New Deal's Public Works of Art Project, 1934. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

 Above: "Skating a Tarry Hall," a painting by Kenneth Warnock Evett (1913-2005), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, ca. 1935. Image courtesy of the General Services Administration and the Sheldon Museum of Art.

Above: A WPA poster promoting a winter festival in Iowa. Did you know that between 1934 and 1935 the New Deal's Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) funded the construction of 887 skating rinks and the improvement of 203 existing rinks? (The Emergency Work Relief Program of the FERA, April 1, 1934 - July 1, 1935, p. 94). Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.

Above: This photograph was taken in Middleton, Wisconsin, ca. 1935-1943. The description for it reads, "Dane County, view showing skating rink and warming house. Open skating period. The rink located in a town of 1,000 population provided much wholesome fun for Middleton's younger set as well as some of the adults. The rink was [supervised by] a WPA recreational worker." It's not clear whether the WPA also built the rink and/or warming house but, across the nation, WPA workers built 1,101 skating areas and improved 84 existing ones (some of these projects were probably carryovers from FERA work - see previous caption). (Final Report on the WPA Program, 1935-43, p. 131). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Skating on Bonaparte's Pond," a mural study by Avery F. Johnson (1906-1990), created while he was in the New Deal's Section of Fine Arts, ca. 1940. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Above: A closer look at the left-hand side of the mural study.

Above: A closer look at the right-hand side of the mural study.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: "December Trees"

Above: "December Trees," a lithograph by Grant Arnold (1904-1988), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1935. There seems to be very little information about Arnold on the Internet, or in newspaper archives, but a 1936 article noted that he had "considerable attention in the art world" for his lithography skills: "He avoids the slipshod liberty sometimes taken in modern graphic art. The result is a presentation of scene familiar to today's beholder. Through his craftsman-like treatment he is able to convey his sensory reaction [with] compositional clarity." The article also reports that he taught an art class in Woodstock, New York, "attended by students from all parts of the country," and "As a true craftsman he follows the entire lithographing process, making his own sketch, drawing it on the stone and doing the actual printing on his hand press" ("Grant Arnold Shows Lithographs at Little Art Shop, Woodstock," The Kingston Daily Freeman (Kingston, New York), July 10, 1936). Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: WPA toys in Tennessee

Above: A WPA toy project in Memphis, Tennessee, September 1936. WPA workers refurbished old toys and made toys from scratch. During Christmas time, many underprivileged children received toys from the WPA. At other times of the year, the WPA operated toy lending projects. All of these projects were win-win-win policies: (1) Unemployed people had jobs, (2) landfill space was saved by recycling old toys and materials, and (3) children from low-income families had more toys than they otherwise would have. Toys and play have long been recognized for their importance in childhood development. According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), "Play is essential to babies, toddlers, preschool, and school-age children. Children need plenty of opportunities to play with a variety of good toys... Toys are an important part of every child’s life" ("Why This Toy?" NAEYC). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: A closer look at the WPA Toy Project sign.

Above: A WPA worker paints a merry-go-round on the Tennessee toy project. How many children had a better Christmas because of WPA workers on toy projects? We'll probably never know for sure, but it's probably in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: "Country Church"

Above: "Country Church," an oil painting by Arthur E. Cederquist (1884-1954), created while he was in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1936. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: "Winter" by Karl Baumann

Above: "Winter," a watercolor painting by Karl H. Baumann (1911-1984), created while he was in the WPA's art program, 1941. Image courtesy of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.

A New Deal Winter & Christmas: Fun in the snow

Above: The description for this 1936 photograph reads, "Federal Residence School, sponsored by Idaho National Youth Administration, located at Weiser, Idaho. 'Come on in - the snow's fine' --Girls of the NYA Federal Residence School take time out for a sun bath and to have their pictures taken." At NYA residence centers across the country, young men and women received job training and could live, socialize, and network with their peers. The NYA was a great opportunity during the challenging times of the 1930s. Photo courtesy of the FDR Presidential Library and Museum.

Above: A WPA-built toboggan slide in Portland, Maine, ca. 1935-1943. Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Above: "Rosaleen Jackman and her snow elephant," created on a WPA recreation project in Spokane, Washington, 1937. This young girl may be responsible for one of the largest music archives in the world (see below). Photo courtesy of the National Archives.

Rosaleen Jackman and the Moldenhauer Archives

Sometimes, when I see a person's name on a New Deal photo, I do a quick Internet search to see if I can find out what became of him/her. In this case, the girl you see above appears to be the same Rosaleen Jackman who married Hans Moldenhauer in 1943. A 1985 newspaper article reported that Hans had fled Germany in 1938 because of the Nazis, taught music, and then "married his former pupil and protege, 17-year-old Spokane native Rosaleen Jackman" ("Deposit boxes contain some musical treasure," The Paris News (Paris, Texas), June 5, 1985, emphasis added). The name, age, and location seems to match the photo above (she would be about 11-years-old in 1937).

Hans (1906-1987) and Rosaleen (1926-1982) became prominent musicians, and today Hans's piano is displayed in the Washington State Capitol Building and Rosaleen is honored with a memorial publication at the Library of Congress, a sort of companion guide to the Hans Moldenhauer Archive - an archive of "more than 3,500 musical manuscripts, correspondence and other music-related material... assembled by Moldenhauer over the course of nearly 40 years... the contents of which span Western music history from the 12th century to modern times... the largest composite gift of documents related to music scholarship ever made to the Library [and] regarded as one of the greatest collections of primary source material in music ever assembled" (The Rosaleen Moldenhauer Memorial, Library of Congress, 2001). 

Hans credited Rosaleen as the driving force behind the archives (see, e.g., "Extensive Collection Is Musical Treasure," Rocky Mount Telegram (Rocky Mount, North Carolina), March 11, 1985), and today, according to the Wikipedia entry for the archives, it has "grown to many thousands of items that are now housed in nine institutions around the world: in the United States, at the Library of Congress, Harvard University, Northwestern University, Washington State University, and Whitworth College; in Basel, Switzerland, at the Paul Sacher Foundation; in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Zentralbibliothek; in Munich, Germany, at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek; and in Vienna, Austria, at the Stadtarchiv und Oesterreichische Nationalbibliothek."