Keep Your Fire Escapes Clean

This 1936 public safety poster created by the WPA Federal Art Project for New York City's Tenement House Department addresses a lethal urban crisis through striking modernist design featuring fire escapes and bold typography. Stamped April 16, 1937, and produced as a silkscreen color print by artist Muller, the poster was issued during Mayor Fiorello La Guardia's administration with Langdon W. Post serving as Tenement House Commissioner. The emphasis on keeping fire escapes clear responded to a genuine emergency in crowded tenement districts where blocked fire escapes—obstructed by furniture, storage, or commercial goods—regularly cost lives during the frequent fires that plagued poorly maintained buildings housing immigrant and working-class families.

The poster exemplifies how WPA programs extended far beyond simple employment relief to address urgent public health and safety challenges facing American cities during the Depression. By employing artists to create compelling public service campaigns, the New Deal simultaneously provided jobs, elevated design standards for government communications, and educated citizens about preventable dangers. The geometric, constructivist-influenced aesthetic—angular forms, limited color palette, dramatic perspective—made the safety message visually arresting enough to command attention in the chaotic visual environment of Depression-era city streets. This poster documents a pivotal moment when municipal government assumed active responsibility for protecting tenement residents' welfare through both regulation and education, challenging the laissez-faire attitude that had previously allowed landlords to maintain dangerous conditions with impunity. The collaboration between WPA artists and city agencies demonstrates how New Deal programs created infrastructure for activist government that would persist long after the Depression ended.