Lake Placid Olympic Bobsled Run

This 1936-1938 WPA poster by artist J. Rivolta promotes Lake Placid's Olympic bobsled run with the inviting slogan "Up where winter calls to play," marketing recreational use of facilities built for the 1932 Winter Olympics held four to six years earlier. Created by the NYC WPA Federal Art Project for the New York State Conservation Department and produced as a silkscreen color print, the poster depicts four men navigating the bobsled course at high speed. The emphasis on continued public access to Olympic infrastructure represents state efforts to capitalize on the significant public investment in facilities that might otherwise have become expensive relics of a two-week international competition.

Lake Placid's 1932 Winter Olympics marked the first time the United States hosted the Winter Games, transforming a small Adirondack resort town into an international sporting destination. The Depression-era context made the Games' economic impact particularly significant, with facilities representing major capital investment that required justification through ongoing public use. The poster's creation several years after the Olympics demonstrates New York State's commitment to promoting winter tourism and outdoor recreation as economic development strategy, while the WPA's involvement exemplifies how New Deal employment programs extended beyond immediate relief to support long-term recreational infrastructure. The appeal to recreational skiing, skating, and bobsledding reflects growing American interest in winter sports previously associated primarily with European resorts, as improved transportation and equipment made winter recreation accessible to middle-class Americans. This poster documents the transition of Olympic facilities from venues for elite athletic competition to democratic recreational resources available to ordinary citizens, embodying New Deal philosophy that public investment should generate broad social benefits rather than serve narrow constituencies.