“There’s no Way Like the The American Way”

This classic public domain photograph comes from the Farm Security Administration – Office of War Information Photograph Collection in the Library of Congress. Its subject is a billboard along a roadside in Birmingham, Alabama. This classic billboard will be recognizable to most people, as it has been widely reproduced in many subsequent forms of media. It portrays a happy family driving down the highway, and it displays across a dark field the words, “There’s no Way Like the The American Way.” Above the subject reads, “World’s Highest Standard of Living.” Behind the billboard sits a dilapidated building, a sign of the crushing poverty experienced by much of the country during the Great Depression.

This photo was taken by Arthur Rothstein, who was working as an agent of the United States Government. It is therefore assumed to be in the public domain.

1,417 kilobytes TIFF. Hosted at the Library of Congress.