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Adam Savage’s Tested
A History of National Park Service's Iconic Graphic Design
⏱ 17 min video · 3 min read14 May 2026Worth watching
TL;DR
Adam Savage visits the National Park Service Museum Conservation Labs in West Virginia to examine rare original graphic design artifacts, including 1920s windshield fee stickers, 1934 lithograph posters by landscape architect Dorothy Waugh, and the ultra-rare WPA silk-screen park promotion posters. The video reveals the surprising boldness and artistry behind the NPS visual identity from its very earliest days.
Key points
1
Windshield fee stickers date back to 1918 (earliest surviving example: 1921) and became a safety hazard as collectors wanted larger ones, leading the NPS to progressively shrink them until abandoning the format in 1940.
2
Dorothy Waugh, a landscape architect working for the NPS, designed the first intentional NPS self-promotion poster series in 1934 as hand-cut lithographs -- she later became a children's book illustrator and also created CCC construction blueprint manuals.
3
The iconic WPA silk-screen posters were produced in batches of only about 100 at the Western Museum Lab in Berkeley, California; only 14 posters for 13 parks are confirmed, but photographic evidence suggests more exist undiscovered.
4
A pristine-condition WPA poster was discovered by archivist Eleanor tucked inside a piece of legislation in the museum collection, perfectly preserved because it had never been exposed to light.
5
Posters from Bandelier National Monument were found cut up and used as file dividers and plant press material, illustrating how casually these now-extremely-rare artifacts were treated at the time.
Key takeaways
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The two undiscovered WPA posters (known only from photographs in the NPS collection) may still exist in private attics or storage -- the NPS is actively looking for them.
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Because the WPA posters are in the public domain, modern reproductions for every NPS park are widely available at visitor center gift shops -- an accessible way to engage with this design legacy.
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Condition of surviving posters varies enormously based on storage history; the legislation-preserved example shows how accidental archiving can yield near-perfect specimens.
Notable quotes
“We we suspect there were actually more created and we have photographs of two posters in our collection that were have never been found. They're sitting somewhere in somebody's attic.”
“I just I'm so moved by her design. She's a landscape architect. How did they -- there's just a level of refinement both textually and formally that betrays an incredible eye. She's an absolute genius.”
“We like to think that these are much more iconic in many ways now than they were ever in history.”
Worth watching?
✅
Worth watching the full video?
Watch if you want to see the actual artifacts up close -- the visuals of the posters and stickers are central to appreciating the design quality, and Adam's genuine enthusiasm makes it a joy to watch.
Saved you some time? The creator still deserves a like.
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