Vtg 1940 Elliott Service Co Poster There's Joy In Work Labor Motivation 17x22

Item Description

Up for consideration is an authentic, original vintage 1940 workplace motivation poster published by the Elliott Service Co., Inc., New York. Titled "There's Joy in Work: It comes from job-pride and skill," this striking piece features classic mid-century graphic styling with a bold yellow background, contrasting typography, and a stylized illustration of a proud worker framed by a radiating sunburst design.

Dimensions: Approximately 17 inches by 22 inches.

Markings: Marked with publication code "M 1440 MD 426" in the bottom left corner and "Copyright 1940 Elliott Service Co., Inc., 219 East 44th Street, New York" in the bottom right corner.

Condition: Retains vibrant color and crisp graphics with expected signs of age-appropriate handling, light edge wear, and minor corner creases consistent with a historic paper artifact of this era. Please review all provided photos for exact condition details. A wonderful piece of American corporate history and industrial art!

Maker Bio: Elliott Service Co., Inc.

Founded in 1911 by Howard Elliott, the Elliott Service Company of New York was a pioneer in industrial relations, management consulting, and employee motivation. During the mid-20th century, particularly through the 1930s and 1940s, the company produced large-format weekly bulletin boards and posters displayed in factories, offices, and workshops across the United States. Their posters were designed to boost wartime and peacetime morale, encourage workplace safety, emphasize efficiency, and foster professional pride among American workers.

Historical Information & Interesting Facts

The Era of Workplace Psychology: Published in 1940, this poster captured the shifting American industrial landscape on the brink of World War II. Industrial psychologists of the era heavily emphasized "job-pride" as a method to combat worker alienation on assembly lines and increase national productivity.

The New York Address: The imprint lists the company's historic office location at 219 East 44th Street in New York City, a hub for corporate advertising and publishing agencies during the mid-20th century.

Ephemera Rarity: Because these posters were meant to be temporary displays swapped out weekly in factories, very few survived decades of industrial environments, making original 1940s copies highly sought-after by collectors of vintage propaganda and labor ephemera.