by Emily Scott, Sr. Publicity Activator, Social Impact Studios
Some of my favorite posters in the Posters For The People collection are the ones that bring to life American Jewish culture from the era, like an archive of my own family’s heritage.
In the 1930s, during the WPA era, my great-grandparents were Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants living in New York City. The Yiddish language is written with Hebrew letters, but the words themselves are much closer to German and other European languages, linguistically tracing a part of the diasporic history of the Jewish people. Both Hebrew and Yiddish are read from right to left. My great-grandpa read a Yiddish newspaper, but didn’t speak Hebrew. I can speak neither language, but I can (mostly) read the alphabet that links them.
There are a variety of posters in this collection that feature Yiddish, almost all of them advertising theater productions - unsurprising, considering the rich history of American Yiddish theater. I was looking through these posters recently and noticed something curious about this “Yiddish Drama” poster: not only could I read the letters of the Yiddish on the poster, but I understood what words they were forming: “A Repertoire of de Finest Yiddish Drama.” The letters are not forming actual Yiddish words, but are composing a “sounds-like” transliteration of the English caption messaging on the poster!
In my experience, it’s very common to see transliterated Hebrew in Jewish prayer books in the United States: one side of a page will have the text in the original Hebrew letters, and the facing page will have it written out phonetically in the English alphabet, often in addition to an actual English translation of the text. But, according to my family, Yiddish transliteration of an English text was not at all common in 1930s New York.
So what’s going on with this “Yiddish Drama” poster? Who’s the audience for English words written with Yiddish lettering?
Well, if you look a little closer at the poster, you’ll notice that at least one of the productions being advertised is for an “English Version” - so the audience is expected to know both Yiddish and English. The use of Yiddish letters to spell out the English description here is a marketing tool to reach that intersection of the population!
This poster is a little time capsule of the newly-assimilating Yiddish-speaking Jewish population during the WPA era and the advertising techniques trying to reach them.
In the 1930s, during the WPA era, my great-grandparents were Yiddish-speaking Jewish immigrants living in New York City. The Yiddish language is written with Hebrew letters, but the words themselves are much closer to German and other European languages, linguistically tracing a part of the diasporic history of the Jewish people. Both Hebrew and Yiddish are read from right to left. My great-grandpa read a Yiddish newspaper, but didn’t speak Hebrew. I can speak neither language, but I can (mostly) read the alphabet that links them.
There are a variety of posters in this collection that feature Yiddish, almost all of them advertising theater productions - unsurprising, considering the rich history of American Yiddish theater. I was looking through these posters recently and noticed something curious about this “Yiddish Drama” poster: not only could I read the letters of the Yiddish on the poster, but I understood what words they were forming: “A Repertoire of de Finest Yiddish Drama.” The letters are not forming actual Yiddish words, but are composing a “sounds-like” transliteration of the English caption messaging on the poster!
In my experience, it’s very common to see transliterated Hebrew in Jewish prayer books in the United States: one side of a page will have the text in the original Hebrew letters, and the facing page will have it written out phonetically in the English alphabet, often in addition to an actual English translation of the text. But, according to my family, Yiddish transliteration of an English text was not at all common in 1930s New York.
So what’s going on with this “Yiddish Drama” poster? Who’s the audience for English words written with Yiddish lettering?
Well, if you look a little closer at the poster, you’ll notice that at least one of the productions being advertised is for an “English Version” - so the audience is expected to know both Yiddish and English. The use of Yiddish letters to spell out the English description here is a marketing tool to reach that intersection of the population!
This poster is a little time capsule of the newly-assimilating Yiddish-speaking Jewish population during the WPA era and the advertising techniques trying to reach them.
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