National Park System Areas and Projects [with] Glimpses of Our National Parks

“Travel Strengthens America. Visit Your National Parks.” [Envelope]

This engrossing collection of WWII-era documents was published by the Government Printing Office in 1941 on behalf of the National Park Service. The original mailing envelope, addressed to Lynn Phillips in Mullen, Nebraska, reflects a penciled date of November 29th, 1944, indicating the group may have been distributed while American forces were deployed overseas. The aforementioned catchphrase is crossed out, presumably because individuals on the homefront were instructed to conserve petroleum for war purposes.

The brochure unfolds to show a 1940 map of the United States that highlights the National Park properties across the country; including ongoing projects, military parks, historic sites, parkways, and battlefields. The verso provides brief descriptions and photographs of many of the most popular destinations. The accompanying guidebook, Glimpses of Our National Parks, is 107 pages and contains a wealth of information on the nation’s park system.