Visit the Zoo – Philadelphia, created in 1936, turns a hippopotamus into an arresting civic ambassador. The animal stands broadside across a brilliant yellow field, its heavy grey body modelled with just enough tonal shading to suggest bulk and weight. Above it, the word “ZOO” appears in emphatic black capitals; beneath, “PHILADELPHIA” anchors the design like a destination sign. The result is immediate, humorous and exceptionally clear: animal, attraction and city are grasped almost at a glance.

The poster belongs to the energetic visual culture of American promotion between the wars, when bold public graphics gave local attractions the persuasive force of major destinations. Its subject also carried particular resonance in Philadelphia. The city’s zoo, chartered in 1859 and opened in 1874, is generally recognised as the first zoological garden in the United States. By the 1930s it was therefore not merely a place of recreation, but a long-established metropolitan institution—an appealing subject for advertising that joined civic identity with popular entertainment.

A closer look

The hippopotamus occupies the central and lower part of the vertical composition, leaving little room for incidental detail. Its rounded back forms a long, shallow arc, while the short legs and carefully shaped hooves establish a low, weighty stance. Darker grey shadows gather beneath the belly and around the folds of the body, giving volume to a figure otherwise simplified into a memorable silhouette. The prominent eye adds a note of alert character, preventing the animal from appearing merely monumental.

Typography provides the poster’s second performance. The modest, flowing words “visit the” curve lightly above “ZOO”, creating a lively contrast with the commanding scale of the noun below. Those three large letters, with their subtly serifed forms, act almost as architecture: compact, black and immovable against the yellow. At the bottom, “PHILADELPHIA” stretches horizontally beneath the animal, balancing the upper lettering and ensuring that the city name remains integral rather than supplementary.

The restricted palette is central to the design’s effectiveness. Warm yellow supplies both energy and spaciousness, while the black lettering creates the sharpest possible graphic contrast. Between them, the hippopotamus is rendered in cooler greys, allowing its contours and restrained shading to remain legible without competing with the message. There is no depicted enclosure, landscape or crowd; the empty background enlarges the animal and gives the entire encounter the clarity of a pictorial emblem.

Context and significance

Travel and attraction posters of this period had to communicate in public spaces, often to audiences seeing them briefly or from a distance. Here, simplification is not a lack of detail but a carefully judged visual strategy. One recognisable animal supplies personality, the destination appears in unmistakable type, and the intense ground colour binds everything together. The slight irregularity visible along some printed edges now lends the otherwise crisp design a period character, but its underlying graphic logic remains strikingly modern.

What gives Visit the Zoo – Philadelphia its lasting appeal is the economy of its idea. The hippopotamus is at once imposing and faintly comic, while the typography transforms a straightforward instruction into a buoyant public invitation. It remains an engaging record of how 1930s Philadelphia presented one of its best-known attractions: directly, confidently and with a memorable sense of fun.

Choosing the right size and finish

Artwork can feel intimate at smaller sizes and dramatically more architectural at larger ones. Use the room preview, model image and size guide to see how the proportions and scale will work in your space.

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The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this art print.

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Selected artworks can be produced at statement sizes up to 3 metres (10ft). Custom sizing and specialist framing are also available. If the exact option you need is not listed, contact our workshop.

This artwork is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The work is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present an art print without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas art and explore the differences between my different finishes.