Issues of racial justice and social equality are at the forefront today, but they were also part of the American political discourse during the 1930s. Organizing efforts among labor groups and the unemployed supported legislative battles to secure a minimum wage and other social benefits for workers and the disenfranchised.

This poster—on display at a rally in southeast Kansas—includes language that remains surprisingly familiar today. It also includes visual elements that highlight the signature theme of President Roosevelt’s campaign and his administration. The “New Deal” moniker was drawn initially from the title of a 1932 book (and magazine article) by social theorist Stuart Chase. The term is inherently a reference to playing cards, but the metaphor was rarely illustrated so explicitly as it’s seen on this poster. Two poker hands have been dealt; while “Labor” holds a lowly pair of threes, “Capital” wins with four aces, thereby highlighting the redistribution of wealth, power and opportunity implied by FDR’s “new deal” programs.