McCandlish's Humorous Prohibition Map in Hand Color

"Bootlegger's Map of the United States",

This unique wall map spoofing prohibition was created by Edward McCandlish and first published in the Washington Post in 1926. McCandlish was a prominent illustrator for the children's page in many newspapers in the 1920's and 1930's, making this parody a radical departure. The Bootleggers' Map was a hit early on, and the Griswold Press in Detroit issued a second version in the late 1920s through the early 1930s. The present example was published by the Griswold Press for the "Souvenir Convention" of 1931 (as stamped on verso). The map continued a successful run after Prohibition ended and was syndicated to several other publishers. Roderick Barron of Barron Maps wrote an excellent article describing the map's publication history here.

The map itself is filled with illustrations and puns, as nothing is sacred in this hilarious look at alcohol and prohibition. Many place names are plays on words, like Chi-keg-o, Albu-Corky, Fill-More, Booze (Boise), and many more (some so bad they hurt) - The pints of the compass are Norse, Wets, Yeast, and Souse. A wonderful piece of Americana that beautifully captures the humor and mood of the time.

References: Hornsby (Picturing America) pp. 59 & 72.

Condition: A

A clean and bright example, issued folding and now flattened and professionally backed in thin tissue to repair several short fold separations and tiny holes at fold intersections. There is light show-through at bottom left of the stamped title on verso.