"Reg Manning's Table-Top Map of Arizona",

This humorous tablecloth map was created by prominent American artist and cartoonist Reg Manning and appears to be a marriage between his 1938 Cartoon Map of Arizona, his popular 1941 book "What Kinda Cactus Izzat," and his 1941Table-Top Argu-Map of the World (see Auction 180, Lot 23). Although the tablecloth map of the world was commissioned by Goldwater's Department Store chain in Phoenix, Arizona, we have not been able to determine if this Arizona map was also associated with Goldwater's. Although considerably larger than his Cartoon Map of Arizona, this tablecloth edition has considerably less detail, likely due to the limitations of printing on cloth. Both maps identify the key cities, roads, and sites throughout the state, yet the tablecloth has more simplified imagery and notations. The Grand Canyon is prominently depicted along with a prehistoric sloth (which does not appear on the paper edition). Images of cowboys and Native American Indians fill the map and spill into the eastern border of the tablecloth. Cowboys are shown breaking a wild horse, roping calves, and engaged in duels. Indian imagery includes a Hopi snake dancer, an Apache basket weaver, a Navajo rug weaver, and a Hopi Katchina dancer (not included on the paper edition). Manning includes a nod to his Mexican neighbors to the south, with images of a bull fight, a dancing Señorita, a sombrero, and a Mexican man taking a siesta. Cacti are also a recurring theme on the map, with a Papago Indian harvesting Saguaro fruit, the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, and a pictorial gallery of cacti filling the border to the west of the state. Adjacent to the title is Reg Manning's signature anthropomorphic cactus.

Although born in Kansas City, Missouri, Manning moved to Phoenix, Arizona as a teenager and remained in Arizona for the remainder of his life. His only formal art training was in high school, however he became known for his editorial cartoons, even winning a Pulitzer Prize in 1951 for one of his cartoons about the Korean War entitled "Hats."

According to the Library of Congress, this tablecloth map was copyrighted 8 November 1943. This map is apparently much rarer than Manning's tablecloth map of the world.

References:

Condition: A

Clean and bright with one faint stain along the neatline at bottom left. The tablecloth appears never to have been used.