"A Hysterical Map of Yosemite National Park Shown Thru the Courtesy of Mother Nature Productions",

This graphic map of Yosemite National Park was "drawn in broken English" by Jolly Lindgren. Filled with humorous text and illustrations, the map captures the charm of the region with phrases like "the roughest roads have the fewest billboards," an image of flowers labeled "public anenomes," and a compass rose that is "cockeyed we know but this part is correct." A few elk hide amongst the mountain peaks and little birds are scattered throughout. The legend identifies these birds, as well as roads, trails, lakes, little trees and big trees.

The Lindgren brothers of Spokane, Washington, specialized in humorous maps of state parks. The brothers founded their business in 1928 with Hjalmer (Jolly) serving as the artist and Oscar (O.S.) overseeing administration and production. They produced their first map in 1932 - Hysterical Map of the Spokane Country Slightly Cockeyed - which was designed to be "hysterical" rather than "historical." Their comical map was successful, and in 1933 others followed, including Puget Sound, Rainier National Park and Yellowstone National Park. Despite the Great Depression, tourism in National Parks increased significantly in the 1930s, and visitors were eager for souvenirs of their trips. The Lindgren brothers capitalized on this trend, producing numerous National Park maps. Beginning with the Yellowstone map, Jolly developed a standardized format with a bold blue border incorporating the title, yellow denoting land (because of Yellowstone), red for roadways, black for text, and accents of green and blue. This style and color scheme became Jolly's signature style and was continued on all of his Hysterical maps of National Parks.

References: Clinton (IMCOS #125) pp. 27-39; Hornsby, p. 58; Rumsey #8798.

Condition: A+

A bright and clean example, issued folding with minor wear along the folds. A previous owner has annotated their trip to Yosemite in ink on verso.