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Description

Early Issue of This Iconic Prohibition Era Bootleggers Map

Early example of the Bootlegger's map of the United States, one of the most interesting of the whimsical / pictorial maps published in the early 20th Century.

The present example does not include a copyright date or the Val Blatz Brewing Company advertisement.

The map is filled with place names, real and fanciful.

Edward Gerstell McCandlish (born 1887) had an extraordinarily varied working career including being a staff cartoonist at the Washington Post where he illustrated a Sunday column called the "Bunny Tots", an illustrator of many children's books and designer of many toys, and designer of three humorous pictorial maps: The Bootlegger's Map of the United States, The Ration Map of the U.S., and the "Un-Convention-Al Map of New Haven."

This unique wall map spoofing prohibition was 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 (Detroit) issued a second version in the late 1926 (the present example). The map continued a successful run after Prohibition ended and was syndicated to several other publishers.  

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.