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Jim Crow-era pictorial placemat map of the Rockies and Pacific Northwest, extending from Salt Lake City to Seattle. The map was prepared for the now-infamous Coon-Chicken Inn, a themed restaurant chain, which existed from 1925 until the late 1950s.
The map combines traditional pictorial mapmaking elements, such as illustrations of local landmarks and economic activity, with the pervasive use of the offensive caricature of a smiling African American porter that was associated with the Coon-Chicken Inn. The face formed a large part of the front of the restaurants with customers walking through the mouth to enter.
The map bears an inscription in the lower-right corner that gives some context to the item: "Went here with Stan Meigle after a 2 A. Dance." Presumably, it was kept as a memento of that teenage date.
The chain had a total of three restaurants at its height (Salt Lake City, Portland, and Seattle). There was a fourth restaurant planned for Spokane, but it never opened. Based on the appearance of the three restaurants on this map, we can date it to between 1931 and 1949.
