Item #16000094 Daniel K. WALLINGFORD.

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New Yorkers' Geographic Myopia Satirized
[New York, n.d. but 1939]



New York City/ Humor.  WALLINGFORD, Daniel K. [New York: 1939]  A New Yorker’s Idea of the United States of America.  11 ¾ x 15 7/8  inches.  Color print.  Mounted on acid-free paper, lightly toned, marginal chipping & creasing, still overall very good.             


Delightful satiric map that anticipated Steinberg's iconic 1976 New Yorker cover. However, here the display of New Yorkers' blithe geographic ignorance is carried out in considerably more detail.  This was by far the largest of the three editions of this map and the only one that was offered in full color. As expected, New York and its boroughs occupy an inordinate amount of the map, but the farther one looks west the more egregious and hilarious the map's geographic errors become.  The Great Lakes are a string of lakes that here include lakes Louise, Champlain, and the Great Salt Lake along with a few that should be there.  Illinois contains St. Paul, Milwaukee and other midwestern cities; Kansas is the capital of Missouri; Idaho is the capital of Oregon, and on and on.  Nice art deco images decorate the map, and its title is flanked by a smart New York City street scene on one side and a grim wagon train on the other. 


This edition of the map was published on the occasion of the 1939 World’s Fair, which is shown only on this edition of the map.  The two previous smaller editions appeared in 1936 and 1937.


Daniel K. Wallingford (fl. c. 1932-1964) was an industrial designer and artist, who attended Cornell University. He also produced a similar map from a Bostonian's perspective.


PJ Mode Collection of Persuasive Maps (Cornell) PJM_1254_01; Hornsby, S. Picturing America, pp. 58-9, 68.

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