This unique wall map spoofing prohibition was created by Edward McCandlish and 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 1920s (the present example). The map continued a successful run after Prohibition ended and was syndicated to several other publishers. Roderick Barron of Barron Maps wrote an excellent article describing the map's publication history here.

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.

References: Hornsby (Picturing America) pp. 59 & 72.

Condition: B

Issued folding and now flattened and backed with tissue on verso to reinforce and repair numerous small fold separations and a tiny hole just above the copyright notice at bottom left. The right side of the horizontal fold has also been reinforced with very thin tissue on recto with a tiny portion of image in facsimile. Minor staining at top and bottom left.