Two "hysterical maps" of Yellowstone and vicinity by the Lindgren Brothers:

A. The Famous Hysterical Map of Yellowstone Park Including a Few Minor? Changes, dated 1936 (15.7 x 15.9"). This graphic map of Yellowstone National Park was "hatched & scratched" by Jolly Lindgren. It depicts the park in a light-hearted manner, with a number of silly visual puns, including hot springs drawn as coils radiating sizzle lines, a belching cabin to mark Soda Butte, a pool table standing in for Congress Pool, and a holdup bear appearing as a bear with a pistol. Old Faithful sings, "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles," while Folsom Peak has a jail cell on top. Lindgren also inserts jokey asides, such as a parenthetical "Are Ya Hurt?" beneath Gibbon Falls and "Hell for Certain" under Brimstone Basin. The Lindgren brothers of Spokane, Washington, specialized in humorous maps of state parks. An alternate title surrounds the map: A Hysterical Map of the Yellowstone Park with Apologies to the Park Smileage Guaranteed.

B. A Hysterical Map of Yellowstone Park and the Jackson Hole Country, circa 1960 (5.6 x 8.7"). This small map of Yellowstone National Park was "drawn in broken English" and extends to include Jackson Hole and Grand Teton National Park. Examples of Lindgren's madcap humor include Electric Peak shown with lightning bolts crashing into its peak, Old Faithful doing a rendition of "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles," hot springs depicted as coils radiating heat, and birds sitting upon signs reading "What? No Billboards" and "It's the Old West (Except the Plumbing)". A swooping bird regards Jackson Hole and quips, "It's the tallest hole I've ever seen," while below a caption identifies a cow as "Hamburgers (On the Hoof)." This map is printed on cardstock with "King Size Mapcard" printed on verso to allow tourists to mail this postcard to friends and family.

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. The Lindgren brothers had hired Ted Turner as director of sales in 1930, and his role in the business gradually evolved until he became an official partner in 1949, and the business was renamed Lindgren-Turner. After World War II, the map business declined, so the Lindgrens and Turner innovated to create souvenir decals, which becamee hugely popular. After Jolly Lindgren's death in 1952, Oscar Lindgren and Ted Turner further extended the product line to include postcards (called "King Size Mapcard").

References: Hornsby (Picturing America) plt. 6 & 8; Clinton (IMCOS #125) pp. 27-39

Condition: A

Clean, colorful examples.