1934 Appleton Allegorical Map of the New Deal Distribution of Money

This is a 1943 LeRoy H. Appleton allegorical map of the distribution of funds from the U.S. Treasury to all the new government agencies created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. The U.S. Treasury sits at center in the background, with money (symbolized by the water) from taxes and government securities 'flowing' into it like water over a waterfall. From there, water travels into the coffers (illustrated as reservoirs) of the Public Works Administration (P.W.A.) and the Reconstruction Finance Corporation (R.F.C.), or through numerous smaller pipes running out of the Treasury. A network of smaller pipes running from the P.W.A. and R.F.C. reservoirs allow some water to flow into the ponds of the smaller alphabet agencies, as all these new government branches became known. The whole is divided roughly in half, with lending agencies occupying the greener side of the map, while spending agencies are located in the barren half.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by LeRoy H. Appleton and published in the December 1934 issue of Fortune Magazine. We are aware of only one example in institutional collections and it is part of 'Persuasive Maps: the PJ Mode Collection' at Cornell University.