1884 Hill 'Nicknames of the States' Map of the United States w/Pigs

A most ‘pignominious’ map, this is a scarce 1884 chromolithograph epitomizing the small but adored genre of pig-themed maps. This charming thematic map of the United States was issued on behalf of H.W. Hill and Company to promote their signature product - 'hog ringers', a sturdy porcine nose piercing meant to prevent instinctual rooting behavior. Although some geographical liberties have been taken, the map features humorous anthropomorphized pigs for each state representative of that state's nickname. For example, North Carolina, known as the 'Tar Heel State' features a pig stirring a vat of tar. In California, the 'gold state', a pig works a mine with pick and shovel. Some nicknames remain in use today, like Knickerbocker for New York, while others are less than complimentary and have long fallen out of fashion. Missouri, for example, is here identified as the 'Puke State' with the representational pig vigorously vomiting. All the pigs depicted wear the distinctive H. W. Hill Hog Ringer.

Chromolithography

Chromolithography is a color lithographic technique developed in the mid-19th century. The process involved using multiple lithographic stones, one for each color, to yield a rich composite effect. Oftentimes, the process would start with a black basecoat upon which subsequent colors were layered. Some chromolithographs used 30 or more separate lithographic stones to achieve the desired product. Chromolithograph color could also be effectively blended for even more dramatic results. The process became extremely popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when it emerged as the dominate method of color printing. The vivid color chromolithography produced made it exceptionally effective for advertising and propaganda imagery.

Publication History and Census

This map was designed by Chicago artists William Eugene Sutphin Trowbridge and Charles Edgar Petford, working as 'Trowbridge and Petford' and printed in St. Louis by William Mackwitz. Rare. We note examples at the Library of Congress, in the P. J. Mode Collection of Persuasive Cartography at Cornell, the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis, and the Newberry Library in Chicago.