1936 Crawford Press Pictorial Map of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with Advertisements

This is a 1936 Crawford Press pictorial tourist map of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The map celebrates the iconic villages and sights of Cape Cod and promotes some of the region's many businesses.

A Closer Look

Illustrations fill Cape Cod, including herds of deer, golfers, equestrians, windmills, cabins, lighthouses, and airplanes. The Pilgrim Monument is illustrated in Provincetown. Advertisements for local restaurants (and a bank) fill Cape Cod Bay. The Cape Cod sea serpent makes an appearance above these ads, not far from a mermaid. (The 'Sea Serpent' is said to ply the waters from Cape Cod to Cape Ann. There have been numerous sightings and some photographs of 'serpents' caught in fishermen's nets. Both the sightings and the captured fish are almost certainly very real and sea-serpent-like deepwater oarfish). King Neptune overlooks the scene from the upper left corner, just off the coast of Plymouth. More advertisements occupy the top and bottom borders and promote places to stay, more restaurants, and even an antique shop.

Publication History and Census

This map was created and published by the Crawford Press in 1936. This is the only known cataloged example of the present edition. Crawford Press also published a more artistic edition in 1936 (see https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/capecod-crawfordpress-1936). Of this artistic broadside edition, we note a single cataloged example in OCLC, which is part of the collection at Harvard University. We also note an example in the collection at the Sturgis Library in Barnstable, Massachusetts.