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1926 Clason Map of Chicago, Illinois

DowntownChicago-clason-1926
$250.00
Pictorial Map of Chicago. - Main View
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1926 Clason Map of Chicago, Illinois

DowntownChicago-clason-1926

Illustrates both Wrigley Field and Comiskey Park!

Title


Pictorial Map of Chicago.
  1926 (undated)     33 x 21 in (83.82 x 53.34 cm)     1 : 40550

Description


This is an attractive 1926 Clason Map Company pictorial city plan or map of Chicago, Illinois. Depicting from Howard Street south to East and West 87th Street, important buildings throughout are illustrated in profile, including the Field Museum, The Art Institute, the Museum of Natural History, Wrigley Field (labeled as Cubs Ball Park), and Comiskey Park (labeled White Sox Ball Park). Similar vignettes illustrate hotels, schools, hospitals, office buildings, churches, and numerous other buildings. The city's parks, cemeteries, and golf and polo clubs are illustrated and colored green. Pink, green, and red lines trace the motor coach routes through the North Site, West Side, and South Side, respectively.
Verso Content - Pictorial Map of Downtown Chicago
On the verso, a pictorial map centered on the Chicago River depicts the Loop, covering from Harrison Street north to the intersection of Rush Street and Bellevue Place, west as far as Canal Street, and east to Lake Michigan. It details downtown Chicago, including the Magnificent Mile and the Chicago Loop. Important buildings, such as The Art Institute, Grand Central Station, and Union Station are illustrated by profile vignettes. Numerous other buildings, representing leading hotels, department stores, public buildings, churches, clubs, theaters, office buildings and industrial plants, are illustrated in a similar manner. Individual streets are named, with parks, coach routes, and railroads identified. Beautiful illustrations of ships and sailboats are included in the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. An inset in the lower right notes the starting points of coach lines running downtown. An explanation below the title notes the significance of downtown Chicago and the areas depicted here.
Publication History and Census
This map was copyrighted and issued by the Clason Map Company, Chicago on July 10, 1925. The map is undated and there is significant confusion concerning the dating of this piece. The copyright was filed on July 10, 1925, for both maps. Fortunately, the present example was accompanied by a guidebook issued for the International Institution Exposition, which took place between June 21 and 26, 1926.

Cartographer


George Samuel Clason (November 7, 1874 - 1957) was born in the city of Louisiana, Missouri in 1874. As a young man, Clason studied at the University of Nebraska before joining the United States Army in 1898 to fight in the Spanish American War. After the war, he moved to Denver, Colorado where in 1905 he founded the Clason Map Company, thus starting his lucrative publishing career. Clason initially focused on mining and mineral maps - capitalizing on the Colorado and Nevada mining industry, but quickly transitioned to railroad maps, city maps, and by the 1920s, road maps. As the company expanded, Clason opened a secondary office in Chicago, Illinois - then a rising map publishing center and railroad hub. At least one other satellite office was opened in Los Angeles. Among his many achievements, Clason is credited with producing the first modern road atlas of the United States. In the late 1920s, Clason also published a series of get-rich-quick pamphlets in the form of parables. The most famous of these is The Richest Man in Babylon. This tells the story of Arkad, a citizen of Babylon famed for his great wealth and generosity who shares his wit and wisdom with his fellow Babylonians. In 1949, Clason moved to Napa, California to retire and found a social club for retired gentlemen. More by this mapmaker...

Condition


Good. Exhibits wear along original fold lines and slight loss where formerly attached to its original binder. Pictorial map of Downtown Chicago on verso. Accompanied by original binder.

References


Holland, R. A., Chicago in Maps: 1612 to 2002, (New York: Rizzoli) 2005, p. 92. Rumsey 8739.002.