1932 Chocolates Jaime Boix Trading Card Pictorial Map of Europe

This is a 1932 Chocolates Jaime Boix pictorial trading card puzzle map of Europe which depicts the Second Spanish Republic. This beautiful pictorial map consists of 52 unusually shaped trading cards that were issued inside boxes of Spanish chocolates. The cards combine to create a map approximately 19 x 23.5 inches. The map covers the entire continent of Europe, from Spain to the Caspian Sea and from Greenland and Nova Sembla to the Mediterranean and North Africa. The drawings on the map depict the inhabitants of European countries in their traditional dress or costumes, the flags and emblems or crests of the countries, and some of the products produced there.

The date of this map is unclear. Chocolates Jaime Boix issued trading cards with their chocolates throughout the 1920s and into the 1930s. Some of their more well-known cards included die cut trading cards of boxers. On the back of the last card in this set, the text reads, 'In addition to making the best chocolate, [Jaime Boix] distributes to its clients collections of highly instructive and interesting trading cards', 'Además de fabricar el major chocolate, repartee entre sus clients las colecciones de cromos más instructivas e interesantes'. The geography of the map (the presence of Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union, as well as the borders of Germany) suggests that this map was produced after World War I. However, the depiction of the flag of the Second Spanish Republic in Spain makes it possible to have a much smaller time frame.

The Second Spanish Republic was founded in 1931, following the overthrow of the Spanish monarchy. They adopted the tricolor flag depicted on this map: red, yellow, and murrey. Also, the Coat of Arms depicted in Spain is the Coat of Arms of the Second Spanish Republic. The Second Spanish Republic existed until 1939, after Republican forces collapsed following the capture of Madrid by General Franco's forces. However, the government in exile of the Second Spanish Republic had an embassy in Mexico City until 1976.

This map was produced for Chocolates Jaime Boix of Barcelona, Spain.