1954 Beach Products State 'Map-Nap' of Florida

This is a 1954, 'Map-Nap' of the state of Florida. This colorful map, printed on a napkin, marks principal cities, and is decorated pictorially with ships, sailboats, speedboats, water skiers, fishing scenes, flora, and fauna. A jolly, regal sun blazes down upon the state. The reverse fold lists an array of 'Facts about Florida,' offering information of the state's size, population, produce, and industry. (For example, the reader learns that 'Florida waters supply virtually all of the sponges harvested in the U.S.')

A Full Series?

Beach Products appears to have produced this piece of Floridiana as part of a series of 'State Map-Naps.' We are aware of examples not only dedicated to Florida, but also for Indiana, Michigan, California, and Minnesota. While it would be reasonable to assume a plan to produce a 'Map Nap' for every state in the Union, we have seen no others on the market, and it may be that the project was cut short.

Publication History and Census

This map was printed by Beach Products Inc. of Kalamazoo, Michigan, having been copyrighted in 1954. (Beach Products were a paper goods company less known for their maps and more for their napkins.) We see no examples of the Florida Map-Nap in OCLC, but there is a single listing for another in the series (Michigan: Water Wonderland) in the collection of the Library of Michigan.