1947 Bemis Pictorial Fish / Angling Map of the United States

This is a 1947 Waldo Bemis pictorial fishing or angling map of the United States. Depicting the entire continental United States, Bemis uses shading to indicate the distribution of warm-water fish, cold-water fish, and areas where one could potentially find either warm- or cold-water fish. Red circles and stars with white numbers appear throughout, although the vast majority are along the coastlines. These indicate locations where record fish were caught of each of the fifty-three fish species illustrated in the border. All these notations are explained in a key situated in the lower right quadrant. Vignettes of fishermen are included across the United States, all of whom are experiencing a different degree of success. Vignettes of fishing animals, such as otters, brown bears, seals, and wading birds, also add to this map's appeal.

A Fishy Border

As stated above, fifty-three species of fishes are illustrated within the border. These paintings, done by Charles DeFeo, were celebrated works of art and were faithfully reproduced here. Each fish's plaque bears the grid coordinates of the record catches, some of which, amazingly, happened in two different locations, and the border as a whole consists of fish scales.

Publication History and Census

This map was drawn by Waldo Bemis and the fish paintings were done by Charles DeFeo. The whole was compiled by Francesca La Monte, Lionel A. Walford, and Ted Trueblood for the Sportsmen of America and published by the Seagram-Distillers Corporation of New York City in 1947. We note cataloged examples as being part of the collections at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee and Stanford University.