1930 Pennsylvania Sugar Pictorial Map of Caribbean Sugar Production

This is a c. 1930 Pennsylvania Sugar Refining Company pictorial map of Caribbean sugar production. Insets of Cuba and Puerto Rico illustrate two major sugar growing. An illustration of the Pennsylvania Sugar Refining Company's refinery marks Philadelphia, and trains, cars, buses, and airplanes are illustrated speeding the finished sugar to markets nationwide. A charming view of the refinery occupies the space just below the map. A short explanation details the process of growing sugar cane, harvesting, and processing it for shipment to the refinery, and then making the sugar.

Verso Content

A map illustrating a large portion of the world's sugar growing regions occupies the lower half of the verso. Text explains where sugar cane could be grown successfully and insets highlight islands (such as the Philippines, Java, Hawaii, and Cuba) where the Pennsylvania Sugar Company buys their cane. Text on the upper half of the sheet provides recipes for sweet treats as well as propaganda informing children to 'insist on Quaker Sugar' so that they can be sure their sugar was refined in the United States.

The Philadelphia Sugar Refining Company

The Philadelphia Sugar Refining Company was founded as a molasses processing plant by John Hilgert, a Bavarian immigrant, in 1864 at 5th and Girard in Philadelphia. His son Charles moved the company to the corner of Shackamaxon Street and Delaware Avenue in 1881. The refinery was expanded several times over the following decades and eventually became known as Sugar House by the neighborhood's residents. When the Pennsylvania Sugar Refining Company was acquired by the National Sugar Refining in 1942, Pennsylvania Sugar was the last remaining independent sugar producer in the United States. National Sugar Refining operated in Philadelphia until 1984, when the plant was closed. The buildings were torn down in 1997 and the SugarHouse Casino now occupies this real estate.

Publication History and Census

This map was created for and published by the Pennsylvania Sugar Refining Company c. 1930. We note a single cataloged example in OCLC, part of the collection at Harvard University. We also note that an example at Persuasive Maps: The PJ Mode Collection at Cornell University.