Old Pictorial Map of the United States by White, 1935: NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Alaska & Hawaii, Panama Canal Zone

2026-04-26T00:22:55+01:00

Price: 0.00 - 1875.00 (42 variants)

The United States of America, created in 1935 by Ruth Taylor White, is a jubilant pictorial survey of a nation in motion, rendered with a storyteller’s eye and a cartographer’s care. Conceived within her celebrated atlas of the era, the map gathers all forty-eight states alongside far-flung territories—Alaska, Hawaii, American Samoa, and the Philippines—with a companion Caribbean treatment that includes Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Panama Canal Zone. A lively color palette enlivens the page: a decorative compass rose and nautical vignettes breeze across the southern waters, while ornate cartouches nestle state names. The result is an exuberant panorama where geography, history, and everyday life meet—part cultural scrapbook, part wayfinding instrument, and entirely of its moment.

Ruth Taylor White, a formally trained artist with a keen sense for visual narrative, helped define the American pictorial map during the interwar years. Her work distills civics, folklore, and economic life into a language of emblem and allegory—agriculture becomes pattern, industry becomes icon, and regional character emerges through playful symbolism. These choices mirror the 1930s appetite for engaging, classroom-ready graphics and travel-minded optimism, even amid the shadow of the Great Depression. White’s practiced draftsmanship and editorial wit balance whimsy with instruction, inviting readers to tour a continent where the facts of production, migration, and landscape unfold as an illustrated theater of place.

Across the West, the map teems with resourceful imagery: California’s panel nods to Los Angeles’ star-making allure and fertile groves, while the Pacific Northwest pairs timber and salmon with the cosmopolitan outpost of Seattle. Mountain states rise in jagged ranks, studded with mining and ranching motifs. Texas shows the swagger of derricks and longhorns, with Houston and Austin marked as modern hubs. Midwestern fields ripple with corn and wheat, gathering toward Chicago’s metropolitan might and the Great Lakes’ engine rooms—Detroit foremost among them. The Mississippi threads the heartland as an arterial story line, while to the east New York City, Newark, Philadelphia, and Columbus sit among symbols of finance, invention, and long-settled history, a chain of urban energies linking region to region.

The Atlantic and Gulf fringes are alive with maritime rhythms: a handsome compass rose orients the eye while ships, fish, and breezes annotate the littoral. Florida sparkles with Miami’s resort sheen and citrus promise; coastal fisheries and port towns line the southeastern rim through Georgia and the Carolinas to Virginia Beach. Beyond the mainland, the atlas expands the American orbit—Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and the vital hinge of the Panama Canal Zone, are set within a Caribbean frame that underscores trade routes and strategic passage. Alaska’s wildlife and rugged coasts, Hawaii’s volcanic drama and cane fields, and the South Pacific and Philippine panels speak to the era’s global reach, all gathered within White’s charming, stylized borders.

As a historical artifact, the atlas illuminates the period’s ambitions and blind spots. Its abundance of animals, crops, and regional pastimes forms an exuberant primer on American diversity in the 1930s; yet some imagery—particularly in Tennessee—repeats racial stereotypes now recognized as offensive. Seen critically, the map becomes both a joyous catalog of place and a candid record of contemporary attitudes. Its annotations and pictorial markers capture the social currents that shaped cities from New York City and Chicago to Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, Atlanta, Charlotte, Newark, Philadelphia, Columbus, Detroit, Virginia Beach, and Seattle. With deft cartouches, playful borders, and a narrative density that rewards close study, White’s United States remains a vibrant window onto how a nation once saw itself.

Cities and towns on this map

California: Los Angeles

Texas: Houston, Austin

Florida: Miami

New York: New York City

Illinois: Chicago

Pennsylvania: Philadelphia

Ohio: Columbus

Michigan: Detroit

Georgia: Atlanta

North Carolina: Charlotte

New Jersey: Newark

Virginia: Virginia Beach

Washington: Seattle

Notable Features & Landmarks

Colorful illustrations for each state showcasing local activities and cultural symbols.

Illustrative depictions of animals and crops relevant to various states.

Stylized borders that separate states while integrating whimsical designs.

Annotated significant landmarks and notable regional markers.

Decorative compass rose and nautical imagery at the southern part of the map.

Artistic cartouches that frame state names, enhancing the visual appeal.

Historical and design context

Created by Ruth Taylor White in 1935; country thematic and pictorial map.

Whimsical atlas treatment of all 48 states plus territories (Alaska, Hawaii, American Samoa, the Philippines) and a Caribbean map including Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the Panama Canal Zone.

Artist’s formal training informs an illustrative style that captures 1930s social and cultural nuances.

Some panels (e.g., Tennessee) reflect racial stereotypes of the era, now considered offensive.

Serves as both an artistic representation and a record of the United States’ historical and cultural dynamics during the 1930s.

Please double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.

This map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this map.