1932 Historical Map of New York City
DESCRIPTION
Published as a promotion for one of America's largest banks, this colorful 1932 pictorial map presents New York City as a visual timeline of battles, famous residents, colonial settlements, and episodes from the city's early history.
The map covers Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, with Staten Island appearing in a separate inset at lower right. Rather than filling the city with streets, the anonymous artist uses broad geographical forms and dozens of small illustrated scenes to mark historical events and landmarks. Manhattan is especially dense, with George Washington taking the oath of office, the reading of the Declaration of Independence, Nathan Hale's capture, the Battle of Harlem Heights, Alexander Hamilton's home, Aaron Burr's former residence, and the house where Hamilton died. Brooklyn records the Battle of Long Island, early Dutch settlement, historic churches and mills, while Queens and the Bronx include colonial settlements, Revolutionary War activity, and other episodes from the 17th and 18th centuries.
History Meets Advertising
The map was created as an advertising piece for The National City Bank of New York, the predecessor of today's Citibank. Scattered among the historical scenes are 81 numbered locations representing the bank's contemporary branches throughout Greater New York. The main office at 55 Wall Street is marked prominently with a star. The verso provides the key, dated January 1, 1932, listing each numbered branch and its address. With few streets actually drawn on the map, the key was necessary for anyone wishing to locate a branch. Cornell's PJ Mode Collection classifies the piece under both "Advertising & Promotion" and "Money & Finance," an appropriate description of the unusual combination of historical cartography and corporate advertising.
Published in 1932, the map appeared near the depths of the Great Depression, when New York's financial institutions were operating amid bank failures and widespread public anxiety about the country's financial system. Instead of advertising banking products directly, National City Bank associated itself with the history of New York, presenting its network of modern branches alongside Washington, Hamilton, Revolutionary War battlefields, colonial settlements, and other familiar episodes from the city's past. The bank's 81 locations also give the map an unintended secondary value today, documenting the extraordinary reach of a major New York financial institution at the beginning of the 1930s.
CONDITION
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