Oregon Map 1935 Pictorial Print - Portland, Salem, Eugene

Ruth Taylor White drew this pictorial map of Oregon for Our U.S.A., A Gay Geography, a whimsical cartoon atlas published by Little, Brown, and Company in 1935 with text by Frank J. Taylor, covering all 48 states in fifty-eight full-color illustrated sheets. This sheet appears on page 83 of the atlas, printed in bright lithographed color and filled with small hand-drawn scenes rather than any conventional survey detail, a style built to entertain a Depression-era audience as much as inform it. Oregon is shown here through its mountain landmarks and its logging, fishing, and farming industries, the identities that most defined the state's popular image in the 1930s. Ruth Taylor White and Frank Taylor built the atlas as a joint effort, her illustrations paired with his short, wry captions, and the finished sheets sold well enough during the Depression that Little, Brown kept the title in print for several years after its first release.

The Cascade Range, Mount Hood, and Crater Lake are all illustrated as the state's signature natural landmarks, each rendered with the same exaggerated, cartoon-like style used throughout the atlas. Logging and fishing scenes appear across the state's forested and coastal regions, the two industries most associated with Oregon at the time. Wheat production and cattle ranching are illustrated in the state's eastern reaches, a contrast to the greener, wetter landscape shown along the coast. Swimming and boating scenes round out the coastal imagery, reflecting the recreational use of Oregon's beaches. Together the mountain landmarks, the timber and fishing industries, and the eastern ranching scenes sketch an Oregon defined by dramatic natural variety from coast to interior.

An Oregon family with roots in the timber, fishing, or ranching industries will recognize this map's take on the state immediately, and it makes a distinctive gift for anyone who prefers a whimsical, Depression-era view of Oregon to a conventional antique survey. The store's other Oregon editions include Cram's 1878, 1893, and 1883 printings and Asher & Adams' 1874 sheet, all standard survey-style cartography; this 1935 Little, Brown sheet is the only pictorial, cartoon-style map of the state the collection carries. It's printed unframed and available in a range of sizes to fit whatever wall it's headed for.