Nevada Map 1935 Pictorial Print - Reno, Las Vegas, Carson City

Ruth Taylor White drew this pictorial map of Nevada 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 65 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. Nevada is shown here through its mountain geography and its mining and ranching economy, 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 Humboldt Mountains and Pyramid Lake are both labeled among the state's geographic features. Mining scenes are illustrated across the state's mountainous regions, a direct nod to Nevada's long history as a mining state dating back to the Comstock Lode. Ranching imagery appears alongside outdoor activities such as hiking and skiing, while occasional illustrations of Native American figures and early settlers hint at the region's longer history. Together the Humboldt range, Pyramid Lake, and the mining and ranching scenes sketch a Nevada defined by its rugged, sparsely populated basin-and-range landscape.

A Nevada family with mining or ranching roots 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 Nevada to a conventional antique survey. The store's other Nevada editions include Cram's 1878, 1893, and 1883 printings and an 1874 sheet paired with Southern California, 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.