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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
National Narratives in Pictorial Maps, 1929-1939
Description
An account of the resource
This collection explores American pictorial maps from the 1930s. Their modes of representation and their content may differ, but they all represent an attempt at shaping and responding to contemporary national identity. Depicted beside and beneath the map's ostensible themes (food, natural resources, American history), is more subliminal messaging about race and American identity. The aesthetics of the maps vary, but they all depict the United States in approximately the same scale and style.
<p>In my project, I hope to explore the arguments these maps were making. Further questions include: why was there an uptick in pictorial map making in this time? More broadly, how does the form of these pictorial maps relate to their function? What does the publishing power behind these maps -- one map was privately published, two were published by large food companies -- mean? How do these maps fit in to the larger historiographical discussion on the creation and consumption of culture during the 1930s? What is the connection to the Great Depression?</p>
Still Image
A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials.
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Map of the Gifts of Nature to America
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Kellogg Company
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Kellogg Company
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1934
Description
An account of the resource
This 1934 pictorial map was created by the Kellogg Company. The titular "Gifts of Nature" refers to agricultural plenty, but the map also depicts historical sites, industry, and Native American tribes. Also shown are railroad lines, migration routes, and recreation. Insets on both sides of the map, as well as near the Great Lakes, connect these "gifts" to the development of the Kelloggs Company. The narrative begins with Native Americans, then depicts the original home of Kelloggs, then moves on to facts about the company's industrial prowess as well as a picture of the enormous Kellogg plant. The trajectory of this narrative advances an argument for progress and success: white dominance, homegrown business, and industrialization.
This narrative is supported by imagery throughout the map, as when Native American tribes are represented by tomahawks. Additionally, large labels throughout the map define swathes of land by their agricultural output: "The Heart of the Corn Country," "The Land of Cotton," etc. This indicates that the land itself has a destiny: to support the American people (specifically, through their consumption of Kelloggs!). Interestingly, the only human forms depicted are those of cowboys in the southwest.
Of the maps in this collection, this is the one that advances the most explicit commercial argument.
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Nation (United States)
agriculture
Bodies of Water
cattle
color
commerce
corn
corn flakes!
cotton
food
food production
industrialization
industry
Kelloggs
migration
mountains
native americans
pictorial map
progress
Railroads
religion
tomahawks
United States