This Porcineograph/This Good-Cheer Souvenir
- Title:
- This Porcineograph/This Good-Cheer Souvenir
- Alternate Title:
- Porcineograph
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Baker, William Emerson
- Other Creators:
- Forbes Lithograph Manufacturing Co., Boston
- Date:
- 1876
- Posted Date:
- 2017-04-14
- ID Number:
- 2054.01
- Collection Number:
- 8548
- File Name:
- PJM_2054_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1870 - 1899
- Subject:
- U.S. Civil War
Advertising & Promotion
Satirical
Pictorial
Unusual Graphics/Text - Measurement:
- 57 x 41 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- One of the rarest and most fascinating images of American comic cartography, "This Porcineograph" celebrates the American Union - and the pig! At the center is a map of the United States as a pig "copied from the Census Surveys of 1870, adding only 3 feet of territory (?) resting on Cuba, Mexico and the Sandwich Islands, and the Hydro-Cephalus from Canada." (The author acknowledged that "Congressional Legislation is required to PERFECT this GEOHOGRAPHY.") The map is surrounded by the seals of every state and pork dishes identified with each. At the top is a large vignette of hogs celebrating the Union, while two smaller vignettes describe hog-related litigation that affected American history. "The Porcineograph celebrates an enduring love of pork, but its graphic style also anticipates the advent of advertising as the nation began to mass produce everything from clothing to food." Phaidon 2015, 244.
The history of this map and the eccentric entrepreneur behind it is set out in Onion 2014: "“The map was commissioned in 1875 by a former sewing-machine magnate, William Emerson Baker. Baker, whose successful Grover & Baker Sewing Machine Company produced accessibly-priced units for home use, retired in 1868 at the age of forty. He moved to a large farm in Needham, Mass., which he transformed into an amusement park full of attractions and exhibits that expressed his radical political viewpoints. . . . In the mid-1870s, Baker’s activist heart turned to the nascent Pure Food Movement, which lobbied for stricter regulations on food producers. . . . Baker became obsessed with hygienic farming. In 1875, he held a big party, with 2,500 attendees, to launch his 'Sanitary Piggery,' a new kind of hog farm featuring ultra-clean housing and controlled diets.
Because Baker was a man of many causes, the get-together also celebrated the centennial of the battle at Bunker Hill, and, through the invitation of Southern guests, advocated reconciliation of North and South. " Text on the map itself says that it was intended to honor those guests: "This GOOD-CHEER SOUVENIR Was designed by the author for the Fifth Regiment Maryland National Guard - the Norfolk Light Artillery Blues - the Richmond Knights Templar - the Washington Light Infantry of Charleston, S. C., and other guests from the SOUTH, who participated in the Fete Champétre especially given in their honor, at Ridge Hill Farms, Wellesley, Mass. June 19, 1875, at the time of the Bunker Hill Centennial."
The following year, Baker reproduced his "souvenir" with some changes in typography and an explanation at the bottom: "Yielding to numerous requests, the Author has decided to publish this as a good-cheer offering to all. Gains from its sale will be devoted entirely to charity. - Recognised organizations in different States, desiring its sale in aid of Centennial or other charity, may address 'Aquarium,' 13 West street, Boston, Mass. Copyright Secured 1876. Compliments of the Author.”
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact - Cite As:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography, #8548. Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library.
- Repository:
- Division of Rare and Manuscript Collections, Cornell University Library
- Archival Collection:
- P.J. Mode collection of persuasive cartography
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.