Tulip Time Map-Guide
- Title:
- Tulip Time Map-Guide
- Alternate Title:
- Tulip Time Map-Guide
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- Bertsch, Fred S.
- Date:
- 1937
- Posted Date:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2402.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2402_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1920 - 1939
- Subject:
- Advertising & Promotion
Between the Wars
Pictorial - Measurement:
- 40 x 53 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- This promotional map of the 1937 Holland, Michigan "Tulip-Time" Festival is a riot of color - and advertising.
The people of Holland, Michigan - 90 percent Dutch in ancestry - decided in 1927 to undertake an annual tulip festival, and by the late 1930s it had become an attraction of nationwide interest. The festivals included more than three million flowers in bloom in private, public and commercial gardens; miles of streets bordered with tulips; and 300 citizen volunteers “in wooden shoes, baggy breaches and billowing skirts.” New York Times, April 23, 1939, p. 136. “Netherlands traditions are followed as closely as possible,” including folk dancing, games, and Dutch psalm singing and vespers. Ibid.
This map promoted the 1937 festival and advertised both the region and its businesses. The surface of Lake Mackataw displays the varieties of fish in its waters, with the best places to find them, most effective bait, and "winter fishing in shanties." There is Star-class sailboat racing in the summer and skating in the winter, along with ice-boat racing. On land, there are of course advertisements for the tulip gardens: Ebelinks Greenhouses & Gardens; Weller Nursery; Nelis Tulip Farm. But there are also scores of ads for other goods and services, including home appliances, a beauty shop, sporting goods, restaurants, resorts, tires, paint, and coal! The verso (ID #2402.02) has a number of additional advertisements, along with a schedule for the Festival Program from May 15th through 22nd.
A box at the center of the verso, signed by “Fred S. Bertsch,” makes clear that he was the creator of the map: “In an attempt to mix some fun and express appreciation, in doing the not too frivolous task of designing the Map-Guide in a very limited time, names of persons and organizations came to mind as the pencil travelled.” Bertsch was born in Holland, Michigan in 1879, moved to Chicago, and ultimately founded a firm that “specialized in commercial art, advertising designs and layout.” He retired to his home town in 1923 and continued to work in the field. Holland Evening Sentinel, June 29, 1953, p. 13, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1119290/fred_s_bertsch_obituary_notice/, accessed May 27, 2019. A smaller box on the verso states that “Fred S. Bertsch will accept commissions to create publicity plans, or will help with counsel,” describing his experience in Chicago. The map states that it was copyrighted by M. E. (Martha Elsie) Bertsch, Mr. Bertsch’s wife. Ibid. (The copyright notice appears twice: at the top center, below the title, and again at the bottom left.)
Cornell University Library is pleased to present this digital collection of Persuasive Maps, the originals of which have been collected and described by the private collector PJ Mode. The descriptive information in the “Collector’s Notes” has been supplied by Mr. Mode and does not necessarily reflect the views of Cornell University. - Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.