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1936 McCaffrey and American Mail Line Pictorial Map of the Pacific Ocean
MaptoAdventure-mccaffrey-1936$350.00
Title
American Mail Line Map to Adventure Sail via Seattle - Japan, China, the Philippines - Round the World. / American Mail Line Map of Adventure Japan, China, the Philippines and Round the World via Seattle.
1936 (dated) 17 x 22.5 in (43.18 x 57.15 cm)
1936 (dated) 17 x 22.5 in (43.18 x 57.15 cm)
Description
This is an eye-catching 1936 Frank McCaffrey pictorial map of the Pacific created for the steamships of the American Mail Line. The American Mail Line was a pioneering service that operated daily out of Seattle, Washington, to the Far East.
A Closer Look
The map depicts the Central Pacific from China and Korea to the west coast of North America (Canada, the United States, and Mexico) and from the Sea of Japan to the Philippines. Large black circles emphasize the American Mail Line's main ports: Seattle, Victoria, Yokohama, Kobe, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and Manila. Comic pictorial illustrations fill the piece and highlight sites, activities, and culture. Along the American West Coast, these include totem poles, skiing, apples, the University of Washington, the film industry, redwoods, and San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. It Asia, it highlights Mt. Fuji, the Great Wall of China, Chinese dragons, lantern festivals, and temples. Views of the American Mail Line's ports occupy the bottom border, while vignettes of shipboard activities line the left and right. Information about the ships, the ports of call, and ticket offices throughout the U.S. and Canada occupy the verso.The American Mail Line
The American Mail Line (1920 - 1974) was an American commercial steamship service that operated out of Seattle, Washington, beginning in 1920. The American Mail Line operated daily trans-Pacific routes to Japan and China from the United States and Canada out of Seattle. Regular service ran until June 1938 but was never profitable after trans-Pacific mail contracts were canceled. The American Mail Line's main ports were Seattle, Victoria, Honolulu, Kobe, Yokohama, Hong Kong, and Shanghai. The American Mail Line operated Liberty and Victory ships during World War II (1939 - 1945) and resumed regular service after the war. The line continued acquiring new ships through at least 1965, but faced with heavy competition from cheaper foreign-operated carriers not subject to American regulated labor and maintenance standards, ran into insolvency.Publication History and Census
This map was created and published by Frank McCaffrey at the Dogwood Press in Seattle for the American Mail Line in 1936. We note only one cataloged example, which is part of the collection at the National Library of Australia.Cartographer
Frank McCaffrey (1894 - 1985) was an American artist, publisher, letterpress printer, and politician. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, McCaffrey moved to Spokane, Washington, with his family at the age of four. After finding a fascination with printing at a very young age, McCaffrey began an apprenticeship in Spokane and by 1913 he was working as a journeyman printer in Seattle, where he would spend the rest of his life. McCaffrey bought Acme Press, a commercial publishing firm in Seattle, in 1919 and in 1931 founded Dogwood Press as a trademark within Acme. For McCaffrey, his artistic goal when printing a book was for the book's presentation to 'reflect and enhance its content'. At Dogwood, he printed 'for the pleasure of the doing' and saw 'the same opportunity for subtle expression of personality as painting or modeling' in printing. Dogwood served as his creative outlet and was home to some of his 'finest and most limited productions'. Works published by Dogwood even had certain hallmarks, such as stout boards covered with patterned cloth and rough, untrimmed page edges. Printing, for McCaffrey, was always a personal pursuit. He sold Acme in 1952, but kept Dogwood, and continued printing. He produced pamphlets for friends and an occasional hardback book. McCaffrey loved to champion Seattle authors and history and, in 1980, he donated a large quantity of printing materials to the newly formed book arts program at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. McCaffrey served for two-and-a-half-years on Seattle's city council and ran for mayor twice. More by this mapmaker...
Condition
Good. Wear along original fold lines. Verso repairs to fold separations. Closed edge tears professionally repaired on verso. Old tape repairs evident on verso. Text and printed images on verso.
References
National Library of Australia MAP G3201.P54 1936.