1954 Beach Products State 'Map-Nap' of Minnesota

This is a 1954, 'Map-Nap' of the state of Minnesota from an obscure but fascinating national series of placements.

A Closer Look

This colorful map, printed on a napkin, marks principal cities, and is decorated pictorially with Minnesota's flora, fauna, and produce. The Split Rock Lighthouse is pictured on the shore of Lake Superior, along with a canoe and a classic lake freighter (of which about 300 plied the Great Lakes at the time this was printed. The ill-fated Edmund Fitzgerald was of this type.) The source of the Mississippi is marked, near a depiction (unnamed) of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. Chippewa and Superior National Forests are both shown. The reverse fold lists an array of 'Interesting Facts about Minnesota,' offering information of the state's size, population, produce, and industry. For example, the reader learns that 'Northern Minnesota is the source of three great river systems - the Mississippi, Red River of the North, and the St. Lawrence'. It further points out that 'Minnesota is actually modest when she calls herself 'The Land of 10,000 Lakes'. An actual count revealed 11,007 lakes of 25 or more acres.' Principal industries are listed as 'Mining, meat packing, machinery, dairying, wood products, printing, linseed and shoes'.

A Full Series?

Beach Products appears to have produced this piece as part of a series of 'State Map-Naps.' We are aware of examples not only dedicated to Minnesota, but also for Florida, Indiana, Michigan, California, North Dakota, and Texas. While it would be reasonable to assume a plan to produce a 'Map Nap' for every state in the Union, we have not seen a full array on the market, and it may be that the project was cut short.

Publication History and Census

This map was printed by Beach Products of Kalamazoo, Michigan, having been copyrighted in 1954. (Beach Products were a paper goods company less known for their maps and more for their napkins.) We see no examples of the California Map-Nap in OCLC, but there is a single listing for another in the series (Michigan: Water Wonderland) in the collection of the Library of Michigan.