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1939 Cheeseman Pictorial Map of United States College Football Teams
PigskinPanorama-cheeseman-1939$337.50
Title
Albert Richard Football Map: Pigskin Panorama News.
1939 (dated) 18.625 x 25.5 in (47.3075 x 64.77 cm)
1939 (dated) 18.625 x 25.5 in (47.3075 x 64.77 cm)
Description
This is a 1939 F. E. Cheeseman pictorial map of U.S. college football. The map is part of a series that appeared as football was increasingly becoming a national pastime. It an era before television, most followed their teams through radio and newspapers. The 'Pigskin Panorama' was a way for sport fans to connect not only with the colors and mascots of their favorite teams, but also to visualize the increasingly complex network of regional and national leagues. The series was updated annually from roughly 1939 to 1950.
An example of the 1941 map belonging to the Library of Congress is described as follows:
A Closer Look
The map names some 236 teams from coast to coast, each marked by numbered players. The college's name appears next to each player with a numerical index at right providing the location and nickname of each college. Shading highlights major conferences. Other conferences are marked using stars next to the college in question, each named a banner along the bottom border. The map is superimposed over a background of printed photographs of football games. The colorful border consists of labeled footballs with school colors.An example of the 1941 map belonging to the Library of Congress is described as follows:
This pictorial map demonstrates how popular football had become by the beginning of World War II. With a primary emphasis on the collegiate side of the sport, with team nicknames, 1940 season records, and major conference championships, it also documents the major professional clubs - only ten at the time. The map carries the endorsement of the noted sportswriter Grantland Rice, and reports his selections for the 1940 All-America team. (Virga, Brinkley et al).
Publication History and Census
This map was drawn by F. E. Cheeseman and published by the Albert Richard Company in 1939. There is some evidence that the 1938 edition was a supplement to Boy's Life Magazine, who offered it free to readers. We do not know if subsequent editions were also so offered. They were however offered free in many clothing stores that carried Albert Richards products. This map was issued in multiple editions between 1938 and 1950. The present example, 1939, is the rare second edition. Of this edition, we note a single example in OCLC, at Dartmouth College. A second example is located at the David Rumsey Map Collection.CartographerS
F. E. Cheeseman (fl. c. 1938 - 1946) is known for the colorful set of four college football maps he produced for the Albert Richard Company between 1938 and 1946. He signed some of his maps as F. E. Cheeseman and others as E. E. Cheeseman, although it is not known why. During World War II, Cheeseman's work for Albert Richard changed and became much more patriotic. He also created military-themed work for Albert Richard during the war. More by this mapmaker...
Albert Richard Company (c. late 1920s - c. 1955) began as a division of the Fried-Ostermann Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Fried-Ostermann was a glove manufacturer, and in the late 1920s, decided to diversify their production and opened a division to produce outerwear, which they called Albert Richard. Albert Richard produced leather jackets, mackinaws, overcoats, and sportswear and would soon become more profitable than the glove-making part of the company. Before World War II, Albert Richard advertising focused on health and sports, and received endorsements from college football players. From about 1938 to 1950, Albert Richard partnered with F. E. Cheeseman to published a series of poster size college football maps, which bore advertisements for the company’s jackets on the verso. After the outbreak of World War II, Albert Richard began manufacturing flight jackets for the military under the name of their parent company Fried-Ostermann. Leather jackets, overcoats, and similar products were heavily advertised by Albert Richard during the war. They also gave their jackets model names like ‘Spitfire’ and ‘Meteor’. During the war Albert Richard also gave away wall-sized posters depicting various American military aircraft. Fried-Ostermann sold Albert Richard to the Drybak Corporation of Binghampton, New York in 1952. Daybook began manufacturing Albert Richard clothing in 1953 at a factory in New Jersey, with plans to move production to New York by 1954. However, in 1955, Drybak bought the Martin Mfg. Co. of Martin, Tenessee, closed their operations in Binghampton and moved to the plant in Tennessee, where labor prices were lower. Learn More...
Condition
Very good. Wear along original fold lines. Small area of infill to football player's helmet in Kansas. Text and advertisements on verso.
References
Rumsey 8138.001. OCLC 1082363746. Vincent Virga, Alan Brinkley, and Curators of the Library of Congress, Eyes of the Nation A Visual History of the United States. NY: Knopf, 1997, pp. 300-01.