1913 Allegorical Map of the Road to Success in Music

This is a c. 1913 allegorical map of the Road to Success, a path lined by temptations and pitfalls, where changes in mindset can bring prosperity or failure.

A Closer Look

Travelers on the Road to Success begin at the bottom of a mountain road, passing through the gates of Opportunity. They are immediately confronted with the temptations of Bohemianism and the Hotel Know It All on one side of the street. On the opposite side is the Right System Railroad Station, which allows travelers a speedy ascent to the top, marked by a harp surrounded by sunlight and surmounted by 'SUCCESS'. Travelers must navigate the pitfalls of Illiteracy and Conceit and get past the Mutual Admiration Society before avoiding Vices, Bad Habits, and Bad Reputation to extend their journey.

Continuing up the mountain, travelers must avoid the sticky webs of the spiders Jealousy and Do it Tomorrow as well as the trap door of Charlatanism. Misrepresentation dumps the traveler into boiling oil, and Short Cuts allow travelers to skip the bridge but lead to the river of Failure that they then must ford and survive to continue forward. Bad Temper, Carelessness, Shiftlessness, and Bad Memory all lead directly back to the River of Failure. But, if these can be avoided, the Tunnel of True Knowledge lies just ahead and cuts through the mountain of Lack of Preparation. Those who have not prepared (which appears to be everyone on the Road to Success) must climb and descend the mountain to continue their journey.

Now Sprees, Laziness, and the trap of Bad Business Methods lie in the traveler's way. The Gate of Ideals spans the roadway; however, Weak Morals appear just to the right of the Gate and will launch the traveler back to the beginning of their trek. Once one passes the Gate of Ideals, it appears that the traveler has suffered enough for their art and can now simply hike up the road to Success at the mountain's summit.

Publication History and Census

This piece was created by an unknown artist and published c. 1913. A reduced version was published in the October 1913 edition of the The Etude, a music magazine. The present example is a different color and is significantly larger than the edition published in The Etude.