1950s Spanish-Language Pictorial Propaganda Map of the United States

This is a c. 1952 Spanish language pictorial map of the continental United States published by the U.S. Department of State and distributed by the U.S. Information Agency (U.S.I.A.). Versions of this map were produced in many languages for international publication. Its innocuous presentation belies its role in the United States' worldwide propaganda campaign during the Cold War.

A Closer Look

The map is abundantly illustrated with resources, historic sites, and landmarks, including birthplaces of famous politicians and cultural figures. People at leisure activities - hunting, skiing, bobsledding, waterskiing, and frolicking on the beach - appear amongst laborers. Many of the illustrations of the western U.S. emphasize the mythology of the 'Old West,' complete with explorers, pioneer wagons, bison, cowboys, and Native Americans. (In an era in which young American boys frequently sported coonskin caps and cowboy costumes, this is perhaps to be understood.) Universities are prominently noted. It does not take long, however, to note the many references to America's military might: many of the ships shown at sea are warships; there is a similar preponderance of warplanes. Army training sites, aircraft factories, and munitions factories appear as well.

Three inset maps on the lower-left detail the principal rail, air, and road routes. At top-right are insets of the eastern and western hemispheres showing the relative position of the U.S. on the globe. At bottom-right is a text box detailing geographical, economic, and demographic information.

Updated for the Cold War

This is not the first version of this map. An earlier version, published in the 1940s can be found. It is easily distinguishable from the United States population listed in the lower-right text box (138 million, as opposed to the 155 million shown here.) Close comparison of the two maps shows more changes, however. Off the coast of San Diego, a battleship has been replaced with an aircraft carrier and south of Pensacola, a propeller plane has been replaced with a jet fighter. Such reference to American might is selective: neither Strategic Air Command nor Los Alamos make any appearance here.

Presenting the United States to the World

This map was published in many languages. This one is in Spanish, but we are aware of examples in English, Japanese, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, Farsi, German, and French, and more may exist. These were intended for broad distribution, as Spanish text at bottom states plainly:

For distribution outside the United States and its territories and possessions, this map is available free of charge upon request from the nearest United States information office.

The map was an explicit part of The United States' Cold War efforts to emphasize America's economic prosperity and military strength vis-a-vis the Soviet Union. We are aware of examples of this map having surfaced not only in Spain, but also in Cuba.

Publication History and Census

This map was printed by the General Drafting Company in New York on behalf of the U.S. State Department, to be distributed abroad by the United States Information Service (the name of U.S.I.A. abroad at this time). The map is undated, but as Alaska and Hawaii are referred to as territories of the U.S. rather than states, it must have been produced before they attained statehood in 1959. The population noted here, 155 million, falls between the numbers given in the 1951 and 1952 Census data. The changes noted above in the map's illustrations can also be observed in a Japanese edition tentatively dated 1953, so 1952 seems a reasonable estimate. The c. 1945 edition of this map is relatively ubiquitous in library collections, but this 1950s version is cataloged only by the Biblioteca Nacional de Espana and the University of Chicago (with a spurious date).