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Small 1929 pictorial world map titled "Hiker and Buzzer's Trip 'Round the World," created by the renowned Chicago artist and architect Edgar Miller.Historical BackgroundThe map was published by the iconic Chicago department store Marshall Field & Company as a promotional tie-in for a children's radio show broadcasted on WGN Radio. Named The Air Castle Hour (also known as The Field's Make-Believe Hour), the daily broadcast ran from 5:30 to 6:00 PM and followed the whimsical adventures of two characters, Hiker and Buzzer.The show and its accompanying map capitalized on a massive real-world cultural phenomenon: the historic 1929 global circumnavigation of the Graf Zeppelin. Sponsored in part by William Randolph Hearst's media empire, the German passenger airship gripped public imagination by setting a record for the fastest flight around the world at the time.Key Details & Content Artistic Style: The map is printed on a Mercator projection using a distinct color palette of deep blue, tan, and orange accents.Playful Elements: True to Edgar Miller's imaginative and illustrative style, the map blends geography with a mix of historical fact and fiction—depicting real landmarks like the Panama Canal alongside fictional creatures like the whale Moby Dick.Branding: Promotional text explicitly patterns the borders, with "Follow the Zeppelin Around the World During Field's Air Castle Hour—5:30 to 6—W.G.N." across the top, and the Marshall Field & Company name spanning the entire lower edge. |
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