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Feb272009
A Nightclub Map of Harlem
Author: Mike Thibault 19 commentsI was at my friend Jojo’s house about a year and a half ago, watching some old VHS tapes of dance stuff she had. Among the home movies she had was a taped documentary featuring Cab Calloway. He was checking out this amazing cartoon map of Harlem from back in the 30’s and remembering all the places. Since then I’ve been trying to find a readable copy of it. A while ago I found that the title is “A Nightclub Map of Harlem” and it was drawn in 1932 by E. Simms Campbell, a cartoonist who went on to great success with his drawings in Ebony Magazine. My searches for it turned up little that was actually legible — until this week. Check out the link to view a closeup on Flickr:
A Nightclub Map of Harlem, by E. Simms Campbell
I love the great depictions of Harlemites and the little comments everywhere… “Specializes in fried chicken – and it’s really good!” … “Nothing happens before 2 a.m. Ask for Clarence.” Cab Calloway made a joking comment about what a deal those marijuana cigarettes seemed at the time of filming, “2 for $.25″.
Unfortunately it seems that every copy I’ve seen is cropped on every side so we are missing a portion of this great work. My new side project is to find the original drawing and get the rights to print it as a poster. It might even be in the public domain, depending on whether rights were renewed. How great would it be to have this framed up on your wall?
As far as I can tell, the last place the original was shown was at an exhibit at the Smithsonian in 1996. I’m hoping that it is still there; I’ll post updates if I make any progress!
19 responses to “A Nightclub Map of Harlem”
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Jesse Hanus February 27th, 2009 at 12:39
If you find out how to make this into a poster I want one! Very cool find, Mike.
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I LOVE this map. Mike, I think you had previously found a picture online of someone who has it as a mural, but I can’t find the link now. Can you post it? Also, Mike Faltesek has a tattoo of the compas done by Peter Loggins, and he told me Peter took it from a book, though I don’t know which one. Worth investigating.
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Yeah, I’m pretty sure the photo of the mural was on Flickr and is no longer there. I saved it on my home computer way back when and dug it up the other day… Unfortunately it contains the same cropping. :\
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yeah, same clipped version is printed in the Ken Burns JAZZ book. i dig the worthy quest.
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The photo credit in the Ken Burns book says the image was reprinted by permission of Campbell’s daughter Elizabeth Campbell Rollins. According to Google she was once married to Gordon Parks (http://www.nndb.com/people/248/000027167/) and later married Milt Moskowitz (http://www.mediatrainingworldwide.com/press03-03-05.html), (http://www.greatplacetowork-conference.com/en/259_milton_moskowitz_.htm). Not sure where they live, though her daughter Leslie Parks is a chef who lives in Brooklyn (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/fashion/weddings/18UNIONS.html).
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I too love this art work. I would love to use it as wall paper.
I found this in the companion book to the Ken Burns Jazz.
If anyone finds it in its entire print let us know. -
Hi,
I was researching a map in my husband’s collection, one that I believe is the first one published of Campbell’s Night-Club Map of Harlem. It is folded in the middle, as is the one in your picture, but has a little wider white margins, with the name of the magazine in the top margin. It was published in 1932, not in “Esquire,” as some references I came across indicated (Esquire not beginning publication until the following year), but instead in “Manhattan” Magazine. There seems to be a dearth of information concerning this magazine, as well as the first publication of the Harlem Night-Club map, so I would appreciate learning anything I can about this.
Thank you.
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I’ve been conducting some research on the map as well, and it’s surprising how widespread the Esquire magazine misconception is.
Also, I’ve found information on Manhattan Magazine surprisingly hard to come by, though haven’t dug very deep yet.
Joan, is there anything on the version of the map you have to indicate the month or year of publication?
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Trivia: this map was used as the endpapers for Cab Calloway’s autobiography.
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I am Elwood in the Bluespatrol Show Band .The map is published on the inside cover of Cab Calloways authobiography titled Of Minnie The Moocher & Me . It is complete with borders. elwoodnotjake@optoline.net .Our website is http://www.bluespatrol.com PAT/440 AKA ELWOOD .
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Great find, Mike! I love it!
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i like tuesday August 20th, 2010 at 08:29
It it was in a Smithsonian exhibition, there’s a very good chance it could be in the images collection at the library of congress. once you find it, ordering prints is a fairly easy matter.
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Mike Thibault August 21st, 2010 at 12:00
Yeah I already checked with the LOC and they do not have the image. What’s more, I want to be as legit as possible with this and get permission from the copyright holder before printing anything.
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Desperately want a print of this…would love to have an update if one is located.
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[...] via, source [...]
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Mike Thibault August 23rd, 2010 at 13:09
I’m still working on it and I am closer than ever; no guarantees of course but stay tuned!
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[...] Thibault posts a cartoon map of Harlem hot spots created in 1932 by Esquire cartoonist and Cuties creator E. Simms Campbell. Never heard of E. [...]
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Good luck with the research. I would love to have a copy too.
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Bill Wax August 30th, 2010 at 06:36
If you make a poster of the complete map, please let me know as I would love to buy a cupy or two or even three. Thanks
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