United Steaks of America

Last month, I posted a photo of a steak map of the United States. The photo was sent to me by a carto-friend, but I could not find the source or the artist...

This morning, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Huffington Post had set up a gallery of this "steak art" by photographer and "food artist" Dominic Episcopo: The United Steaks of America.



You can even vote on your favorite ribeye or sirloin state.

Texas Divided

More silly speculation about Texas... On Monday, I posted maps speculating on Texas Secession. One of the common myths about Texas history is that the terms under which the Republic of Texas joined the United States was that they had the right to secede... well their defeat in the Civil War actually settled that... but one of the terms that WAS agreed to at the time was that Texas has the right to subdivide into (up to) five states!

FiveThirtyEight speculates on how Texas might be divided, and the subsequent impact on the division of power between Red and Blue:



The end result of this exercise is that Republicans could net as many as six more seats in the Senate, and Democrats two. What are they waiting for?

Of course, it would never happen. Texans are too attached to their state's shape to ever consider such an astute political maneuver. There is an entire industry built upon selling kitschy souvenirs in the shape of Texas. It is not to be messed with.

Texas Secession?

Last week, during all the hoopla surrounding Tax Day and Tea Parties, Rick Perry, Governor of Texas, suggested that Texas just might have to secede if they are not happy about taxes.

Picking up on that note, FiveThirtyEight.com has created a little map to illustrate this possibility, and suggest that only Republicans would be sorry to see them go...



In fact, it would seem that Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, has already jumped the gun on that notion. The Huffington Post noticed that the State Department had listed Texas as a foreign country. After it came to their attention, the error was corrected, but not before HP got a screen capture of the list.

This is of course not the first time that an independent Texas has been mentioned here at Cartophilia. (See Roswell, Texas.)

On a related note, the bloboganda blog, tries to explain the name dispute between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, by describing a scenario wherein a portion of Mexico declares independence and calls itself "The Republic of Texas". Would Americans stand for that?



Of course the solution to that scenario could simply be resolved. The United States could sell the State of Texas to the Republic of Texas, and pay off some of the National Debt...

UPDATE 4/21: Black Maps: For the love of God, let Texas have her way!

UPDATE 4/23: The Electoral Map on Texas Secession: would scenarios be like North Korea or Slovakia?

Anthropomorphizing America

Serendipitous map fun today.

On Twitter this morning, @pascal_venier knew I would be amused by this pic posted by @ggatin "Assuming the brain is under the hat?"



This image is on a T-shirt available from BustedTees... which led me to its corollary:



Lest Canadians and Mexicans be offended... the search for these images also led to this YouTube video, "This Country's Getting Dumber":

A Ballot Buddy System

No, this has nothing to do with same-state marriage... Although these two would make an odd couple...



Randall Lane has an op-ed piece in today's New York Times about how to reform our electoral college system of electing a president, without amending the constitution.

Election theorists talk nobly of moving America’s presidential election to a popular vote, but that would require a Constitutional amendment. Swing states would never pass it, because it would mean giving up their influence. Neither would small states, which have a disproportionate influence in the Electoral College. But if every state apportioned its electoral votes as Maine and Nebraska do — one for each Congressional district, plus two for the overall state winner — millions more voters would suddenly become worthy of the candidates’ attention.

The way to make it happen, says Lane, is to get similar sized "red and blue" states to use the "buddy system" and take the plunge at the same time. That way, there would a less dramatic shift in electoral results. At least perhaps in the early going.

A change such as this would go a long way towards the ideal of truly having every vote counted and every vote courted.

#310

Wearing Maps

Looking for a piece of fabric with a map on it? Who doesn't want to wear a shirt made of out map fabric?

From the The True Up blog:


From J & O Fabrics:


From Geography Matters:


From Warm Biscuit:


A former associate of mine made this shirt for me from some map fabric she found:


#288

Roswell, Texas

Roswell, Texas, (by L. Neil Smith, Rex F. May, Scott Bieser, and Jen Zach) is a graphic novel that takes place in an "alternate universe" where Texas remained an independent republic after The Alamo. Fast-forward to 1947 and President Charles A. Lindbergh has dispatched some Texas Rangers (law enforcement officers, not baseball players) to Roswell, in West Texas, to investigate a reported crash of a flying saucer!

However, other countries are interested in getting there first. President Walter Disney of California and his Nazi allies, as well as the United States and the Franco-Mexican Empire are all interested in what can be found at the crash site.

For graphic novel and/or alt history fans, it is an amusing, fast-paced frolic. The story is full of actual historical figures as main characters or just a cameo appearance, including John Wayne, Lawrence of Albania (Arabia), Frank Sinatra, Lyndon B. Johnson and The Pope.

Only little tidbits of the "why and how" of this alternate timeline are revealed in the story, but I was first intriged by the map of the Federated States of Texas on the back cover (hightlighted below). The borders of this Republic of Texas are much larger than the State of Texas today, or even the territory of Texas that was wrested from Mexico in 1836 and 1848.

In little bits here and there throughout the story, the reader learns that in 1861, when the American Civil War started, Texas cut a deal with the United States. In exchange for Texan assitance putting down the rebellion, they were deeded most of Louisiana, Arkansas, and all or part of present day Missouri, Kanasas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

While the scenario is a bit implausible, it is necessary to create the shoot-from-the-hip culture that exists in this Texas of 1947 (and 1964). Every Texas stereotype is enlarged for comedic effect. For instance, in Texas, all citizens are required to carry a handgun. You must have a permit to be exempted from this law...

Published by Big Head Press, the comic was originally serialized on their website, and can still be found there in full color.

Cheesy Texas

Is it a miracle? The State of Texas has appeared on this little girl's grilled cheese sandwich!

No, it is The 1st 6th Annual National Grilled Cheese Invitational!

"A Grilled Cheese Sammich cooking competition. You cook. The Audience decides. Everybody wins!"

Cheese is good.



Via Boing Boing.

Inflated Views

From the New York Times, December 8, 2001: On March 29, 1976, a simple, pastel map of New York City appeared on the cover of The New Yorker. Drawn from the perspective of a low-flying bird looking west from Ninth Avenue, you could see the world receding from the city: the Hudson River, New Jersey, Kansas City, then the Pacific Ocean and Japan. It was Saul Steinberg's famous "View of the World from Ninth Avenue," a drawing reproduced and imitated countless times. Every city wanted a version of its own. Steinberg once said that if he had gotten the proper royalties, "I could have retired on this painting." This inflated view of one's own importance is not the first time such a map has been created. Here is another look at New York in relation to the rest of the country, by Daniel K. Wallingford, in 1937; A New Yorker's Idea of the United States of America:

© The Saul Steinberg Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY. Cover reproduced with permission of The New Yorker magazine. All rights reserved. per Sheila Schwartz, Executive Director, The Saul Steinberg Foundation

Not to be outdone, here is a view from California:



As mentioned here before, Texas is in love with its geographic shape. They also like to tell us how everything is bigger in Texas. Below are two postcards from my collection that illustrate that infatuation:





And finally, on this postcard, Alabama, for reasons unclear, have an inflated view of themselves:

Don't Mess With Texas

As I mentioned in my previous post, there is a big primary election Tuesday in Texas and Ohio*. I've already posted a few things about Ohio, so here are some of my postcards from Texas:



I have visited Texas several times, both to visit friends and to attend conventions. I particularly enjoyed San Antonio and Corpus Christi. San Antonio is a terrific convention town. I appreciate the way all the major hotels and convention center are all connected by the River Walk. Corpus Christi is blessed with Gulf breezes and beautiful beaches and the nearby Padre Island National Seashore.

• Prior to European colonization, Texas was inhabited by Native American nations such as the Caddo, Comanche and Apache.


• Claimed by Spain, the territory was controlled by Mexico after their independence in 1810.


• Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836, and functioned as an independent republic for nearly a decade.


• In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, initiating a war with Mexico, that cost Mexico one third of its territory.


• In 1861, Texas seceded from the Union, and was "reconstructed" in 1870.

Perhaps more than any other state, Texas is in love with its distinctive shape:

Today, the outline of Texas is familiar enough to be a well-known image, an icon. The shape has also become a symbol, that is, something concrete implying a much larger idea which can raise strong feelings. The curves and straight lines of the Texas border serve as neon signs, billboards, book covers, television images, packages, and brochures to advertise calculators, trash bags, insurance agencies, cigars, houses, used cars, railroads, cans of beans, clothing, cosmetics, and the state itself. The gloriously uncopyrighted shape of Texas has become swimming pools, cakes, masks, hats, shirts, piñatas, buildings, evergreen topiaries, sculpture, and balloons.

The official slogan of the Texas Department of Transportation is "Don't mess with Texas." It was created as part of an anti-litter campaign, but has grown in popularlity as an unofficial slogan for the state, and The Department of Transportation has sent cease and desist letters to several organizations in an attemp to make them stop using their trademarked slogan.



*Yes, I know that Rhode Island and Vermont are also holding primaries... but I don't have any map postcards from your states, rendering you less important. Perhaps you can help me remedy the situation.

Texas Vintage Reproduction Souvenir Tablecloth!

I've been planning to post some of my Texas postcards and other map memorabilia, in honor of the big presidential primary tomorrow. Unfortunately, circumstances have kept me away from the scanner.

However, Mrs. Cartophiliac recently pointed me toward this website, where they sell actual vintage, and reproductions of vintage style housewares for the "Modern Gal & Dapper Guy!"

Retro Redheads is offering this Texas Vintage Reproduction Souvenir Tablecloth!

Both the Clinton and Obama campaigns staffs could use this tablecloth while planning election strategy over lunch!

More Texas map fun later tonight or tomorrow... (I hope).

Cold War Update

On Thursday, television political analyst, Stephen Colbert, provided an update on the status of the cold war, including an outline of the latest piece in the breakup of the map of old Yugoslavia.

Not in this clip, but at the beginning of the program, Colbert questioned whether the independence of Kosovo was a plot by "Big Atlas" to get us all to buy new world maps...