A Map of Downtown Chicago

Silk map of Chicago’s Loop issued to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Marshall Field & Company.

Though it nominally functions as a map of Chicago’s downtown, the primary purpose of this silk handkerchief was to promote the 100th anniversary of one of the city’s most famous retailers; Marshall Field & Company.

The image is oriented with west at the top and shows an image of the Loop in 1952, 100 years after the company was organized as the P. Palmer & Company dry goods store. A profile of this first building, along with the other company headquarters in the intervening century, can be seen in the inner border. The outer border features a parade of well-dressed 19th-century patrons and the anniversary motto of “the clock strikes a century 1852 – 1952” (referencing the iconic exterior clock that still stands today).

Source: Smithsonian Magazine;