Chicago & North Western and its connections Links the West and the East

Charming pictorial map of the American West distributed as a souvenir for the Golden Gate International Exposition.

Despite the presence of a competing World’s Fair held in New York the same year, the Golden Gate International Exposition opened on San Francisco’s Treasure Island in February of 1939. The event was organized to celebrate the construction of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and the Golden Gate Bridge, which opened in 1936 and 1937, respectively. Although a second season in 1940 drew in an estimated 6 million more attendees, bringing the total to nearly 17 million, the fair was not considered a financial success, and the impending war soon focused minds elsewhere.

This charming pictorial souvenir would have been a lovely reminder of the fair, and was distributed on site by the Chicago and Northwestern Railway. The image shows a simplified outline of the United States with the route of the railway and it’s connections (mostly the latter) highlighted in bold red.

Accompanying text and photographs on the sides and verso provide highlights on each of the various lines connecting east and west. “Let your visit to the San Francisco Fair serve as inspiration for you to know the pleasures of fine travel as the romance and adventures of distant trails erase the cares and worries of everyday life.”