Cliff Dweller Card Map of the World’s Columbian Exposition

A reproduction of ‘the earliest civilization in America’ at the Columbian Exposition.

This ephemeral advertising card was published in 1893 to promote the Cliff-Dweller Exhibit at the Chicago Columbian Exposition. A large artificial hill was constructed to replicate the iconic Pueblo structures that dot the American Southwest, with an accompanying museum containing relevant artifacts.

One side of the piece highlights the location of the exhibit amid a general map of the World’s Fair grounds in Jackson Park, with over thirty other different attractions identified (an interesting selection). The verso offers text describing the exhibit and rave reviews from esteemed visitors, including Dr. Rudolf Cronau from Leipzig; “The great problem of science is this: Whence came the people of the New World and in what way are they connected with the human race of the Old World?”