McCormick’s Spice Map of the World

The 1960 edition of McCormick’s map showing a world of spices.

This eye-catching combination of corporate branding and educational cartography was published in 1960 by McCormick & Co., Inc. The origins of some of the first large-scale international commercial operations began with the spice trade, giving the publishers a broad pool of historical material to draw from within the promotional image.

Illustrations of tea, spice, coffee, and vanilla harvests in the corners present the idea that relatively little has changed in the hundreds of years Westerners have imported such commodities. Images of sailing ships, windheads, and sea monsters and colored routes of early explorers reinforce this perception of continuity in the trade, although air travel, refrigeration, and innovation in packaging had completely changed the industry by the time of printing. Red text within the borders of each country show what is grown there, and flags surrounding the outer border suggest the international nature of McCormick’s modern business.

There are at least three similar editions of the McCormick Spice Map issued between 1954 and 1968. The central image remains largely the same, though the flags of independent nations and views of industrial facilities (lower center) are iteratively updated. Descriptive text about McCormick’s products, vibrant advertising, and a list of questions are provided on the verso.