Sam Gerson Global War Map First Edition

A conspicuous example of wartime advertising from an apparel store.

A comprehensive, if biased, wartime overview of the various theaters around the globe. Includes the first (and only) edition of the Global War Map, the South West Pacific, Russo-German War Front (highlighting the results of the 1942 Soviet counter-attack), and Polar Map of the World. The opposite side shows the Mediterranean, Northern Africa and the Near East War Zone, lists insignia of the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps, and provides dates on territorial changes and war declarations.

Sam Gerson is a clothing company – one of dozens, if not hundreds, of various proprietors who sponsored the publication of such wartime cartographic material for consumption by the American public. The front and back panels, side by side, inadvertently illustrate the disconnect between the American homefront and the troops overseas.