Tampa

Faded memories of Tampa Bay from the late 1980s.

This lively 1988 poster map presents a colorful cartoon overview of Tampa and its surrounding communities. The focus is on local residents and businesses, as caricatured figures engage in a variety of everyday activities amid illustrated and carefully labeled buildings, many adorned with recognizable corporate signage. A diverse mix of retailers, professional services, restaurants, and cultural institutions reflects the city’s thriving small-business economy, anchored by the skyscrapers of the downtown waterfront.

Distinctive landmarks include Ybor Square, the Henry B. Plant Museum, and the recently-opened Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Traffic is conspicuously absent, though a handful of classic automobiles and delivery vans traverse the stylized street network. The civic bustle extends into both the harbor and the sky, where F-16 fighters from nearby MacDill Air Force Base streak overhead.

The Tampa City Character Print was illustrated by Jean-Louis Rheault and published by Descartes, Inc. of Grimsby, Ontario, in 1988. It was one of more than one hundred city prints issued by the firm and was distributed exclusively in Florida by the Tampa Tribune, whose offices are prominently featured near the center of the composition.