The Big ‘Round the World Race between Mickey Mouse and the Big Bad Wolf

The neatest thing since sliced bread.

This map is a wonderful and early example of integrated marketing aimed directly at children during the Great Depression. It was a strategy designed to promote the sale of a new and innovative product – sliced bread. Two recognizable characters from the Walt Disney Corporation, Mickey Mouse and the Big Bad Wolf, are racing around the globe, and the only way to find out their locations is by buying loaves of bread! Ideally, they would be produced by the Happy Home Bakers, as advertised in the upper left, but a number of various brands participated in the campaign.

Official rules are provided on the verso, but the gist is that bread with a Micky Mouse Band would contain a small trading card, allowing the purchaser (or their child) to follow the progress of the race across the world. Blank spaces at the top and bottom of the sheet allowed for the display of the entire collection. Interesting information pertaining to the history and consumption of bread across a number of different countries is also provided on the verso, along with a letter from Mickey Mouse welcoming the buyer into the Globe Trotters Club [excerpt follows, as printed exactly].

“BUY THAT BREAD…EAT THAT BREAD and I’ll know you’re a regular fellow…a Real Member of the Mickey Mouse Globe Trotters. FOR EVERY LOAF YOU BUY HELPS ME AHEAD IN THE RACE…SO DO YOUR PART.” The map features other notable Disney characters such as Pluto, Minnie, and Goofy (named Dippy the Goof) in the borders.

Countries visited by the iconic pair include the U.K., China, Australia, Egypt, Sweden, and the Philippines. Numerous vignettes within the images show various means of transportation, amusing encounters with local wildlife, and caricatured depictions of local people and customs. A particular disgrace is the racist depiction of indigenous people in Africa and Southeast Asia in a style reminiscent of the 1930 animated Silly Symphony, Cannibal Capers. Published in 1936 by Walt Disney Enterprises.