Chicago's Gangland Map and Dictionary (1931)

Blind Pigs, Lips and Cold Meat

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Bruce-Roberts’ map of Chicago’s “gangland,” produced in 1931 and “designed to inculcate the most important principles of piety and virtue in young persons and graphically portray the evils and sin of large cities,” is a sensational and humorous approach to documenting crime in the city. Bruce-Roberts is not a person, but a company. The exact identity of the cartographer(s) behind this map are unknown and their motivations can only be speculated upon.

What is clear, is that this map has a definite point of view. Rather than a traditional map legend, Bruce-Roberts’ work features a “Gangland Dictionary,” defining words like ‘pineapple’ (a bomb) and ‘big shot’ (the boss). Rather than a scale that measures distance, the map scale runs from “one shooting” to “massacre.”

Bruce-Roberts’ map features action everywhere and includes a numbered set of important events that transpired around the city, such as #11: “Saint Valentine's Day Massacre: 7 of Moran's gang are lined up agains the wall in garage and machine-gunned. Capone is Czar of all gangland."

An inset map also highlights the future location of the Chicago World’s Fair Grounds, set to take place in 1933. Though not independently verified by this blog author, rumor among map collectors seems to be that Chicago city officials were less than pleased with the publication of Bruce-Roberts’ 1931 map on the grounds that it showcased the city in a negative light in the lead-up to the World’s Fair. So many of the original copies were destroyed that original editions are now difficult to locate. Fifty years after the map’s original creation, R.C. Danon/Poster Publications produced a re-print in 1981, turning the map into a board game. Bruce-Roberts’ original 1931 map is a fun take on what was in reality a difficult time for many working-class people in the city. ~ Mapping the Gangs of Chicago by Meagan Snow

Title: A map of Chicago's gangland : from authentic sources, designed to inculcate the most important principles of piety and virtue in young persons and graphically portray the evils and sin of large cities.

Created / Published: [Chicago] : Bruce-Roberts, Inc., [1931]

Library of Congress: 2013586111

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