Giant Products Postcards (1909) – The Public Domain Review

The series of exaggeration maps collected below focuses on California. Produced by prolific San Francisco publisher Edward H. Mitchell, each card depicts a single train car moving through lush farmlands. On board are gigantic, luminous fruits and vegetables: dimpled navel oranges, a dusky cluster of grapes and mottled walnuts. When the cards are placed one after the other, they form a colorful train that crosses the fertile valleys of California. Unlike other, more action-packed ‘tall-tale’ maps – filled with farmers, fishermen and children for scale – Mitchell’s series is subdued. The colossal load, sharply lit, tends more towards works of art than gagging. “A cartload of mammoth apples”, green-yellow and shiny, could have been picked straight from Rene Magritte’s kitchen The Son of Man.