Tony Sarg, a German American puppet master from the 1920s and '30s, is known primarily for two things: popularizing old-world marionette techniques in the United States (he has been called "the father of modern puppetry in North America") and inventing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade floats. But in addition to all that, Sarg was a well-known illustrator, and one of his works, a whimsical map of Greenwich Village from 1934, appears in a new book from the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. Of course, out of the places on this map there isn't much left to preserve, but it's still plenty fun to look at. And you could compare it to another historic map of the Village from 1961, to see just how quickly things changed back then. You could also compare it to a less-fun-but-probably-more-accurate 1926 map from printer Lew Ney (pointed out by an Ephemeral New York commenter).
Our modern adaptation of Sarg's work:
· An incredible map of 1930s Greenwich Village [Ephemeral New York]
· The 1961 Village Was Full Of Cafes, Jazz Joints, And Bookshops [Curbed]
· Cool Map Things [Curbed]
Loading comments...