Joseph Jacinto Mora's California Poster, matted and framed.

Date: 1945 (Published) Monterey, California

Dimensions: 24.25 x 18.25 inches

This delightful Jo Mora map is a detailed and whimsical look at the state of California. Mora loved California and he describes it in countless ways on the map, with humorous summaries, with vignettes in bright colors, and with painstakingly rendered topography.

Marvelous caricature vignettes of historical persons and major landmarks embellish the map. The vignettes feature historical Spanish-style architectural edifices, oil wells, ski areas, flora, and fauna, etc., with which Mora pays homage to the history of the state, its natural wonders, its industries, and its inhabitants from different eras and cultures.  A dedication in the title cartouche in which he calls himself an ‘adopted’ son of the state sums up Mora’s feelings about California.

The northern half of the state of Nevada is filled with people dressed to represent different eras in history, engaging in a variety of activities. The earliest are indigenous peoples, followed by Spanish explorers and the Conquistadores, then early American settlers, cowboys, Civil War soldiers, to modern times with skiers, soldiers, and a football player in full play uniform.  The southern half of the state is filled with the various means of conveyance that have been used throughout the history of the state, from early Spanish caravels and clipper ships to stagecoaches and horse-drawn buggies, to trains, trucks, ships, automobiles, and aircraft. Together they constitute a whimsical historical timeline of the state of California.