Gold Mountain, Big City: Ken Cathcart's 1947 Illustrated Map of San Francisco's Chinatown

by Jim Schein

Overview

The unique character of San Francisco’s Chinatown is revealed in a historical map and fascinating photographs

This colorful and celebratory time capsule of San Francisco’s Chinatown—the largest Chinese community outside of Asia—shares the stories of the unique businesses, culture, and people encountered by map illustrator Ken Cathcart between 1939 and 1955. Each section of this stylized map, supplemented by Cathcart’s never-before-seen black-and-white photographs, is explained in meticulous detail, revealing glimpses of the immigration story universal to America and exploring the struggles, triumphs, and enduring legacy of this vibrant community.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781944903893
Publisher:	Abrams
Publication date:	03/24/2020
Edition description:	Illustrate
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 12.80(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Jim Schein lives in San Francisco and is the owner and operator of Schein & Schein Old Maps Store along with his wife, Marti Schein.

Editorial Reviews

02/24/2020

Schein, co-owner of Schein & Schein Old Maps in San Francisco, delivers a beautifully illustrated look at Ken Cathcart’s decorative 1947 map of San Francisco’s Chinatown. The book opens with a brief biography of photographer and illustrator Cathcart, who photographed Chinatown between 1939 and 1955. His collection of more than 1,000 images led to the creation of a thoroughly detailed map of Chinatown that “celebrates one hundred years of Chinese immigration” and was used by the city’s Board of Supervisors to promote San Francisco. For each of the dozens of photos and illustrations included, Schein provides illuminating context—historical (“San Francisco’s first Chinese laundry was established in 1851”), geographical (“The Stockton Tunnel... is the transit connection between downtown and the Chinatown-North Beach areas”), and cultural (“Modern slit-skirt dress... was a new style as of the 1930s and represented the modernization of the Chinese American woman”). Schein uses Cathcart’s photography and illustrations to highlight various points on the map: in one memorable example, Schein places a hand-drawn illustration of a kitchen above a photo of a young man packaging cooked duck at a restaurant and explains how “the idea of finished food, to be removed and eaten elsewhere, was unheard of in Euro-American culture prior to 1860.” Urban historians and armchair travelers alike will enjoy this spectacular tour. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

... this stylized cultural map of the largest Chinese community outside of Asia is brought to life by vivid details and photographs.

The New York Times

"Urban historians and armchair travelers alike will enjoy this spectacular tour." —Publishers Weekly

“... this stylized cultural map of the largest Chinese community outside of Asia is brought to life by vivid details and photographs.”—The New York Times

From the Publisher