Aviation Cavalcade is an exuberant pictorial map highlighting American might near the end of WWII… published to promote, of all things, a men’s clothing company in Milwaukee!  The map depicts a huge range of American military aircraft—real and imaginary–dominating the skies over an oddly-rendered north polar projection of the world, with nary an Axis plane in site.

The map is just one of a series of promotional maps published over several years by Albert Richard Co., a Milwaukee-based manufacturer of men’s outerwear. The maps were touted in newspapers and magazines such as Boys’ Life, whose readers were invited to order a copy gratis.

The first Albert Richard maps were celebrations of American football–both the college and the professional game–issued in 1938, 1939, 1940, and 1941, all drawn by F. E. Cheeseman. During the Second World War the firm issued patriotic maps drawn by Cheeseman, such as the Patriotic Panorama of the United States (1942) and the Aviation Cavalcade offered here.  The football theme reappeared at least once, in 1950. This was the work of a new artist, G.E. Smith, who eschewed Cheeseman’s bold Art Deco style for a softer look.

References
Not in OCLC or Persuasive Maps: The PJ Mode Collection.