Ellie Acker's c. 1840s Watercolor Map of the Southern United States rubber toy with some green ribbon around

with some green ribbon around the middle

though it lies flat now

one could just decide that she was meant to be tusk-less

The best known (and highly coveted) blocks by S

The sails are gone

Ellie Acker's c. 1840s Watercolor Map of the Southern United States rubber toy with some green ribbon aroundYou know I love a hand drawn map, even more so a watercolored one, and I love how the color on this one, depicting "the Southern states" nearly obscures its details, such that, if one didn't know better, it might be read as pure abstraction. Of course the outlines give it away instant recognizability that speaks to it as being a much a symbol icon as map. The inclusion of Arkansas (admitted to the Union on June 15, 1836, as the 25th state) date the