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Saturday August 15, 2015

August 15, 2015 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator - Saturday August 15, 2015 The Hamilton Spectator recenly put out an appeal for people to send in memories of their favourite local restaurants. (Source: http://thespec-stories.com/2015/08/14/flashback-restaurant-memories/) After the results came in and the eateries were tallied I was called on to draw some kind of map. Maybe it's my own experience with greasy spoons that an immediate visual lit off in my head at the mere mention of the words "map" and "diner", was the simple often under-appreciated image of a paper placemat. While at age 46 I'm too young to remember many of the locations on the map, the experience is quite familliar eating in similar retro establishments common all over North America. As a kid, I loved poring over the neat little drawings on paper placemats, particularly on road trips to the beach. I'd be totally in my element with my family, in a restaurant booth somewhere in northern Florida waiting for my order of chicken & fries in a basket while anticipating in the excitement that laid ahead gazing upon a welcome to state paper placemat map. It was a complete delight to use those memories as inspiration to come up with this map. illustration, hamilton, retro, vintage, cafe, restaurants, placemat, 1950s, 1960s

Click here for a larger image

By Graeme MacKay – Saturday August 15, 2015

Homage to the Paper Placemat

Source: Newseum.org

Source: Newseum.org

The Hamilton Spectator recenly put out an appeal for people to send in memories of their favourite local restaurants. After the results came in and the eateries were tallied, Spec reporter Saira Peesker was tasked to write the story, Librarian Tammie Danciu researched and dug up old archival photos, and I was called on to draw some kind of map. Afterall, I am a self confessed map-maniac. Maybe it’s my own experience with greasy spoons that an immediate visual lit off in my head at the mere mention of the words “map” and “diner”, was the simple often under-appreciated image of a paper placemat. While at age 46 I’m too young to remember many of the locations on the map, the experience is quite familliar eating in similar retro establishments common all over North America. As a kid, I loved poring over the neat little drawings on paper placemats, particularly on road trips to the beach. I’d be totally in my element with my family, in a restaurant booth somewhere in northern Florida waiting for my order of chicken & fries in a basket while anticipating in the excitement that laid ahead gazing upon a welcome to state paper placemat map. It was a complete delight to use those memories as inspiration to come up with this map.RB-HamMap-promo2

For sale at the mackaycartoons boutique:  Redbubble has been authorized a non-exclusive royalty free license to use this illustration for display on a one time basis. Unauthourized duplication of this image is strictly prohibited. Please refer to contact information through http://www.mackaycartoons.net for re-use rights. By Graeme MacKay Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Illustrated between 1994-2015

 

Posted in: Hamilton Tagged: 1950s, 1960s, cafe, Hamilton, Illustration, maps, placemat, restaurants, retro, vintage
← Saturday August 15, 2015
Tuesday August 18, 2015 →

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