Blowin’ up a storm

It’s not often you come across a sense of bitterness from a map. Usually they are pretty emotionless objects, simply showing the authours intentions, unless the subject is one to stir the heart; a plan of a battle maybe, or pre-war ethnic maps of Europe which have such weight of forthcoming events.

huricane 1

This Hurricane map of the Caribbean and Eastern Seaboard seems a first glance to be straight-forward weather map,compiled from information supplied by the United States Weather Bureau. This first scan shows the right-hand part of the map. A second image from the map though shows a note attached by an

hurricane 2

unknown hand in the top left corner, critizing the Bureau for missing the severe hurricane of 1929, as the Americans ‘were too busy chasing piratical English Boot-Leggers to worry about Weather Bureaus notifying the Bahamas Govt.’.

1941 Hurricane Map, compiled from authentic data furnished by the United States Weather Bureau,  1941. G10 (138)