Description
The map was published for Gertz Long Island, a department store chain that at one time had branches in Jamaica, Flushing, Hicksville, Massapequa, Great Neck and East Hampton. The cartouche text promotes Long Island as a place to live and as a vacation destination:
First settled in 1636, Long Island today is a vast network of thriving industrial towns and pleasant resort villages all closely linked by ties of friendship and mutual interest.
One hundred-twenty miles of southeast exposure to the mild Gulf Stream affords an ideal climate and its extensive park facilities provide its four million inhabitants full enjoyment of every known sport and recreational activity.
Few tourists can resist the lure of Long Island’s unsurpassed sandy beaches, sheltered coves and scenic highways and sportsmen are attracted from all over the world.
Henry “Hank” Schneider was a graphic artist, photographer and painter based in New York City and Long Island. He grew up in Queens. With the encouragement of a high school teacher he entered a citywide competition and won a scholarship to the Art Students League. He went to work as a commercial artist for advertising agencies until World War II. He spent three-and-a-half years in the airborne divisions of the U.S. Army in the European theater. Upon returning to New York City, he studied photography and opened a successful studio, where he combined art and photography to create record album and book covers. He photographed celebrities such as Duke Ellington, Salvador Dali, Jack Paar, Steve Allen, and Inger Stevens and provided advertising photos for the Saturday Evening Post, Holiday, and Fortune magazines. In 1984, he moved to Long Island’s East End and turned to painting. Schneider was one of five founders of the Southampton Artists Association, with whom he showed his work in many exhibits, assisted with more than 40 shows, raised thousands of dollars for local charities, and served on the board of directors. His landscapes, seascapes, and abstracts have been exhibited in many galleries and won several awards.
Condition: Generally very good, recently professionally cleaned and deacidified, and a tear restored, as laid on linen.
References:
BAK. “Gertz Long Island. ” The Department Store Museum. 30 November 2011. http://departmentstoremuseum.blogspot.com/2011/04/b-gertz-co-jamaica-queens-new-york.html (2 December 2011).
Young, Janet Ruth. “H. Schneider bio – Long Island map.” E-mail correspondence. 23 January 2016.
