We’d love to find an original of this!
The map, designed by Polly Hill and published in 1912, was part of a promotional brochure extolling the beauties, joys and pleasures to be sampled in Santa Cruz and environs - centred on the Casa del Rey Hotel, and the adjacent Casino. Both were recently built by Fred W. Swanton, a local businessman and civic leader who had such an impact on the area at that time that the city was nicknamed, Swantacruz.
More than a cartographic gimmick, the hand shape is also a clever way of representing the local geography, with the two outer fingers representing the coastal corridor and the three middle ones some of the valleys radiating northward through mountainous terrain.
