Maps to the Homes of the Stars’: California, Celebrity, and Cartography in the Twentieth Century

This essay provides a history of maps to the homes of the stars—colloquially known as ‘star maps’—in Los Angeles. Premised upon work with star maps in archives and a private collection, a periodization for the maps is proposed for the first time, as the function and milieu of this genre of cartography change over time. Originating in real estate promotion in the 1910s, the maps then become a fixture of Los Angeles tourism and film promotion. Star maps suffered during the Depression, earning a dubious standing and an affiliation with streetside vendors; this poor reputation would persist and transform in the 1970s, when the maps became affiliated with the counterculture. Finally, toward the end of the twentieth century, star maps experimented with new media formats before being absorbed into online spaces and largely disappearing as printed documents. The essay makes a claim for these ephemeral maps (1) as unique within the history of cartography, with distinctive design and legal challenges; (2) as distinctive artworks, designed by popular American illustrators and cartographers; and (3) evidencing their material use by fans and their broader reputation, as an incidental film history of Los Angeles.