You know those posters you often see in touristy places, of a map annotated with local businesses? Like the one at right? (Click to enlarge.) The other day, I was visiting La Lumia for the Shop-Local Gift Guide, when owner Jackie Sencion said she had something I might enjoy—a poster map of lower Manhattan from 1986. Naturally, I was tickled by it. I thought about trying to find a big enough scanner, but it’s huge, so I ultimately (and expediently!) decided that what was most interesting wasn’t the map in its entirety, but the ads.

A few of the businesses are still around; some have moved and/or appear to have changed names. The mapmaker took a lot of liberties with locations. I didn’t generally bother to shoot much beyond Tribeca, except I couldn’t resist a few ads, such as the one for the Perfect Package, which sold “sensual cards & gifts” (on Beaver Street, wouldn’t you know). You can enlarge any of the photos below by clicking on them, and they won’t take as long to load as the pulled-back photo above, which is actually only part of the full map.

Thanks again, Jackie!