Digital Deli Map of Personal Computer America

Meyerowitz's original manuscript map, for the illustration commissioned by the Workman Publishing Company, as both a promotional poster for, and published in, their book ‘Digital Deli: The Comprehensive, User-Lovable Menu of Computer Lore, Culture, Lifestyles and Fancy by The Lunch Group & Guests’, edited by Steve Ditlea, New York: 1984.

A lively, witty and fascinating pictorial map showing the digital landscape of the united states in 1984. The three main divisions depicted are Silicon Valley, Silicon Alley, and Silicon Prairie, with fun plays on names such as ‘Silicon Sally’, the ‘Cracker 2000’, the cities of ‘Ram and Rom’, and GIGO (garbage in/garbage out).

Among countless amusing and noteworthy vignettes: the world's largest cheese computer; the Homebrew Computer Club in Palo Alto; Dr. John Lilly communicating with dolphins via Apple II computer; a lighthouse monument to the first microchip; two hikers in the Pacific Northwest region, one of whom is carrying a personal computer on his back with the screen displaying ‘You are lost’, prophesying the impending widespread use of GPS; and the important, early music and culture gathering, the ‘Us Festival’, founded by Steve Wozniak and Bill Graham in the early 80s.

According to his own website, Rick Meyerowitz “grew up in The Bronx, and although Ogden Nash famously wrote “The Bronx? No thonx!” it was a great and vibrant place to survive a childhood. In the 1960’s Rick studied fine arts and literature at Boston University. He returned to New York, found a loft in Chinatown that cost him $35 a month, (possibly the most memorable fact you will read here) and began life as working illustrator.

Rick has done thousands of illustrations for advertising agencies and magazines. George Plimpton, beer in hand, said of Rick’s art, “He does illustrations only a sourpuss wouldn’t love”. For 21 years, from 1970 to 1991, Rick was the most prolific contributor of illustrated articles to the ‘National Lampoon’. He painted the iconic poster for movie ‘Animal House’, and created the Lampoon’s trademark visual, ‘The Mona Gorilla’, which has been called the best Mona Lisa parody ever”.