Antique Tony Sarg Map of Residential Main Street, Nantucket, 1937

Antique Tony Sarg Map of Residential Main Street, Nantucket, 1937, a black and white printed map of Upper Main Street from the Pacific National Bank to the Civil War Monument at Pleasant Street, showing all the side streets, and even trees in the neighborhood. The map is flanked by brief sketches and information of historic people and landmarks, and includes an inset listing residences on the map, and is titled, signed and dated in a lower right reserve “Residential Main Street, Nantucket, Mass, Designed by Tony Sarg, 1937.”

Measures: 19 in H x 16-3/8 in W

Anthony Frederick Sarg was born in Guatemala in 1880, and after living in Germany, England and New York, he purchased a house on Nantucket in 1921with his wife and daughter (the artist Mary Sarg Murphy). Starting as an artist for the Saturday Evening Post, he became best known as an illustrator of children’s books. He was fond of creating animal characters to both educate and entertain young readers, and was noted for his use of whimsy and humor. His books often involved moving parts, a proclivity that led to his creating a variety of toys and puzzles. Sarg was also extremely important as the reviver of marionette theater in America. In 1935 he also designed the first animated window display for Macy’s Department Store, and continued to create new designs for their holiday windows until his death in 1942. He was also the inventor of the first hot air balloons for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

On Nantucket he opened the Tony Sarg Shop at 38 Centre Street, later relocated in 1929 to the corner of Easy Street and Steamboat Wharf where it became Tony Sarg’s Curiosity Shop. He hand crafted and sold a variety toys, puppets, prints, fabrics, wall-paper, decoupage decorated pantry boxes and other folk art. He is especially remembered on-island for his maps, posters and Nantucket theme decorated boxes. A major collection of his work is held by the Nantucket Historical Association, and was featured in an exhibition at the Fair Street Museum in 1983. H is currently the subject of an exhibit at The Norman Rockwell Museum – “Tony Sarg: A Genius At Play.”

This engraving is actually unsold stock from Marshall Gardiner’s store on lower Main Street, Nantucket back in the 1910s to 30s. It is in its original mat, but was never framed, and has descended within his family.

H. Marshall Gardiner (1884-1942) was born on September 18, 1884 in Windsor, Ontario, and immigrated to the United States circa 1890, where his father W.H. Gardiner opened two photographic studios, one in Detroit during the winter months and a second at Mackinac Island during the more tourist-oriented summer months. Marshall learned many of his photographic techniques from his father prior to going out on his own at a relatively early age. Around 1910, at the age of around 24, he first traveled to the island of Nantucket. The year-round population of Nantucket was then just over 2500, not nearly enough to sustain a photographic business for the entire year, so he opened a joint Photography and Art Supplies Store. Working as Nantucket’s exclusive agent for Eastman Kodak, his business expanded to include the island’s only photo-finishing service. However, with such a small year-round population, even the addition of a Gift Shop to compliment the hand-painted photographs, general portrait & photographic services, and art supplies couldn’t sustain him on Nantucket year round, so during the winter months he continued to help with the family’s photographic businesses in Daytona and Mackinac Island.