| | Thumbnail | | Creator | Date | Title / Author / Date / Location | Price | | | Description |
| 7864 |  | Details | Holladay, John | 1992 |
| Pictorial Poster View of Los Angeles Submerged After Earthquake |
|
Holladay, John |
|
| 1992 |
| LOC:89 |
| $800.00 | Holladay--John | Pictorial-Poster-View-of-Los-Angeles-Submerged-After-Earthquake | Fine medium-format satirical poster of Los Angeles titled LA Shake and Bake, created in 1992 by illustrator John Holladay. Very rare, with no institutional holdings found in WorldCat and no recorded sales of the poster on the Internet. <br><br>The artwork presents a dramatic cartoon vision of the city shattered by a massive quake, with hills cleaving open, and whole neighborhoods transformed into islands in a rising blue sea. Holladay fills the sheet with humorous detail, from boats navigating through canyon walls to crowds celebrating on newly formed shorelines. The Hollywood Hills, downtown high rises, and coastal districts are all reimagined as fragments of a fractured landscape, creating a lively blend of regional caricature and disaster fantasy that reflects long standing popular myths about California earthquakes.<br><br>
Issued by Holladay Prints independent of the moderately rare F. X. Schmid puzzle edition (in stock 12/25), this poster allows the viewer to appreciate the full composition without the grid of puzzle cuts. The image captures the playful anxiety of early 1990s Los Angeles culture, shaped by real seismic events like the 1992 Landers sequence and by public misconceptions that California might one day fall into the Pacific. With its bright palette, dense pen work, and packed narrative scenes, LA Shake and Bake stands as a memorable example of late twentieth century pictorial satire devoted to one of America’s most iconic urban landscapes. |
| 7875 |  | Details | Holladay, John | 1992 |
| Rare Apocalyptic Los Angeles After Earthquake Puzzle |
|
Holladay, John |
|
| 1992 |
| LOC: |
| $385.00 | Holladay--John | Rare-Apocalyptic-Los-Angeles-After-Earthquake-Puzzle | Scarce and fun 1000 piece pictorial puzzle titled LA Shake and Bake, created in 1992 by illustrator John Holladay and published by F. X. Schmid. Puzzle is unopened in original shrink wrap as issued. <br><br>The puzzle presents a satirical pictorial view of Los Angeles shattered by a massive quake, with districts sliding toward the Pacific Ocean in a dense and humorous cartoon style. The image plays on long standing California earthquake lore. It was also issued by Schmid as an uncut poster. When assembled, the puzzle measures 26.5 by 17.25 inches.<br><br>
Holladay's theme draws on the popular misconception that California might someday break off along the San Andreas Fault, an idea that traces back to public misunderstanding of Andrew Lawson's 1906 report describing lateral motion after the San Francisco earthquake. His phrasing that the Pacific side moved northward relative to the American side echoed for decades, inspiring exaggerated public fears and giving artists like Holladay fertile ground for satirical disaster scenes. The puzzle captures that cultural myth with vivid color and a chaotic, engaging layout.<br><br>
LA Shake and Bake also reflects the long publishing history of F. X. Schmid, founded in Munich in 1860 and best known for toys, cards, and later board games and puzzles. By the 1970s and 1980s the company had expanded internationally, including a U.S. division that produced widely distributed puzzles like this one. Financial pressures in the mid 1990s led to a 1997 merger with Ravensburger, marking the end of Schmid as an independent maker. This puzzle stands as one of the imaginative late period Schmid releases, combining contemporary humor, geological lore, and striking packaging design.
<br><br>
Box size roughly 15.5" x10". |