Wheeler took symbolism to a new level in 1898 by portraying a topless woman framed by a cornucopia of produce and accompanied by two naked cupids, one holding a miniature steam locomotive and the other a miniature sailing ship, on the Wonderland cover. It was a strange and daring choice. Americans in the Victorian age only reluctantly accepted nudity in fine art; in commercial art it could provoke outrage.

Click image to download a 37.9-MB PDF of this 112-page booklet.

In 1916, for example, the U.S. Mint issued a quarter with a vaguely bare-breasted image of Liberty. Unlike the Wonderland woman, no nipples were visible, yet religious leaders were still outraged by the “obscene” and “filthy” coin. Still, Northern Pacific got away with it in 1898; at least, Olin Wheeler didn’t lose his job. Controversial or not, it isn’t really clear what a topless woman, even in symbolic robes, had to do with Northwest travel except maybe to symbolize that railroads offered people more freedom of movement.

As in 1897, the 1898 issue has a tinted photograph as the frontispiece, but the tinting is not as successful. Chapters cover rivers and mountains, Minnesota’s Lake Leech, Northwest agriculture, canoeing in Minnesota, Yellowstone, Mount Rainier, and the most important topic of the day, the Klondike.

I brightened up the covers and removed library markings from the archive.org images of this Wonderland edition. As usual, their PDF is smaller than mine, so you may wish to download theirs instead.

Click image for a larger view.

Wonderland ’99 also featured a woman on the cover, this time fully robed and flying above a wheat field with a locomotive in the background, which I can only find in the above low-resolution image. The only version of the booklet I can find on archive.org or elsewhere is entirely in black and white, so I’ll go to the stunning 1900 edition tomorrow. If ever I find a decent (and affordable) version of the 1899 edition, I’ll post it here.