A map showcasing 30 Bronx locations integral to the birth of hip-hop—signed by prominent industry figures—will be available for purchase at the Ephemera Fair in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, on March 15 and 16.
Some of the highlighted venues include the Hevalo Club at 176th Street and Burnside Ave., the Kips Bay Boys Club, the Police Athletic League at 183rd Street and Webster Ave., and South Bronx High School, alma mater of Conzo and DJ Tony Tone, who together created the map.
The map is signed by Grand Wizzard Theodore, credited with inventing record scratching at age 12; Buddy Esquire, who created hundreds of flyers for early hip-hop events; and photographer Joe Conzo, whom the New York Times called “the man who took hip-hop’s baby pictures.”
Richard Erdmann with New Hampshire-based Mare Booksellers is presenting the map at the Ephemera Fair, an event sanctioned by the Ephemera Society of America for buying and selling “paper objects that were never intended to be preserved.”
While most of the fair’s artifacts are historical, some even dating back to the 1500s, the map offers collectors something more modern and unique because hip-hop is “not usually represented in the book trade,” Erdmann told the Bronx Times. He previously sold a second copy for $425.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
