Remember when filling stations gave away maps? It wasn’t in my adulthood. However, I have purchased at antique malls a number of maps over the years and am always delighted by their smart and colorful mid century designs and by the roads and towns. It’s interesting to see how much has changed in terms of new roads or alignments and how towns and cities have become more sprawling.
How lovely would it be for an old map to act as a time machine? To return to the day before fast food restaurants and chain hotels populated random interstate exits would be amazing. There was a time when folks packed their lunch along with a thermos of lemonade and pulled off the side of the road for an impromptu picnic. Locally owned motels provided an efficient place to rest while service stations employed locals to clean your windshield and topped off your tank.
A map like the one pictured here or maybe some handwritten instructions was the only guide.
Today, I keep maps with me but tend to rely more on the technology in my phone. Of course, I have nicknames for the voice in my phone. “That stupid crackhead” is the most common because she has a bad habit of waiting till I’m passing something to tell me I have arrived.
It’s hard for our urban dwelling friends to understand but there are places in rural America where you can’t rely on a phone for help. It is vital to travel with a map in some areas where there is no cell service.
It’s time to buy a new road atlas before my upcoming Savannah trip and to locate a fresh Ohio roadmap. Mine is looking pretty rough. Odds are I won’t find anything as cool as this Sohio map but I’ll have to make do with what’s available.
In case you’re interested, Ford once made a kitchenette for travelers that mounted to the outside of their Model T. It is an ingenious design and something I would love to see make a comeback. Click here for pictures and details so that you also can be jealous of those early road trippers who didn’t rely on fast food joints for lunch!
I always travel with a road atlas and gazetteers. Plenty of places out west without cell service! I’ll never tire of paper maps. You can see much more at once than you can on a phone screen.
Yes! I like to see the entire route at a glance.
Those maps are really cool and I’m certain we must’ve had a stash of them at some time. Not sure what era those are, but our roadtrips from California and Arizona to Indiana and Kentucky were in the 1970s and I know we relied solely on those kind of maps. And my Dad did not like fast food in any way, shape or form so my Mom always packed the cooler and we stopped at rest stops to eat our cold meatloaf sandwiches, cold fried chicken, etc. We didn’t eat dinner until we stopped for the night at our motel. Most of them had onsite restaurants and that’s where we ate dinner and breakfast. I, of course, looked longingly at every neon McDonalds, Arbys, and whatever else fast food sign that we passed. We did stop once at a Howard Johnsons and I got to get a milkshake. That was exciting. lol
Also, there was no calling ahead as you approached a town so we just drove down the main street until we saw a “Vacancy” sign and that’s where we stayed for the night. I always hoped for one of the motels with a pool that had a slide or some kind of playground and I would have everything crossed that we would get an upstairs room but of course the parents wanted a ground level room since they had to lug suitcases and kids in and out. Ha ha.
But anyway! Didn’t mean to hijack your post about maps! And I never thought to look for old maps when I’m out antiquing. Great idea! Keep an eye out for the old ones that have the “blue highways” on them.
Are you kidding? I love your memories!! Oh, how times have changed and I wonder sometimes if it’s for the better.
I don’t “collect” old maps but I like them well enough to pick them up when I see a deal or when the artwork is especially nice!