Thursday, May 16, 2024
In 1856, William Rand opened a printing shop in Chicago and two years later hired an Irish immigrant named Andrew McNally to work in his shop. The shop became very prosperous, and in 1859 was hired to run the Chicago Tribune’s entire printing operation. By 1868 the two men established Rand McNally Co. By 1873, the company made its first map included within its Railroad Guide. By 1904, Rand McNally published its first road map and by 1917 had started numbering highways. In addition to creating maps with numbered roads, Rand McNally also erected many of the actual highway road signs. This system was eventually adopted by state and federal highway authorities and is how and why highways are numbered.
The oil companies quickly took an interest in road maps, urging Americans to explore the world outside their own backyards, thus creating a need to buy gas to make the trip. By 1920, Rand McNally began publishing maps for Gulf Oil Company, which were distributed free of charge at its service stations. Until the invention of the GPS system, Rand McNally maps were how Americans found their way.
I remember as a youth seeing a collection of maps in the glove box of my dad’s automobile. There was a map of the city in which we lived, of the state where we resided, and a couple of maps of the surrounding states. The maps were folded very neatly and concisely and waited in their assigned spot until such a time they were needed.
Of course, on those occasions when dad needed some directional assistance when he was driving, he would ask mom to open a map and give him instructions on how to reach our destination. It didn’t take long before my two sisters, who were sitting in the backseat of the car with me, realized opening that glove box and unfolding a map was a sure-fire recipe for comedy.
Mom would copiously peer over the map, seeking to find the best route, while Dad would be firing questions at her in an almost machine gun-like fashion. Mom would get flustered, unable to answer the questions fast enough to suit him. Dad’s blood pressure and voice would noticeably rise as indicated by his red face and the bulging veins on his forehead. The entire encounter usually resulted in Dad grabbing the map out of mom’s hands so he could try and examine the map for himself, all while trying to navigate the car down the road.
My favorite part would be seeing dad hand the map back to Mom, all while muttering under his breath inaudible comments about my mother’s map reading skills. Who could forget the sound of her attempting to fold the map back into its precision format, getting flustered, and basically cramming the map into the glove box in a shape more like a softball rather than a map? For Mom, it usually led to her turning her body in the car seat, so her shoulders were facing out the window and away from the direction of dad. I found a “map event” was usually followed by periods of silence in the car, and I feel pretty sure led to further discussion outside of the hearing of us children.
When I am driving and need directions, I merely speak into my phone and ask. In just a matter of seconds a voice is telling me where to turn, how much further I must go, and letting me know my estimated time of arrival. It is one of the many blessings of the internet and sure makes life a lot simpler. On the other hand, asking Siri for directions will never be as memorable or entertaining as watching my folks.
Thought for the day: Why is it we don’t worry about a compass until we’re lost in a wilderness of our own making?
Until next time…I will keep ridin’ the storm out!
