- TREASURES III
- A Tenth Anniversary Celebration of the
Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education
October 2, 2004 - June 30, 2005
Road Maps
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Ideal Family |
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With the rising prosperity of
the mid-twentieth century, the automobile became a staple for many American
families. Responding to this shift, oil companies began marketing the
American landscape as something an adventurous family should experience.
Road map cover art enticed them to explore the nation’s natural, historical,
and technological attractions, while the map itself became an integral part
of the imaginative and practical process of planning and executing a tour.
The road map also did much to define the ideal traveling family. Extending a
motif of the earlier decades, oil companies gave the “pioneering individual”
some wholesome company and the “pioneering family” was born. The majority of
families featured on road map covers were white, middle class, and consisted
of a mother, father, son, and daughter: the “traditional” family as
envisioned by the advertising industry. The family on the road was routinely
shown as relaxed and free of rivalry or discord. There was nothing to spoil
their thrill of the open road or the appreciation of the landscape. |
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1. Conoco
Highway Map of United States
Chicago: HM Gousha Company, 1954
Doug Yorke Collection |
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2. Esso Standard Oil
Company
Washington, DC and vicinity Road Map and Visitor’s Guide
New York: General Drafting Co., 1951
Doug Yorke Collection |
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3. Union Oil Company
California Road Map
Denver: Jeppesen and Co., 1951
Bloom Collection |
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4. Esso Standard Oil
Company
Eastern United States and Adjacent Canada Interstate Map
Convent Station, NJ: General Drafting Co., 1958
Bloom Collection |
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5. Standard Oil
Southeast United States Interstate Map
Convent Station, NJ: General Drafting Co., Inc., 1953
Bloom Collection |
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Next:
Gas Station Experience |
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