Mulford, John C. (principal cartographer).
United States Touring Map
Showing 150,000 miles of principally traveled highways.
Washington DC: Automobile Club of America and the National Highway Association, 1924.
A large (52 by 36 inches), dramatic map of the United States showing the main highways in 1924. The map is a charming amalgam of information, advocacy, and hyperbole, showing the major roads of the country, while simultaneously advocating for a more extensive and better national highway system.
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The impetus for a national road system took root after the First World War, when the Army realized that the existing patchwork quilt of roads was not sufficient for the movement of men and materiel during wartime. Three decades later, during the Eisenhower administration, the current national highway system finally received federal funding, again on the basis of its necessity for defense. The makers of this map do not use the defense argument for expanding and upgrading ("a paved United States in our day," the map proclaims) the road system. They advocate for better roads for commercial and tourist reasons, suggesting improvements to roads leading to airports and between national parks. A very attractive and compelling bit of boosterism. Lithographed in colors on thin paper. There is a closed tear on the left side extending into Central California. A small piece is missing from the lower left corner as well. Otherwise fine.
SOLD
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