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1958 General Drafting Pictorial Map of United States Westward Expansion
USWestward-generaldrafting-1958$137.50
Title
The Westward Expansion of the United States. / Life in Colonial America and the Westward Expansion of the United States.
1958 (dated) 23.5 x 33 in (59.69 x 83.82 cm) 1 : 5700000
1958 (dated) 23.5 x 33 in (59.69 x 83.82 cm) 1 : 5700000
Description
This is a 1958 General Drafting Company pictorial map of the United States illustrating the Westward Expansion.
A Closer Look - The Westward Expansion
Coverage embraces the continental United States and highlights events in the Westward Expansion: the Louisiana Purchase, the cession of Florida by Spain, the annexation of Texas, the annexation of the Oregon Territory, the Mexican Cession, and the Gadsden Purchase. Emigrant trails are traced, among them the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, and the California Trail, along with the Erie Canal and the Boston Post Road. All 48 states are labeled with the year of their admission to the Union. A textbox in the lower right offers a history of the various purchases and cessions. A table in the lower left provides statistics on square mileage, counties, and population of each state. Information on U.S. territories appears in a textbox at the bottom center.A Closer Look - Life in Colonial America
A pictorial map of the eastern United States occupies the verso. Pictorial vignettes fill the map and illustrate aspects of life in colonial America. Some vignettes focus on historic events, such as the Salem Witch Trials, the purchase of Manhattan Island, the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, and James Oglethorpe's founding of Georgia. Others illustrate technological advances, like the Pennsylvania long rifle and the Franklin stove.Publication History and Census
This map was created and published by the General Drafting Corporation and distributed by the Esso Standard Oil Company in 1958. We note 5 examples cataloged in OCLC: The University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, and the University of Cambridge.Cartographer
General Drafting Corporation (1909 - 1992) was one of the 'Big Three' publishers of road maps between 1930 and 1970, along with H. M. Gousha and Rand McNally. Founded in 1909, Otto G. Lindberg, an immigrant from Finland and the company's founder, began his business with a borrowed drafting board and a $500 loan from his father. At the time only twenty-three years old, Lindberg advertised his business as 'any and all general drafting' and was based out of 170 Broadway in New York City. Only two years later, in 1911, the firm secured its first contract from the American Automobile Association to make 'road maps'. Lindberg incorporated his business in 1914 and became its first Chairman of the Board, a position he held until his death in 1968. Lindberg persuaded Standard Oil of New Jersey to let him draw the 'best' road map of the state that they had ever seen, and Standard Oil would distribute it for free. Sufficiently impressed with the finished product, Standard contracted General Drafting to make all their road maps - a relationship that lasted another six decades. This relationship allowed General Drafting to work exclusively for Standard Oil, but when oil companies stopped providing free maps, General Drafting was in a bind. The company tried to expand into the retail map market, and it of course continued creating maps for Exxon (the new name for Standard Oil) to sell, but its returns continued to decline. The firm was purchased in 1992 by Langenscheidt and subsequently absorbed into the American Map Company. General Drafting's state maps became this company's 'Travelvision' lineup. More by this mapmaker...
Condition
Very good. Light wear along original fold lines. Verso repairs to fold separations. Verso repair to a pinhole in upper right corner. Pictorial map of the Eastern United States on verso.
References
OCLC 52590848.