Are older Rand McNally Road Atlases worth keeping

Started by XamotCGC, May 14, 2022, 03:36:18 PM

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XamotCGC

I'm just curious.   I also have some paper maps from 20 years ago.
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bwana39

Quote from: XamotCGC on May 14, 2022, 03:36:18 PM
I'm just curious.   I also have some paper maps from 20 years ago.

Yours are a little new for me, but yes...  At this point, old maps are still not readily available online.  Hold on to em for a whiile and they will become more valuable.
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bandit957

If they're still in great condition, yes.

Sadly, they do seem to be plagued by the "Rand McNally curse", which means they fall apart easily.
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Rothman

Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

Life in Paradise

Many of mine are falling apart from the last 10 years or so.  I had some from when I was growing up in the 60s and 70s and I really wish I hadn't threw them out (but perhaps my wife would have left if I didn't).  Do have some old state and regional gas station maps from the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s and 2000s (and even one from the 50s) that are not going to disappear easily.

rlb2024

I have a 1980 one that is marked up with every highway I have traveled in the US, Canada, and Mexico.  The cover has fallen off and I have to be verrrrry careful in handling it, but it's still kinda neat to see the routes I've traveled over the past.  Before 1980 I had individual state maps that were marked up starting from the late 1960s, and I transferred everything over to the atlas.  I still mark it up whenever I get home from a trip.

Interesting to fill in routes that didn't exist in 1980.  For example I drove the entirety of I-520 around Augusta, GA late last week, and most of it was not there when the atlas was printed (including all of the SC portion of the route).

oscar

I have them all back to 1976, plus some scattered editions from 1959 (the "49-state edition", after Alaska became a state but before Hawaii) to 1973.

They have some reference value, especially for tracking additions to the Interstate system. The older ones are in less-than-pristine condition, since as noted above road atlases aren't real durable.
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Nacho

#7
There's a 1957 Rand McNally Atlas at my family's summer cottage that's still in pretty good condition. It's certainly an interesting snapshot of a time before the Interstates (though of course some existing roads would be incorporated) and even many of the major toll highways were still under construction. There's also a few oddities, like referring to the Indiana Toll Road as the "Indiana Turnpike," which I've never seen anywhere else.

I have a few dating back to the 80s and 90s in my possession (the oldest from 1985) though they're pretty beat up.

I-55

My two oldest are '88 and '95 and I like to view them side by side with my current atlases sometimes. Something cool about seeing what roads were like before I was born
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adventurernumber1

Right now I have possession of several Rand McNally atlases, including the 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2022 editions (but not 2021 as I never stepped foot in a store for a year after the pandemic started, although I probably could have bought one online). I also have a 1940 Rand McNally atlas and 1970-era pocket atlas, both of which I acquired from eBay in 2014. I plan to keep all of these atlases for a long while, although if I continue my pattern of buying each new edition each year it'll pile up--but I'm no stranger to to that sort of thing so it should be no problem.  :biggrin:

Decades down the road these will definitely be valuable historical documents that reveal information about how the highway system looked in a specific year. I think there's incredible value in keeping these things around, although there may be certain situations where the costs outweigh the benefits in doing so. But for the foreseeable future I shall continue accumulating each year's atlas, and you can see little minor changes in year to year that are neat to observe (new roads such as US 301 TOLL in Delaware, new road expansions such as the progress on the outer (outer) Houston beltway, etc.).

Unfortunately, the original (2007-2009?) Rand McNally atlas (and subsequent atlas from 2010 from a different brand) that jumpstarted my interest and widespread knowledge in maps have been laid to rest long ago. I had truly wore them out to their very death; tons of pages were missing, the rest were ruined due to anything from water damage to rips to everything else, as I would literally take it everywhere I went.  :-D
But their memory remains, and their impact on me is permanent, so I am grateful for that.
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Rothman

Heh.  After we die, our descendants will throw them away.  I am sure the Library of Congress keeps a copy. :D
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

Jim

I think this is about my 25th year buying a RMcN Atlas and marking up my travels for that year.  So they're very much worth keeping for me (and were a great resource when initially counting counties and tracking roads for CHM and later TM).  A while back, I also bought some fairly beat up older ones, mostly on eBay, just to have for fun.  I also have a box of paper maps, mostly state highway maps I've picked up at rest areas, that I've accumulated over the years.  None of them would have much meaning for anyone else.
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Rothman

Quote from: Jim on May 17, 2022, 07:56:29 AM
I think this is about my 25th year buying a RMcN Atlas and marking up my travels for that year.  So they're very much worth keeping for me (and were a great resource when initially counting counties and tracking roads for CHM and later TM).  A while back, I also bought some fairly beat up older ones, mostly on eBay, just to have for fun.  I also have a box of paper maps, mostly state highway maps I've picked up at rest areas, that I've accumulated over the years.  None of them would have much meaning for anyone else.
Yep.  History-keeping for oneself, I can see, but keeping them out of the idea that one's particular copy will end up in a museum or treasured by historians or archaeologists, not so much. :D
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position(s) of NYSDOT.

paulthemapguy

You can always keep an extra one to mark up!
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elsmere241

I have a few Rand McNallys kicking around - my college library had a 1941 edition that I perused frequently.  What I used to do is buy a new one each year and giving the old one to my parents.  I do have quite the map collection, though, it fills a large laundry tote.  My late father-in-law (died almost two years ago) was a map collector too, and I'm supposed to get his collection eventually.  Both of us have an Oregon state map - we stopped at the I-82 welcome center; I went into the bathroom while he picked up a state map; he went into the bathroom while I picked up a state map.  My wife insists, though, that I keep the collections separate.

3467

I have 2 from the sixties one in great shape. It's early in interstate construction. Great to have.

bandit957

The ones from the 1960s with the vinyl covers smelled nice.
Might as well face it, pooing is cool

Henry

I have just about every atlas from each of the 52 years of my life, and whenever a new one comes out, I save the old ones to mark up. Most are probably falling apart by now, but they're still fun to keep around. And as a bonus, they illustrate a clear and concise history of highway planning and construction through the years.
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Mapmikey

I'm hoping Rand McN puts out a CD of all their atlases and auto trails maps in 2026 when celebrating their 100th anniversary of their road atlases...

In 1976 they put out a replica of their 1926 atlas...

kphoger

Quote from: Mapmikey on May 17, 2022, 04:01:00 PM
I'm hoping Rand McN puts out a CD of all their atlases and auto trails maps in 2026 when celebrating their 100th anniversary of their road atlases...

Have they sold any CD-ROM since 1999?
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Dirt Roads

Quote from: Mapmikey on May 17, 2022, 04:01:00 PM
I'm hoping Rand McN puts out a CD of all their atlases and auto trails maps in 2026 when celebrating their 100th anniversary of their road atlases...

Quote from: kphoger on May 17, 2022, 04:06:01 PM
Have they sold any CD-ROM since 1999?

Doubt it.  I've still got several that came with other computers and/or software, but I think that they all are DOS-based packages.  I still use DOS at times, so I ought to try them out to see if I can get them to work.  (Maybe Alex should find a dinosaur emoji for me).

kphoger

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Male pronouns, please.

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epzik8

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triplemultiplex

They are worth keeping for yourself if you like paging through history every once and awhile.  Or in my case, to see what kind of fictional musings I had rolling through my head 20 years ago.  They won't be valuable to anyone but me. (Unless I somehow gain notoriety for something. :P )  I don't expect them to have any monetary value ever.  I reckon it would take at least a century from now for any atlas printed in the last 50 years to become valuable enough to hold on to for the money.

If an atlas survives the apocalypse, though, it'll be worth its weight in gold! :-D
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Hot Rod Hootenanny

Quote from: kphoger on May 17, 2022, 04:06:01 PM
Quote from: Mapmikey on May 17, 2022, 04:01:00 PM
I'm hoping Rand McN puts out a CD of all their atlases and auto trails maps in 2026 when celebrating their 100th anniversary of their road atlases...

Have they sold any CD-ROM since 1999?

Up until 2002.
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