Why don't North American road atlases include Cuba?

[tdindy88]

The AAA road atlas does feature the U.S. Virgin Islands along with their Puerto Rico coverage (complete with highways feature interstate shields.) But those are American territories and Cuba isn't, not anymore anyway.

I have the 2015 AAA atlas.  No US Virgin Islands and no interstate shields in either territory.

It is there, at least in mine on the very last page. As long as it's the main atlas and not the large print one, that may be different. As for the interstate shields, that is only for the Puerto Rico one and yes I am aware that Puerto Rico doesn't have any signed interstates currently out there.

[froggie]

I'm still not 100% convinced this thread wasn't started in jest.

Given who started the thread, I can assure you that he was being fairly serious...that's just the way he operates.

[jeffandnicole]

Could you just imagine the flack a map company would get if they didn't include a map of Hawaii in their US Atlas?

[RoadWarrior56]

I have a couple of 1950's Rand McNally Road Atlases that include road maps of Cuba.  I presume they were removed after Castro took over.

[kphoger]

I have a couple of 1950's Rand McNally Road Atlases that include road maps of Cuba.  I presume they were removed after Castro took over.

Pictures, or it didn't happen!

[empirestate]

A road atlas isn't only a tool to get from point A to point B, it also serves as a general-purpose reference work covering the entire U.S. (in the case of Rand McNally's, anyway). How many times have you seen someone just pull out the atlas to check a general geographical question having nothing to do with roads or travel? ("Which is farther north, St. Louis or Kansas City?" "Is Houston an inland or a coastal city?" "Oh, you live in Panama City; how close are you to Miami?") There's no reason it shouldn't include Hawaii, it being an equal component of the U.S. to any other state.

Indeed, I'd like to see an atlas that includes all of the U.S. possessions as well, but you don't often see a general-purpose (non-road) atlas covering just a single country. It's usually a world atlas, though it may focus more on a certain area depending on its market.

[kkt]

At least after Hawaii and Alaska statehood, I don't think you could call it a U.S. atlas if it didn't include them.  And lots of people make general plans about their trips in advance using the U.S. atlas, for instance, is it practical to drive our rental car from Hilo to the Mauna Kea visitor center by lunchtime?  Just like they do with trip planning in the contiguous 48.

Cuba, on the other hand, hasn't been a part of the United States by any definition since driving meant horses.

[Max Rockatansky]

At least after Hawaii and Alaska statehood, I don't think you could call it a U.S. atlas if it didn't include them.  And lots of people make general plans about their trips in advance using the U.S. atlas, for instance, is it practical to drive our rental car from Hilo to the Mauna Kea visitor center by lunchtime?  Just like they do with trip planning in the contiguous 48.

Cuba, on the other hand, hasn't been a part of the United States by any definition since driving meant horses.

Actually it probably would have been part of the U.S. if they Teller Amendment wasn't passed with specific language that Cuba wouldn't be annexed in a war with Spain.  The Spanish-American War is actually pretty strange and interesting to read the back story up on.  Basically the path to modern Caribbean was all set up during that war, it's just strange to think that Cuba could have been a U.S. territory like Puerto Rico if not a state by now if things had just been slightly different.

[vdeane]

I recall learning in AP US History that there was an effort to annex Cuba even before the Civil War, but it pretty much never went anywhere because Cuba would have tilted the balance of power decisively towards the slave states.

[kkt]

Actually it probably would have been part of the U.S. if they Teller Amendment wasn't passed with specific language that Cuba wouldn't be annexed in a war with Spain.  The Spanish-American War is actually pretty strange and interesting to read the back story up on.  Basically the path to modern Caribbean was all set up during that war, it's just strange to think that Cuba could have been a U.S. territory like Puerto Rico if not a state by now if things had just been slightly different.

Maybe, maybe not.  Cuba was bigger and had stronger nationalist feeling than Puerto Rico even back in 1898.  Maybe trying to make Cuba a U.S. territory permanently would have resulted in an unpleasant guerrilla war and independence after WW II when holding territories by force was no longer socially acceptable.  Like the Philippines.

[Max Rockatansky]

I recall learning in AP US History that there was an effort to annex Cuba even before the Civil War, but it pretty much never went anywhere because Cuba would have tilted the balance of power decisively towards the slave states.

It wouldn't surprise me during the Mexican-American War era if there was a push for something like that with Manifest Destiny.  There was a huge camp of people back then that wanted to annex all of Mexico rather than just taking Alta California and Nuevo Mexico.  Maybe...now that I think about it....that's all part of Fritzy's plan....time travel to alter the Mexican Cession, he does have Interstates in Mexico as part of his "plan."   

[chays]

no interstate shields in either territory.

PR is the only territory with interstates. And if there's no VI, what's the other one you are referring to here? Guam?

I was referring to tdindy88's assertion that there interstate shields in the PR and VI inserts (mine doesn't even have a VI insert!) in the AAA atlas.  Given that that atlas uses a yellow and red version of the interstate shield for Quebec's autoroutes, a lack of interstates doesn't necessarily mean the shields aren't there (plus PR's interstates are unsigned anyways).

I have the AAA road atlas right in front of me, open to page 144.  Puerto Rico at top, US Virgin Islands on bottom left of page.  Inset of San Juan and Old San Juan, along with an orientation map of PR & VI

[1995hoo]

I recall someone, probably NE2, posting an old Florida map from the 1950s showing some sort of ferry service from Key West to Havana, though it didn't show Cuba itself.

[tckma]

How come the road atlases that cover most of North America and are marketed to U.S. customers don't cover Cuba? They include Puerto Rico, which is much further from the U.S. mainland than Cuba is. So why not Cuba?

Probably because it's still somewhat illegal for US Citizens to travel to Cuba.  Even with President Obama's recent relaxation of the restrictions, you still need to be going down there for one of a very limited set of purposes.  Tourism is not one of those purposes.  Knowledge of the roads in Cuba is only of interest to roadgeeks and a very small set of US non-roadgeeks.  There's Google Maps for that.

[vdeane]

no interstate shields in either territory.

PR is the only territory with interstates. And if there's no VI, what's the other one you are referring to here? Guam?

I was referring to tdindy88's assertion that there interstate shields in the PR and VI inserts (mine doesn't even have a VI insert!) in the AAA atlas.  Given that that atlas uses a yellow and red version of the interstate shield for Quebec's autoroutes, a lack of interstates doesn't necessarily mean the shields aren't there (plus PR's interstates are unsigned anyways).

I have the AAA road atlas right in front of me, open to page 144.  Puerto Rico at top, US Virgin Islands on bottom left of page.  Inset of San Juan and Old San Juan, along with an orientation map of PR & VI

I have the "deluxe" edition... my page 144 is the US mileage chart.  Puerto Rico appears along with Mexico on page 142 without inserts.  Some pages are also quite out of date (NB 1 isn't shown as completed, for example; neither is I-86 east between Elmira and Chemung).

[chays]

no interstate shields in either territory.

PR is the only territory with interstates. And if there's no VI, what's the other one you are referring to here? Guam?

I was referring to tdindy88's assertion that there interstate shields in the PR and VI inserts (mine doesn't even have a VI insert!) in the AAA atlas.  Given that that atlas uses a yellow and red version of the interstate shield for Quebec's autoroutes, a lack of interstates doesn't necessarily mean the shields aren't there (plus PR's interstates are unsigned anyways).

I have the AAA road atlas right in front of me, open to page 144.  Puerto Rico at top, US Virgin Islands on bottom left of page.  Inset of San Juan and Old San Juan, along with an orientation map of PR & VI

I have the "deluxe" edition... my page 144 is the US mileage chart.  Puerto Rico appears along with Mexico on page 142 without inserts.  Some pages are also quite out of date (NB 1 isn't shown as completed, for example; neither is I-86 east between Elmira and Chemung).

I'd be interested in what the cover says.  Is it a large print ("easy reading") atlas?  What is the cover photo?  Reason I ask is that I work for AAA and am not familiar with a product that is the "deluxe" edition.

[vdeane]

no interstate shields in either territory.

PR is the only territory with interstates. And if there's no VI, what's the other one you are referring to here? Guam?

I was referring to tdindy88's assertion that there interstate shields in the PR and VI inserts (mine doesn't even have a VI insert!) in the AAA atlas.  Given that that atlas uses a yellow and red version of the interstate shield for Quebec's autoroutes, a lack of interstates doesn't necessarily mean the shields aren't there (plus PR's interstates are unsigned anyways).

I have the AAA road atlas right in front of me, open to page 144.  Puerto Rico at top, US Virgin Islands on bottom left of page.  Inset of San Juan and Old San Juan, along with an orientation map of PR & VI

I have the "deluxe" edition... my page 144 is the US mileage chart.  Puerto Rico appears along with Mexico on page 142 without inserts.  Some pages are also quite out of date (NB 1 isn't shown as completed, for example; neither is I-86 east between Elmira and Chemung).

I'd be interested in what the cover says.  Is it a large print ("easy reading") atlas?  What is the cover photo?  Reason I ask is that I work for AAA and am not familiar with a product that is the "deluxe" edition.

[AAA logo]

2 0 1 5
DELUXE
R O A D

atlas

United States / Canada / Mexico

Uniquely US
BRAKE-WORTHY
ROADSIDE
ATTRACTIONS
for every state!

MORE DETAIL
than Large Print Atlases

QR CODES
For State DOT sites!

SAME PAGE INDEX

350+
DETAILED CITY INSERTS
to help you navigate!

MADE IN
USA
AMERICA

The picture appears to be of one of the Pacific Northwest national parks.  The data is from Kappa Map Group.

Hopefully the last time I need to pull it out.  It's at the bottom of my atlas stack by virtue of being my largest (in paper size) atlas.

[chays]

no interstate shields in either territory.

PR is the only territory with interstates. And if there's no VI, what's the other one you are referring to here? Guam?

I was referring to tdindy88's assertion that there interstate shields in the PR and VI inserts (mine doesn't even have a VI insert!) in the AAA atlas.  Given that that atlas uses a yellow and red version of the interstate shield for Quebec's autoroutes, a lack of interstates doesn't necessarily mean the shields aren't there (plus PR's interstates are unsigned anyways).

I have the AAA road atlas right in front of me, open to page 144.  Puerto Rico at top, US Virgin Islands on bottom left of page.  Inset of San Juan and Old San Juan, along with an orientation map of PR & VI

I have the "deluxe" edition... my page 144 is the US mileage chart.  Puerto Rico appears along with Mexico on page 142 without inserts.  Some pages are also quite out of date (NB 1 isn't shown as completed, for example; neither is I-86 east between Elmira and Chemung).

I'd be interested in what the cover says.  Is it a large print ("easy reading") atlas?  What is the cover photo?  Reason I ask is that I work for AAA and am not familiar with a product that is the "deluxe" edition.

[AAA logo]

2 0 1 5
DELUXE
R O A D

atlas

United States / Canada / Mexico

Uniquely US
BRAKE-WORTHY
ROADSIDE
ATTRACTIONS
for every state!

MORE DETAIL
than Large Print Atlases

QR CODES
For State DOT sites!

SAME PAGE INDEX

350+
DETAILED CITY INSERTS
to help you navigate!

MADE IN
USA
AMERICA

The picture appears to be of one of the Pacific Northwest national parks.  The data is from Kappa Map Group.

Hopefully the last time I need to pull it out.  It's at the bottom of my atlas stack by virtue of being my largest (in paper size) atlas.

Interesting.  That is definitely not the standard AAA atlas that I'm used to seeing.  AAA is an interesting entity in that it is made up of a federation of different geographically-based clubs.  Each club has a certain amount of autonomy, and whichever one you got that from has decided to use the Kappa product with a AAA branding.  I guess you don't get USVI after all from your club 
Have a great day- put that atlas back into the stack.

[froggie]

My 2012 version of the standard AAA atlas is the same as chays describes, with Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands on the last page (concidentally page 144) before the back cover.

[Alex]

Personally I'd like a 48-state atlas. It could include more two-page spreads and more insets of the places where I'd actually drive. When I went to Hawaii, I brought some fold maps of the state instead of the atlas. The atlas scale is not that useful for the state and the fold maps took up less space in luggage than the book.

I have a couple of 1950's Rand McNally Road Atlases that include road maps of Cuba.  I presume they were removed after Castro took over.

Pictures, or it didn't happen!

From the 1955 Rmcn. Can corroborate what RoadWarrior56 wrote in that Cuba insets were included for several years during the 50's.

I recall someone, probably NE2, posting an old Florida map from the 1950s showing some sort of ferry service from Key West to Havana, though it didn't show Cuba itself.

Here is one from a 1958 Florida fold map I have. I have several others showing an inset for Cuba from the 50s as well.

[jeffandnicole]

Sex in advertising.  Always.

[GCrites]

Cuba might have been a good place for a sexcapade back then.

Argh, I have to admit I don't dig non-north oriented maps.