What atlases do you have?

[Voyager]

2009 Rand McNally
2007 Rand McNally (I think)
2004-2006 Rand McNally
1989 Northern California (Don't remember the brand, was topo atlas)
1959 (I think) US atlas (Don't remember the brand)

[Chris]

I collect atlases, trying to cover every part of the world.

2009 Rand McNally Large Scale
2008 Michelin France
2008 Rand McNally Large Scale
2008 Rand McNally USA/CAN/MEX
2007 Rand McNally New York City 5-Borough street guide
2007 AA Big Road Atlas Britain
2007 Michelin Italy
2007 Marco Polo Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Poland, Denmark, Czech Rep.
2007 ADAC Germany Maxi-atlas
2007 ANWB Southern Scandinavia
2006 ANWB Netherlands
2006 Michelin France
2006 Rand McNally California Road Atlas
2006 Folia Sweden
2006 GeoClub Slovakia
2005 UKRmap Ukraine (in Cyrillic
2005 Atkar Russia (in Cyrillic)
2005 AAA Large Print USA Atlas
2005 Rand McNally Large Scale
2004 Euro Atlas France
2004 ANWB Spain / Portugal
2004 Mapstudio Africa
2002 Globetrotter Malaysia
2000 Lonely Planet Southern Africa Road Atlas
2000 Michelin Thailand
1997 R&B Europe
1987 Rand McNally USA Large Scale

[yanksfan6129]

Just a lonely 2007 Rand McNally

[vdeane]

2006 American Map US/Canada/Mexico
American Map Pennsylvania (year unknown; from just after the conversion to distance based exits; data from Hagstrom)
2001 Hagstrom New York
2004 American Map New England
2008 MapArt Ontario
2004 American Map Eastern New York (data from MapWorks)
2006 MapWorks Finger Lakes/Western NY
2004 Hagstrom New York City
2004 MapWorks Syracuse
2005 MapWorks Buffalo and Niagara Falls
2007 MapWorks Rochester

[ComputerGuy]

Only 2:

Historical Atlas of Washington
2008 Thomas Bros. Snohomish/King/Pierce Counties

[RoadWarrior56]

I have collected road atlas's

[74/171FAN]

2005 The American Road Atlas(I could use a new one)
2008 AAA Europe Atlas(never really looked in it though)

[RoadWarrior56]

Sorry about the previous post, I accidentaly hit the wrong key.

I have collected road atlases since I was a kid.  My dad's insurance salesman used to give them to me when I was a kid, that got me started.  Many of the Rand McNally's have various companies listed on the covers. Some of my most notable are listed below, although not the complete collection:

1926 Facimilie edition from Rand McNally
1939 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1955 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1957 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1960 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1962 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1963 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1967 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1971 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1972 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1980 Rand McNally Road Atlas

[Duke87]

I used to love collecting maps to look and see where all the roads went in different places. I still have most of them from the 90's and early 2000's, albeit worse for wear. I never really took care of them. Heck, I drew on most of them.

...then Google maps was born and instantly rendered such paper atlases obsolete for most purposes. So, my newest one is Rand McNally's 2004 large print US atlas. Before that, there was the 1999 version (which is still sitting in a drawer in my room somewhere). There's also a Rand McNally atlas from 1989 that I found in my uncle's basement a few years back, but it's in shambles.

Old maps are now, admittedly, far more interesting than new ones, seeing as they offer something no digital online atlas does - historic views. As a kid I remember there being a national atlas from 1980 or so in the car, but it fell apart and got water stained beyond use year ago, so it's gone.
As for older stuff that I actually still am in possession of:
- Hagstrom lower Westchester county fold-out map from the 60's. Which is actually in fairly decent condition if you ignore the fact that a few pieces of it are torn off and completely missing.
- Exxon fold out map of the northeastern US from early 80's, decent condition
- Exxon fold out map of Pennsylvania from the late 70's, decent condition
- Gulf fold out map of New York and New Jersey from the early 70's, decent condition

I know we used to have quite a few Exxon maps, but most of them are gone. They were never treated with care, it wasn't until after most of them had been lost or destroyed that someone (me) began to appreciate their true value.

And there's a dated practice for you: most gas stations haven't been making and handing out free maps for about 30 years or so. Though Exxon kept doing it into the early 90's.

[corco]

I still don't like Google Maps for a lot of purposes- it has succeeded paper maps for me for distance calculation, but that's about it because it seems like once you get off the interstates about 40% of the route numbers are wrong/non-existent/decommissioned/never were commissioned/actually county roads/etc

[RoadWarrior56]

Has anybody looked at the vintage aerials on Google Earth?  The feature was just added in the latest version.  Look for the "clock" icon in the toolbar.

Unfortunately, the selection of aerial photos is limited and mostly from the 90's, there are a couple of gems that I have found, including a 1949 aerial of the San Francisco area.  It shows how the main bridges over the bay and golden gate terminated in the pre-interstate era.  There is also a 1940's vintage view of Washington DC.  I would be curious of there are some other old views that have beeen found for particular locales.

[bugo]

I have too many to count, ranging from a 1949 RMN to a 2009 RMN.  I've been buying a new RMN every year since the early 90s, and some years I bought 2 copies.I also have several county map atlases, and DeLorme s for several states.

[ctsignguy]

I have a few...

1954 R-MC Atlas, showing the US highway system at its zenith, before all the Interstate highways were laid in (does show the turnpikes and parkways in existence at the time)

1927 Auto Map of Ohio (and North Eastern US) by Rand McNally
1928 AAA Map of Ohio
1972 Esso map of New England (still shows I-86 jetting from Hartford to Massachusetts)

i have a few others but they are kind of buried at the moment....

[Tom]

Sorry about the previous post, I accidentaly hit the wrong key.

I have collected road atlases since I was a kid.  My dad's insurance salesman used to give them to me when I was a kid, that got me started.  Many of the Rand McNally's have various companies listed on the covers. Some of my most notable are listed below, although not the complete collection:

1926 Facimilie edition from Rand McNally
1939 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1955 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1957 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1960 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1962 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1963 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1967 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1971 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1972 Rand McNally Road Atlas
1980 Rand McNally Road Atlas

Do you have any extra 1967 and 1971 Rand McNally road atlases?  If so, I'll buy them.

[RoadWarrior56]

1926 Rand McNally reissue from 1974
1939 Rand McNally
1955 Rand McNally
1957 Rand McNally
1960 Rand McNally
1962 Rand McNally
1963 Rand McNally
1967 Rand McNally
1969 Rand McNally
1971 Rand McNally
1972 Rand McNally
Many more into the 70's, 80's, 90's

[Bickendan]

State/National:
1978 RMN 54th Edition North America
1990 RMN North America
1998 Thomas Guide California
2000 UniversalMap North America Collector's Edition (uses the AAA maps)
2002 Thomas Guide California
2003 DeLorme Maine
2003 DeLorme Minnesota
2003 Mobil North America (uses MapQuest maps)
2005 RMN North Amierica
2005 Michelin Europe
2006 RMN North America
2006 Benchmark Maps Oregon
2006 Thomas Guide Pacific Northwest 7th Edition
2006 Jimapco Vermont 3rd Edition
2006 Michelin France
2006 Michelin Benelux (Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg)
2007 RMN Texas 1st Edition
2008 RMN The Carolinas 1st Edition
2008 Michelin Spain and Portugal

Regional/Metropolitan:
1957 Thomas Guide San Francisco
1989 Thomas Guide Portland Metropolitan Area
1990 Thomas Guide Portland Metropolitan Area
1994 Thomas Guide San Francisco County (CA)
1994 Thomas Guide Los Angeles/Orange Counties
1997 Thomas Guide Pierce County (WA)
1997 Thomas Guide Portland Metro Area
1998 Thomas Guide Western Maryland and Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia
1999 Thomas Guide Fredericksburg Area, Virginia
1999 Thomas Guide Prince William County (VA)
1999 Thomas Guide Portland Metro Area
2000 Thomas Guide Metropolitan Monterey Bay
2000 Thomas Guide Alameda and Santa Clara Counties
2000 Thomas Guide San Francisco and San Mateo Counties
2001 Thomas Guide Frederick County, Maryland
2001 Thomas Guide Kings and Tulare Counties
2001 Thomas Guide Los Angeles County
2001 Thomas Guide San Bernardino and Riverside County (x2)
2002 Mapsco Dallas
2002 Yellow Pinal County
2002 RMN Greater Vancouver and Fraser Valley
2002 Periplus Bandung, Indonesia
2003 Thomas Guide Baltimore Metro (Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Carroll, Harford and Howard Counties)
2003 Thomas Guide Sacramento and Solano Counties (with portions of Placer, El Dorado and Yolo Counties)
2003 Thomas Guide San Bernardino and Riverside Counties
2003 Thomas Guide Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo and Ventura Counties
2003 Thomas Guide Los Angeles and Orange Counties
2003 RMN Salt Lake City & Vicinity
2004 Thomas Guide Portland
2004 Thomas Guide Washington, DC Metro (Arlington, Fairfax, Montgomery, Prince George's Counties, portions of Anne Arundel, Loudoun and Prince William Counties)
2004 RMN Chicago 7-County (Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will Counties)
2005 Thomas Guide Phoenix Metro
2005 Thomas Guide Tucson Metro
2005 Thomas Guide San Diego County (including portions of Imperial County)
2005 RMN Greater Rochester 4th Edition
2005 RMN O'ahu
2005 King's Twin Cities Metro
2006 Thomas Guide Portland
2006 Thomas Guide King Pierce Snohomish Counties
2006 Thomas Guide Loudoun County (VA) 3rd Edition
2006 Thomas Guide (RMN) Boise and Snake River Valley 1st Edition
2006 RMN Buffalo/Niagara 4th Edition
2006 RMN Long Island 1st Edition
2006 Philip's London
2007 Thomas Guide Northern San Joaquin Valley 7th Edition
2007 Thomas Guide Central San Joaquin Valley 19th Edition
2007 Thomas Guide Portland
2007 Thomas Guide Kern County (CA) 17th Edition
2007 Thomas Guide (RMN) Reno/Tahoe 1st Edition
2007 RMN Kansas City 9th Edition
2007 RMN New York City 5-Borough 6th Edition
2007 Yellow Greater Las Vegas
2008 Thomas Guide (RMN) Salem 1st Edition
2008 RMN 'Get Around' Twin Cities
2008 MapArt Golden Horseshoe (ON)
2008 King's 'Big Picture' Twin Cities
2009 Thomas Guide Portland
2009 MapArt Edmonton and Northern Alberta
2010 Thomas Guide Portland 32nd Edition
No publication/copyright date: UniversalMap New Orleans

[oscar]

Just counting U.S./North America atlases (I have a few Mexican and European atlases too):

1959, 1965, 1973, and 1976-2011 Rand McNally atlases (first a Texaco "49-state" edition; second also for Texaco)
1981-1991, and 1993-1996 Gousha atlases (some for Mobil)
1998-2001 National Geographic atlases
1997-2004 American Map atlases (some for Barnes & Noble, those and other 2001-2004 use Mapquest mapping)
1989-1990. 1994-2003, and 2009-2010 AAA atlases
1967, 1997, and 2000 Hammond atlases
2003 and 2006 Michelin atlases
2006 MapArt atlas (Canada-focused, but covers U.S. and Mexico too)

I also have DeLorme topo map atlases for most states (probably missing only the ones for Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and New Jersey), of various dates and some outdated.

I have the Rand McNally street-level atlas for all of Hawaii (1st edition 2007), several current or back issue street-level map books just for Oahu from various publishers (Bryan's, TMK, Phears), current and some back issue map books by Odyssey for the other islands (they helpfully show milemarker locations on many numbered routes), and from some other publisher only for Maui island for 1999 and 2001.

I also have a 2003 Thomas Bros. California atlas, and a fairly recent (undated, probably 2009 or so) ADC street map book in my car for the D.C. metro area.

[froggie]

2008 King's 'Big Picture' Twin Cities

Very excellent.  Hudson's Twin Cities atlas books have better quality, IMO, but they don't have the scale that the King's 'Big Picture' does.  My '05 'Big Picture' has had quite a few doodlings drawn in over the past 5 years...

[english si]

Here's mine (grouped by where they cover):

RandMcNally 2004 Large Scale
RandMcNally Kids
RandMcNally 2007

Michelin France 2007
AA France 2005
AA Germany 'new edition' (2003)
AA Europe 2004

AA Great Britain 2000 Super Size
AA Britain 2003
AA Britain 2005
AA Britain 2010 Large Scale
AZ Great Britain 2004 Super Scale
AZ Great Britain 2007 Handy Road Atlas
Shell Great Britain (1972)

Esso GB & Ireland (1971)
Michelin GB & Ireland 2006 Tourist & Motoring Atlas

AA Ireland 2nd edition
AA Ireland 4th edition Glovebox Atlas

AZ London (1974)
AZ London (2004)
London Rail Atlas (off topic really, and not the 2nd edition that has full track layouts, rather than just the lines )
AZ Southampton, Portsmouth & Winchester (2001)

The rest of my maps are folded, rather than in book form.

[Bickendan]

2008 King's 'Big Picture' Twin Cities

Very excellent.  Hudson's Twin Cities atlas books have better quality, IMO, but they don't have the scale that the King's 'Big Picture' does.  My '05 'Big Picture' has had quite a few doodlings drawn in over the past 5 years...

Back in '02, I think it was, through '05, RMN had a fold map of the Cities using the Thomas Bros. symbology. I looked in vain for a TG Twin Cities atlas, and had to settle for King's. I really like the detail (particularly showing regional and local bike trails), and it is my Go To for anything in the Cities, but something about it that just isn't as 'clean' as I'd like (easily beats standard RMN, though!). My best guess is that Thomas Bros. intended to have atlas coverage of the Cities, and couldn't quite break into the market, and RMN hasn't been able to either.

[nyratk1]

Just got a sweet 1950 Queens/Nassau County Hagstrom atlas

[froggie]

My best guess is that Thomas Bros. intended to have atlas coverage of the Cities, and couldn't quite break into the market, and RMN hasn't been able to either.

Probably because Hudson's has been the powerhouse in the Twin Cities market (not to mention being a local company, based at 24th 25th and Nicollet) for ages.  It wasn't until 2004 that I even learned of the King's atlases.

[Bickendan]

Hudson's just got added to my To Visit list for my next trip to the cities, then.

[froggie]

If there were a way to combine Hudson's or King's detail with the layout and cartography of ADC, it'd be the ultimate...

[Kniwt]

Just scored the 1946 RMcN, which will be the second-oldest full atlas in my stack, next to the 1927 RMcN with the custom Pittsburgh Press / Scripps-Howard wrap.

I'm curious about how accurately the 1927 RMcN reflected reality. Did all those paved roads really exist in the indicated condition? Conversely, there were significant "under construction or contemplated" gaps in many U.S. highways, often in unexpected but seemingly-important places, like U.S. 41 in northern Indiana, and some settlements, especially in the south, that appeared to have *no* completed roads at all into or out of them (such as those along U.S. 167).