Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Oil Company Road Maps - Errors and Rarities

Has anybody here ever ran across exceedingly hard-to-find maps or maps printed in error?

Let me give some examples:

- Esso/Enco/Exxon maps of Missouri, Iowa, Alaska, or Hawaii

- Enco maps of individual Northeast or Mid-Atlantic states

By error maps I mean unintentionally putting the incorrect information on a map, i.e. listing the map as being of Florida but showing another state.

Enco/Esso/Exxon maps were primarily produced by General Drafting, and GD didn't really have a lot of other petro accounts after the early 1950s. So, there's not a lot of errors that can happen. Ihat said, some city maps for Enco and Esso were produced by other companies that would be more likely to confuse companies, since they had more varied clients.
More likely would be errors on Rand McNally or Gousha "generic" maps that were overprinted for a specific company. It would be unlikely to have errors such as a wrong state, as this would be part of the first printing. But, something could happen like an ad being omitted from a rear cover panel.
I've collected for over 10 years now: most errors I see are misregistrations of printer plates or cartographic errors/trap streets.

Wow, and I thought I was a hardcore collector. Now the MAPS guys are coming out of the woodwork!!

interesting topic guys...

I have an old Mobil map that is missing a town near where I live. I heard somewhere that certain towns were not shown because of oil supplies or something of some other strategic importance were left off on purpose...don't know if that's true or not but it sounds good. Could have been something to do with the Cold War?

Just curious, but what town is left off?

Wes

I just got two boxes of Esso "Happy Motoring" Trip Planning Maps, dated 1962 and made by General Drafting. 14 maps total, new condition, the two boxes are extremely ratty.

Are these maps rare?

I HAVE A 1941 SOHIO TRAINING CAMP MAP THAT SHOWS CAMP PENDLETON ON THE EAST COAST RATHER THAN ON THE WEST COAST. MAYBE SOME BASE NAME CHANGES THAT I DON'T KNOW ABOUT

Wes,
Hawkins, Tx is ot on my Mobil map.
Brent

I just have to relate the time that I was driving through northern California somewhere - maybe around Petaluma or that general part of the state - and my wife and I decided to drive to a lake that was on the map, and find a motel for the night there. We drove right through the area and saw no signs or anything, so we drove back - nothing. I finally asked at a gas station how to get to the lake. It was with great amusement that he informed my that there was no lake. I believe it was the Army Corp of Engineers or some such agency that had at the last minute held up on this lake or reservoir being created. Map company apparently got the news about the new lake or reservoir just before printing the map, but got the other news too late. I thought I had entered the twilight zone! This was around 1975. The map is long gone. Ed

Back when Willie and Wayland made the hit song "Lets go to Luckenbach, Texas". It made the town so popular that people were litterally taking boards off buildings and such as Souvenirs. Some map companies took the town off their maps for a number of years.
Chuck

Now I know why I couldn't find Luckenbach on Texas maps.

There is one error that I see almost constantly, even on official Mississippi state maps.

In Fulton, MS 178 (old US 78) is shown as a continuous route thru Itawamba county but is in fact cut by the Tenn-Tom Waterway.

In re: the 14 Esso maps: What areas do they cover?

Phmlpn

[This message has been edited by phmlpn (edited 07-11-2006).]

As a frequent visitor to Luckenbach I can attest that there is not much there. A dance hall and an old general store that has been turned into a bar where people sit around outside under the trees in the evenings listening to anyone that wants to play and sing. Add some cold Shiner Bock and it don't get much better than that!