TIME capsule vol. 2: maps
TIME capsule vol. 2: maps
The "39% Less Ocean" edition.
Welcome to Chartography: insights and delights from the world of data storytelling.
In TIME capsule vol. 1, we saw ingenious information graphics from the first decade of TIME magazine.
Since then, I have partnered with fellow curious mind Byron Raco to examine every page of the TIME magazine vault from 1935 through 1941. We found over 1,500 pages with maps, diagrams, and charts. (That’s about four pages per issue.)
Today we focus on the best ads with maps and globes from the years leading to America’s entry to WW2.
Let’s begin with a spurious statistic from Canadian Pacific ocean liners: Their Montreal-based service was “39% less ocean to Europe” compared to New York. But not, mind you, 39% shorter. Just 39% less open ocean. This difference was evinced by a cast of Atlantean characters interacting with a 1935 globe and a bunch of mapsplainers in 1937:
1930s TIME saw a range of ad sizes across its three-column grid. Below are examples of single-column ads with cartographic punctuation.
A portion of Bell Telephone’s many information-graphic ads featured playful uses of geographic scale to hep illustrate the far reach of its network.
Southern California furnished ads for the region with several lavish pictorial maps—each with the same aesthetic, but with a slightly different perspective. Here are two favorites:
Hundreds of route maps help advertise trains, planes, and ocean liners. One of the most elaborate is the double-page below, for American Export. It uses a variety of line styles to distinguish different steamship and air routes.
But size wasn’t everything. Some of the most creative route maps were quite small.
The below dueling advertisements for competing rail lines map their easy routes to the World’s Fair.
This sideways map for American Trucking argues for deregulation of state roads (two decade’s before Ike’s Interstate Highway system)—too many varied laws made it too complicated and too expensive to ship cross-country.
Rand McNally maps produced elegant and eye-catching compositions in its ads.
And, finally, big men dominating maps in-perspective created loads of fun visual interest.
That’s all the maps that can fit in an email! Creative cartographic lessons abound, especially related to: scale, masking, perspective, projection, and the inclusion of human figures.
I appreciate your consideration in helping this newsletter continues its success by:
sharing it with a other information-graphic enthusiasts
becoming a material subscriber, below
ordering print information graphics from Visionary Press
Future editions of this newsletter will spotlight ads with charts, ads with diagrams, and information graphics from TIME articles. Thank you for your enthusiasm.
Onward!—RJ
About
Guest contributor Byron Raco is an avid bibliophile and curious mind. He journeyed through investment banking, strategy and CFO roles before settling into a life of investing and exploring the world while enjoying the printed page.
Data storyteller RJ Andrews helps organizations solve high-stakes problems by using visual metaphors and information graphics: charts, diagrams, and maps. His passion is studying the history of information graphics to discover design insights. See more at infoWeTrust.com.
RJ’s recently published series, Information Graphic Visionaries, a new book series celebrating three spectacular data visualization creators. With new writing, complete visual catalogs, and discoveries never seen by the public. His first book Info We Trust, How to Inspire the World with Data—will be published in a remastered edition in 2024.
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