Wondering if any value, to old road maps

R

RB-TX

Member
I suspect most of us older seniors remember back in the forties and fifties, that many gas stations had racks of road maps of their state available for free.

During the fifties and sixties, I made at least one long trip a year from
South Texas to Minnesota for fishing. I collected many free maps on these trips. Of course there were no interstates on the older maps. After I retired in 1990, My wife and I traveled all the states west of the Mississippi River in our RV. I ordered maps for these states from AAA.

Anyway, I have probably 40 or 50 old maps. Does anyone know if these have any value, or should I just toss them in recycle?

Thanks for any info you can offer.
 

RB-TX said:
I suspect most of us older seniors remember back in the forties and fifties, that many gas stations had racks of road maps of their state available for free.

During the fifties and sixties, I made at least one long trip a year from
South Texas to Minnesota for fishing. I collected many free maps on these trips. Of course there were no interstates on the older maps. After I retired in 1990, My wife and I traveled all the states west of the Mississippi River in our RV. I ordered maps for these states from AAA.

Anyway, I have probably 40 or 50 old maps. Does anyone know if these have any value, or should I just toss them in recycle?

Thanks for any info you can offer.
Click to expand...
I definitely would Toss them, but if you're not quite sure, type in one or 2 of what you have into Ebay, and see what they're selling for...
 
RB-TX said:
I suspect most of us older seniors remember back in the forties and fifties, that many gas stations had racks of road maps of their state available for free.

During the fifties and sixties, I made at least one long trip a year from
South Texas to Minnesota for fishing. I collected many free maps on these trips. Of course there were no interstates on the older maps. After I retired in 1990, My wife and I traveled all the states west of the Mississippi River in our RV. I ordered maps for these states from AAA.

Anyway, I have probably 40 or 50 old maps. Does anyone know if these have any value, or should I just toss them in recycle?

Thanks for any info you can offer.
Click to expand...
Prepper's like to get their hands on paper maps because an EMP would eliminate any electronic map. Even if they're not up to date for all the current new roads, again, prepper's like to know of all the back roads.
 
I love old road maps and hate to think of them just trashed. I too have seen artists and jewelry makers use old maps in their designs. There may be some small town museums that would like them. Also some genealogy groups that may appreciate them for old place/community names.
 
I love maps, and other people do too. I think an individual or business would like to have them on their wall. Why not try to sell them -- or at least give them away?
 
Writers, authors and avid history readers find old maps useful for accurately depicting road networks and travel ways in both fiction and nonfiction publications.

That and names of places change from time to time and an old map helps there too.

Someone somewhere has a use for those old maps, RB-TX. Keep looking and asking about. You'll find a taker.
 
Don't just check ebay check a few antique or vintage dealers and other higher end websites/auction sites.

If they have dates, made a for a popular company like the old gas station maps there
's a chance. Also if things really changed on a local map that might be a value to some. I'm holding on to several maps myself. Getting ready to take a batch of old stuff including books, maps and old posters.

Visable dates, copyrights also helps because it shows the age/era. Or unique. I have a few black white very straight forward maps of the county and town I lived.

Maybe some maps of Europe from Cold War era might be of interest. I also have Cold War era stamps and money which a dealer told me forget it.
 
That's the sort of thing I do not want to find when I am decluttering my house. It's always a big worry about whether I am recycling something valuable. The latest thing was a receipt from Blockbuster Video. Probably worth ten million dollars somewhere, but I just recycled it, lol.
 
I also wonder if some teachers might like to use them, in the classroom. For anything from math, to art, and from any level from kindergarten to high school, perhaps.
A creative teacher would find a productive use for them.

I also had immediately thought, as an above post said,
that they could be turned into great, fascinating wallpaper.
 

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