FOCUSED CARTOGRAPHY.

The “Ribbon Map of the Father of Waters” (1866) shows the full length of the Mississippi River on an 11-foot-long map (3.35 meters), which was rolled inside a spool with a hand crank. Steamboat passengers could unwind it and study the section of the river they were currently on. Below, a detail. Images from the David Rumsey Map Collection.

Road atlas
John Ogilby’s “Britannia” (1675) displays 73 main roads (in England and Wales) using a ribbon-map style.

Photograph: The British Library.

Before GPS
This wristwatch-style navigation system dates from 1920. After selecting the appropriate paper ribbon map, and inserting it into the holder, the user could scroll along the route.

The 1939 Iter Avto had paper map rolls that were moved by a mechanism that was linked to the wheels of the car.

On the dashboard.

We didn’t get GPS navigation systems until 1995 when the Guidestar system was introduced.

Trip planner
The American Automobile Association’s TripTiks, which show a planned route and the intersecting roads along it, have been around since 1937. Below, a 1959 example. Note how the route has been highlighted by the person who prepared the planner. Today, there’s online and mobile versions, but the traditional printed TripTik is still available.

And just because I like logos, here is AAA’s. The blue ellipse was added in 1997.