{"product_id":"old-road-map-of-washington-1937-seattle-spokane-mt-rainier-np-columbia-river-us-99-10-101","title":"Old Road Map of Washington, 1937: Seattle, Spokane, Mt Rainier NP, Columbia River, US 99-10-101","description":"\u003cp\u003eCarrying the straightforward title 1937 Road Map of Washington, this handsome state portrait by the HM Gousha Company was prepared exclusively for the Standard Oil Company of Texas at the height of America’s interwar motoring boom. A traveler’s instrument first and an objet of design second, it arrays Washington’s circulation in saturated red highways and carefully tiered secondary roads, then layers in national and state parks, monuments, airports, and the subtle lacework of drainage that binds mountain to sound. A compact legend decodes the symbology while a meticulous index guides the eye swiftly from Seattle to Spokane and the smallest farm town between. The familiar RPM Motor Oil emblem anchors the composition, a quiet reminder of the service-station counter where such navigational companions once began their journeys.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHM Gousha stood at the vanguard of American road cartography, marrying clarity with allure. Founded by former Rand McNally cartographer Harry Mathias Gousha in 1926, the firm specialized in maps that motorists could read at a glance yet study with pleasure. Here, relief is rendered through fine hachures and punctuated spot heights, making the Cascades rise with tactile presence and letting the scabland benches east of the Columbia fall away in delicate shadow. Color judiciously separates forests, water, and settlement, while symbols for airports, monuments, and parks sit in poised balance along the routes. Spread across two facing panels, the composition breathes, giving mountain chains and river basins room to unfurl without sacrificing the economy of a glove-box guide—an exemplar of pre-Interstate design discipline.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHighways stride confidently across the state in 1937: US 99 threads the Puget Sound corridor from Olympia through Tacoma, Seattle, and Everett toward the Canadian line; US 10 cuts east from tidewater over Snoqualmie Pass to Ellensburg and Spokane; US 101 loops as a coastal necklace around the Olympic Peninsula; US 97 runs the dry-side spine through Yakima, Wenatchee, and north into Okanogan country; and US 195 drops south from Spokane toward the Palouse. Distances between key towns are thoughtfully marked, an aid to planning fuel and daylight. Hachured ridges betray the obstacles these routes overcame—Stevens and Snoqualmie Passes, the Yakima Canyon, the Columbia’s trench—while blue threads detail the Skagit, Snohomish, Yakima, Snake, and great Columbia, their confluences shaping settlement and road choice alike.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe map’s city portraiture is equally discerning. Seattle unfurls between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, its approaches converging at the great arterial spine; Tacoma stakes its claim to the south, with Olympia crowned as the state capital at the southern reach of the Sound. Northward, Everett and Bellingham register as industrious harbors, and Marysville rides the flats beyond. Bellevue sits like a quiet lakeside waypoint to the east; Renton and Auburn bracket the Green and White river valleys. Far across the mountains, Spokane anchors the Inland Empire on the Spokane River. The Yakima Valley appears as an irrigated ribbon, while the Tri-Cities—Kennewick, Pasco, and budding Richland—cluster at the Columbia–Snake meeting. Aviation icons punctuate the network: Boeing Field, Paine Field, Felts Field, and airstrips scattered through Yakima and Wenatchee country.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eParks and forests frame the itinerary with grandeur. Mount Rainier National Park dominates the central Cascades, its spot height proclaiming the 14,410-foot crown of the state; Olympic National Forest cloaks the peninsula; and Wenatchee, Mount Baker, and Colville national forests stair-step up the range. State parks—Deception Pass among them—promise campgrounds and overlooks at strategic bends in the road. In this synthesis of nature and network lies the map’s historical charge. Issued from the service counter under the RPM Motor Oil banner, it embodies the 1930s pact between industry and leisure, when branded cartography invited Americans to go farther, safely, with confidence. Today it reads as both itinerary and time capsule: a lucid, beautifully made witness to Washington on the cusp of modern highways and mass air travel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCities and towns on this map\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSeattle\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSpokane\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eTacoma\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBellevue\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEverett\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYakima\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBellingham\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eKennewick\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRenton\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAuburn\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOlympia\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePasco\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMarysville\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLakewood\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePullman\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRichland\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eEast Wenatchee\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNotable Features \u0026amp; Landmarks\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMajor highways and roads marked in red\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNational and state parks highlighted\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAirports labeled across the state\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eRelief features illustrated through hachures\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDrainage patterns visible throughout the region\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMonuments and other notable landmarks indicated\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDetailed city and town index for navigation\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLocation and branding of the RPM Motor Oil logo\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHistorical and design context\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMap Name: 1937 Road Map of Washington\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCreator\/Publisher: HM Gousha Company, prepared exclusively for the Standard Oil Company of Texas\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYear Created: 1937\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMap Features: Detailed color map of roads, highways, trails, state parks, monuments, national forests, airports, drainage patterns, distances, and points of interest\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eDesign Features: Presented in two double pages with relief illustrated via hachures and spot heights\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLegend and Index: Includes a legend and an index to cities and towns\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBranding: Features the RPM Motor Oil logo, reflecting its connection to Standard Oil’s branding\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eContext about Mapmaker: HM Gousha Company produced high-quality road maps and atlases for motorists in the pre-Interstate highway era\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eHistorical Significance: Collectible piece representing late-1930s cartographic craftsmanship and marketing strategies\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThemes Depicted: Emphasis on transportation routes and physical geography, characteristic of road-travel mapping of the time\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlease double check the images to make sure that a specific town or place is shown on this map. You can also get in touch and ask us to check the map for you.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map looks great at every size, but I always recommend going for a larger size if you have space. That way you can easily make out all of the details. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 100in (250cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please \u003ca href=\"\/fr\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003eget in touch\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePlease note: the labels on this map are hard to read if you order a map that is 16in (40cm) or smaller. The map is still very attractive, but if you would like to read the map easily, please buy a larger size.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe fifth listing image shows an example of my map personalisation service.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf you’re looking for something slightly different, check out my collection of the \u003ca href=\"\/fr\/collections\/all-old-vintage-antique-maps\"\u003ebest old maps\u003c\/a\u003e to see if something else catches your eye.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePlease \u003ca href=\"\/fr\/pages\/contact-us\"\u003econtact me\u003c\/a\u003e to check if a certain location, landmark or feature is shown on this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis would make a wonderful birthday, Christmas, Father's Day, work leaving, anniversary or housewarming gift for someone from the areas covered by this map.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis map is available as a giclée print on acid free archival matte paper, or you can buy it framed. The frame is a nice, simple black frame that suits most aesthetics. Please get in touch if you'd like a different frame colour or material. My frames are glazed with super-clear museum-grade acrylic (perspex\/acrylite), which is significantly less reflective than glass, safer, and will always arrive in perfect condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"The Unique Maps Co.","offers":[{"title":"16x20in (40x50cm) \/ Map","offer_id":58016701350272,"sku":"UM00275913A","price":63.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"16x20in (40x50cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58016701383040,"sku":"UM00275914A","price":140.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"16x20in (40x50cm) \/ Framed canvas map","offer_id":58016701415808,"sku":"UM00275915A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"18x24in (45x60cm) \/ Map","offer_id":58016701448576,"sku":"UM00275916A","price":73.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"18x24in (45x60cm) \/ Framed map","offer_id":58016701481344,"sku":"UM00275917A","price":160.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"18x24in (45x60cm) \/ Framed canvas 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