1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:15,680 Speaker 1: Heart Radio, Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: a show that cruises the highways of history one day 4 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: at a time. I'm Gay Bluesier, and in this episode, 5 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:27,120 Speaker 1: we're talking about a milestone in automotive history, the day 6 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: when a publisher made navigating America's roads and highways a 7 00:00:31,440 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: whole lot easier. The day was April four, publisher Rand 8 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:47,360 Speaker 1: McNally released the first of its famous guide books, the 9 00:00:47,520 --> 00:00:52,440 Speaker 1: Rand McNally Auto Chum. As the friendly name suggests, the 10 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: book was meant to help drivers find their way during 11 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: the early days of the automobile. That was no easy feed. 12 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:02,800 Speaker 1: At the time, Inner states didn't exist yet, and most 13 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,520 Speaker 1: of the highways that did were identified by names instead 14 00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:10,520 Speaker 1: of numbers, many by the same name. The Auto Chum 15 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:13,920 Speaker 1: did its best to solve the confusion by including up 16 00:01:13,920 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: to date travel information and detailed hand drawn maps. The 17 00:01:18,800 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 1: maps probably would have been more useful in full color, 18 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:25,919 Speaker 1: but that change wouldn't be made until the nineteen sixty edition. 19 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:29,240 Speaker 1: For the first edition, drivers had to make do with 20 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:34,679 Speaker 1: just two colors, dark blue and red. Despite these shortcomings, 21 00:01:34,840 --> 00:01:38,120 Speaker 1: the Rand McNally Auto Chum was still a turning point 22 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: for auto travel. By making it easier to navigate the roads, 23 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:45,120 Speaker 1: the book gave people the courage to drive farther and 24 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: more often, instead of only when strictly necessary. In the 25 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: decades to come, the company continued to develop and refine 26 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: the concept of a road atlas, eventually turning the Rand 27 00:01:56,640 --> 00:02:01,480 Speaker 1: McNally Road Atlas into a glove box staple throughout the country. 28 00:02:01,680 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 1: The publisher got its start in the eighteen fifties when 29 00:02:04,880 --> 00:02:08,680 Speaker 1: a printer from Boston named William Rand moved to Chicago 30 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 1: and opened his own print shop. He was quickly joined 31 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: in the venture by Andrew McNally, an Irish immigrant and 32 00:02:15,480 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: a trained printer himself. They worked together for many years, 33 00:02:19,760 --> 00:02:23,080 Speaker 1: and in eighteen sixty eight they formed an official partnership 34 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:28,160 Speaker 1: called Rand McNally and Company. At first, they published nothing 35 00:02:28,200 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 1: but business directories and railroad timetables, but they soon branched 36 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:36,799 Speaker 1: out into railroad guides as well. In eighteen seventy two, 37 00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: the company included its first map in one of these guides, 38 00:02:40,560 --> 00:02:43,800 Speaker 1: and then followed it up by producing maps for textbooks 39 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:48,520 Speaker 1: and globes. They even developed a new wax engraving method 40 00:02:48,840 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 1: that made it possible to mass produce maps at a 41 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:56,600 Speaker 1: much more affordable price. Gradually, matt making became the company's 42 00:02:56,680 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: main focus, and by eighteen eighty Rand mcnah lley was 43 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:04,560 Speaker 1: the largest map manufacturer in the country. At the turn 44 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:08,280 Speaker 1: of the twentieth century, vast networks of new roads had 45 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:12,000 Speaker 1: begun to take shape in America, and Rand McNally realized 46 00:03:12,040 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: the potential in being the first company to map those roads. 47 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:20,080 Speaker 1: In nineteen o four, it released its first automotive road map, 48 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 1: setting the course of the company for decades to come. 49 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:27,440 Speaker 1: It was not a moment too soon either. Andrew McNally 50 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:32,040 Speaker 1: died that same year, and William Rand followed in nineteen fifteen, 51 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: nine years before the Auto Chum hit store shelves. The 52 00:03:36,880 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: company continued down the new automotive path set by its founders, 53 00:03:41,400 --> 00:03:44,680 Speaker 1: and as car travel gained in popularity, the market for 54 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: its products grew larger and larger. There was a problem, though, 55 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: America's roads were growing in a rather thoughtless fashion. Not 56 00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: only were most of them unmarked, many didn't even have names. 57 00:03:57,960 --> 00:04:00,240 Speaker 1: This meant that in order to get from one ace 58 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:04,040 Speaker 1: to another, drivers had to refer to thick printed guides 59 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: and try to make sense of the convoluted directions they're in. 60 00:04:08,480 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: For example, here's how in nineteen fourteen, route Book explained 61 00:04:12,760 --> 00:04:16,480 Speaker 1: part of the journey from Green Bay to Wausau, Wisconsin. 62 00:04:17,200 --> 00:04:22,440 Speaker 1: Quote turn left passing hotel, barn on right, cross iron bridge, 63 00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: around mill, follow winding sandy road with poles, through woods, 64 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:32,560 Speaker 1: avoiding left hand road, pick up poles, passing school on left, 65 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:37,240 Speaker 1: turn right with road across railroad at station, follow poles. 66 00:04:38,360 --> 00:04:42,160 Speaker 1: As you can probably tell, navigating the roads wasn't an 67 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:47,680 Speaker 1: intuitive process and success was hardly guaranteed. To combat the problem, 68 00:04:47,880 --> 00:04:52,760 Speaker 1: Rand McNally announced a contest in nineteen sixteen. Any employee 69 00:04:52,800 --> 00:04:55,800 Speaker 1: who could improve the system would earn a one dollar 70 00:04:55,920 --> 00:05:00,240 Speaker 1: reward plus bragging rights. The winning idea came I'm a 71 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,680 Speaker 1: freelance map illustrator named John Brink. His solution was simple 72 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:08,160 Speaker 1: as sign a number to each road, label the roads 73 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:11,919 Speaker 1: by number on maps, and post the numbers on roadside 74 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:15,719 Speaker 1: signs so that drivers could tell where they were. Brink 75 00:05:15,800 --> 00:05:18,839 Speaker 1: won the cash prize, but he was also saddled with 76 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 1: the task of developing and implementing the numbering system on 77 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: all the country's roads. It was more of a hassle 78 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: than he'd bargained for going around and nailing numbered signs 79 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:32,760 Speaker 1: to utility polls, but he eventually got the job done, 80 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: and in nineteen seventeen, Brink's new system was used for 81 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:40,800 Speaker 1: the first time on a map of Peoria, Illinois. Soon after, 82 00:05:41,120 --> 00:05:44,080 Speaker 1: other map companies took notice of the project and began 83 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:48,279 Speaker 1: tacking up their own identifying symbols along the country's highways. 84 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: As a result, in less than a decade, it became 85 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:54,880 Speaker 1: common to find as many as twenty different signs on 86 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:59,720 Speaker 1: a single utility poll. Brink's clever solution had snowballed into 87 00:05:59,760 --> 00:06:04,360 Speaker 1: all whole new source of confusion for America's drivers. Eventually, 88 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:08,320 Speaker 1: this signage free for all led the newly formed National 89 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:12,719 Speaker 1: Highway System to get involved once again. John Brink was 90 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,720 Speaker 1: enlisted to help create a standard numbering system, this time 91 00:06:16,839 --> 00:06:20,720 Speaker 1: an official one to be rolled out nationwide. The result 92 00:06:20,760 --> 00:06:23,799 Speaker 1: of his work was eventually adopted by state and federal 93 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:27,680 Speaker 1: highway authorities in the mid nineteen twenties, and it's largely 94 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:31,320 Speaker 1: the same system that we used today. Has that change 95 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:34,640 Speaker 1: took place in America's roads began to make more sense. 96 00:06:35,080 --> 00:06:38,760 Speaker 1: The oil industry realized what ran McNally had known for 97 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:44,520 Speaker 1: decades offering useful road maps encouraged people to drive more and, 98 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: by extension, to buy more gas. With that in mind, 99 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,880 Speaker 1: the Golf Oil Company partnered with Rand McNally in nineteen 100 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:54,680 Speaker 1: twenty to create a series of road maps to be 101 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,800 Speaker 1: handed out for free at its service stations. Other oil 102 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:02,160 Speaker 1: companies quickly caught be the idea and commission their own 103 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:06,679 Speaker 1: promotional maps. Within a few years, ran McNally had earned 104 00:07:06,760 --> 00:07:10,240 Speaker 1: enough money from such deals to fully underwrite the cost 105 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:14,760 Speaker 1: of a brand new venture, the company's first road atlas, 106 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:19,240 Speaker 1: the Rand McNally Auto Chum. Of course, if you hit 107 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:22,840 Speaker 1: the open road today, you'll probably use a navigation app 108 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:25,280 Speaker 1: to make sure you get to where you're going, maybe 109 00:07:25,280 --> 00:07:28,680 Speaker 1: even one made by Rand McNally. But if you're ever 110 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:32,160 Speaker 1: sick of all that accuracy and convenience and you want 111 00:07:32,200 --> 00:07:35,600 Speaker 1: to put your navigation skills to the test, maybe dust 112 00:07:35,640 --> 00:07:38,120 Speaker 1: off a road atlas and see where it takes you. 113 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:41,600 Speaker 1: Even if you find yourself off the grid with no signal, 114 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:45,440 Speaker 1: you'll still have everything you need the open road and 115 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:51,600 Speaker 1: your trusty auto chump. I'm Gabe Blusier, and hopefully you 116 00:07:51,640 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: now know a little more about history today than he did. Yesterday. 117 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:58,400 Speaker 1: If you have a second and you're so inclined, you 118 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: can follow the show on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at 119 00:08:02,080 --> 00:08:05,880 Speaker 1: t d i HC Show. You can also rate and 120 00:08:05,920 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: review the show on Apple Podcasts, or you can send 121 00:08:09,080 --> 00:08:12,360 Speaker 1: your questions and comments directly to me at this Day 122 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:16,119 Speaker 1: at I heart media dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays 123 00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,360 Speaker 1: for producing the show, and thank you for listening. I'll 124 00:08:19,400 --> 00:08:22,200 Speaker 1: see you back here again soon for another day in 125 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 1: history class.