How We Use Maps and Globes: An Illustrated Guide from 1968

A charming reminder of how far we’ve come — and what we’ve given up along the way.

Yesterday, we traced the birth of our modern obsession with maps. But in today’s age of cartographic entitlement — the kind that causes an epidemic of panic and outrage at having one kind of Earth-in-your-pocket over another — it’s hard to believe we once had to be taught how to use maps and why they mattered. That’s precisely what the delightful vintage grade school primer How We Use Maps and Globes (public library) does. Originally published in 1968 as part of the same Social Studies Program series that gave us How People Live in the Suburbs, the slim 48-page book explores the basics of distance, scale, direction, and orientation through vibrant illustrations, black-and-white photographs, and simple words.

One of the most beautiful illustrations in the book is this map of bird migration patterns:

But besides the educational value and the sheer vintage gorgeousness of the artwork, these illustrations also remind us of what we’ve lost along with everything we’ve gained in the past half-century of technological progress — the pride in telling direction just by your shadow in the sun, the awe of gazing at the night sky and knowing that you share the North Star with millennia of fellow explorers, or even the simple joy of spinning a globe with your index finger. (Whatever happened to globes, anyway?)

How We Use Maps and Globes was part of a Basic Understanding series of primary school supplements, also including such out-of-print treasures as How People Earn and Use Money, How Farms Help Us, and How Our Government Helps Us.

Donating = Loving

Bringing you (ad-free) Brain Pickings takes hundreds of hours each month. If you find any joy and stimulation here, please consider becoming a Supporting Member with a recurring monthly donation of your choosing, between a cup of tea and a good dinner:

♥ $7 / month ♥ $3 / month ♥ $10 / month ♥ $25 / month

You can also become a one-time patron with a single donation in any amount:

Brain Pickings has a free weekly newsletter. It comes out on Sundays and offers the week’s best articles. Here’s what to expect. Like? Sign up.

The Lives They Lived: Artists Remember Cultural Heroes We Lost

“Because she declared, ‘We’ve come a long way,’ and she led our way to get here.”

Last month, I had the pleasure — as much as writing about a dead personal hero can be called a “pleasure” — of contributing to The New York Times’ annual The Lives They Lived series, commemorating cultural icons whom we lost in the past year. (It’s of little surprise I chose Ray Bradbury.) Among the other entries were a number of visual remembrances — including Christoph Niemann’s soul-stirring Sendak tribute — of such luminaries as Nora Ephron, Neil Armstrong, and Sally Ride. Gathered here are some favorites.

Debbie Millman honors Sally Ride in a handmade visual essay of felt typography soft-sculpted onto felt fabric.

Conceptual artist Rachel Perry Welty recreates Meg Ryan’s soliloquy from Nora Ephron's 'When Harry Met Sally' in a collage using letters cut from Ephron’s obituary in The New York Times.

Berlin-based illustrator and graphic designer Katrin Rodegast celebrates the jazz composer Dave Brubeck by layering black and white paper.

Artist Winnie Truong recalls some of his most famous looks from the manual 'Cutting Hair the Vidal Sassoon Way,' the blueprint to the coiffure aesthetic that defined the 1950s and 1960s.

A rendering of Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 suit by artist Tom Sachs, based on the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal.

Donating = Loving

In 2012, bringing you (ad-free) Brain Pickings took more than 5,000 hours. If you found any joy and stimulation here this year, please consider becoming a Member and supporting with a recurring monthly donation of your choosing, between a cup of coffee and a fancy dinner:

♥ $10 / month ♥ $3 / month ♥ $25 / month ♥ $50 / month ♥ $100 / month

You can also become a one-time patron with a single donation in any amount:

Brain Pickings has a free weekly newsletter and people say it’s cool. It comes out on Sundays and offers the week’s best articles. Here’s what to expect. Like? Sign up.

How People Live In The Suburbs: A Vintage Illustrated Gem

“Swinging is a good time to close your eyes and make-believe.”

Much has been written about what makes a great city, with recent theories placing walkability atop the list of favorable assets, deeming suburbs among the least desirable, most unsustainable, most culturally insular places to live. In fact, every week from now until 2050 more than a million people are being added to our cities. But the city-suburb relationship didn’t always skew this way — in the first half of the 20th century, suburban sprawl was hailed as a pinnacle of industrial progress and by the 1950s, more Americans lived in suburbs than anywhere else.

Last week, while researching the lovely vintage gem The Little Golden Book of Words, I came upon another out-of-print treasure: How People Live In The Suburbs (UK; public library) by Muriel Stanek, originally published in 1970 as an educational supplement teaching primary school children about the basics of social studies. Through a mix of vibrant illustrations by Bernadine Bailey and photographs by Philip Gendreau, the slim 48-page book captures the golden age of utopian visions for suburbia, a bittersweet memento from one of history’s greatest failures of urban planning.

How People Live In The Suburbs was published as part of a Basic Understanding series of primary school supplements, also including How People Earn and Use Money, How Farms Help Us, and How Our Government Helps Us — all, sadly, out of print but delightful if you’re able to secure a copy.

Donating = Loving

In 2012, bringing you (ad-free) Brain Pickings took more than 5,000 hours. If you found any joy and stimulation here this year, please consider becoming a Member and supporting with a recurring monthly donation of your choosing, between a cup of coffee and a fancy dinner:

♥ $10 / month ♥ $3 / month ♥ $25 / month ♥ $50 / month ♥ $100 / month

You can also become a one-time patron with a single donation in any amount:

Brain Pickings has a free weekly newsletter and people say it’s cool. It comes out on Sundays and offers the week’s best articles. Here’s what to expect. Like? Sign up.