Ties for Christmas

Cartophiliac's family knows what he likes to find under his Christmas tree: Maps!

Wearable maps from Mrs. Cartophiliac and Miss Princess Cartophiliac:



A world map and the Battle of Waterloo. Cool!

For those of you that celebrate `em, I hope you all have/had Happy Holidays and a very Merry Cartigraphic Christmas!

Michigan Mittens

Can too much ever be said about the "mittenmorphic" State of Michigan? Who else can say they were born carrying a map of their home state? In a Say Yes! to Michigan post last Spring, I demonstrated how to create a map of Michigan with two hands:








The clever folks at Michigan Mittens are now offering special mittens with a map of a Michigan peninsula on each hand. Never get lost in Michigan AND keep your hands warm! Now you can have it all!

Map Shoes Go Swoosh!... and Splash!

Rex Parker, crossword puzzle solver and vintage paperback book collector, sent to me this photo of a map on a Nike shoe:


That prompted me to seek out more info... instead, what I found were additional examples of maps on Nike shoes.


From MyFirstAirShoes.com:




From SlamJump.com.



See previous examples of map shoes:

The Tennessee Representa and Jennifer Collier's map shoe sculpture.

Also, while searching for map shoe information, I was reminded of this amusing, yet environmentally tragic story the cargo ship full of Nike products that accidentally dumped in the North Pacific back in 1999. Shoes and other flotsam were washing up on British Columbian beaches for years.

More recently, there have been grisly stories of Nike (and other) shoes, with feet still in them, washing up in BC.

Wearing Maps

Looking for a piece of fabric with a map on it? Who doesn't want to wear a shirt made of out map fabric?

From the The True Up blog:


From J & O Fabrics:


From Geography Matters:


From Warm Biscuit:


A former associate of mine made this shirt for me from some map fabric she found:


#288

Where Does Santa Get All Those Toys?

Let the kiddies know where all those Christmas toys are really coming from...



Available from Threadless T-shirts.

Via Boing Boing

Sunrise Over Lake Huron

The American holiday, Labor Day, is coming up on Monday, September 1. Why do we celebrate workers in September? Because May Day is just too "socialist"... By moving it to September, we can all ignore the reason for the holiday, and just celebrate a long weekend at the end of Summer... But that's a topic for another blog.

This year, the 51st annual Mackinac Bridge Walk will take place in Michigan. Every Labor Day since 1958, one side of the bridge has been closed to traffic and the general public are allowed to cross the five-mile span on foot from St. Ignace to Mackinaw City. Traditionally, the State Governor has led the march.

Ten years ago, on Labor Day 1998, I particpated in the Mackinac Bridge walk.



I arrived in Mackinaw City late the night before, and attempted to sleep in my car, with little success. However, I was able to catch, in the early hours before dawn, one of the first busses to St. Ignace. They started the walk before sunrise and the timing was perfect. I was about halfway across the bridge when the sun began to rise over Lake Huron. It was spectacular!



I bought the commemorative t-shirt, and some Mackinaw City Fudge and prepared to head home.



The shirt, I thought, needed a bit more, so I stopped in a T-Shirt shop and had them add this Michigan map to the back.

#242

Mile High T-shirts

The Democratic National Convention is taking place this week in Denver, Colorado. In front of 80,000 people, Barack Obama will give his acceptance of his party's nomination at Mile High Stadium.

In anticipation of this event, I have been saving these two t-shirts from my collection. I almost forgot to post them this week...

I think I may also have a couple Colorado map postcards tucked away somewhere... but they will have to wait for another day.



You would think that 80,000 people would be the largest crowd ever for such a speech, but John F. Kennedy also addressed a crowd of 80,000, at Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, for his acceptance speech in 1960.

Ties

I must wear a tie to work almost every day. Sadly, I have only two map ties:

Make Your Own Map Purse

Sonya Style is a do-it-yourself site of arts & crafts ideas, cooking, decorating and gardening, by Sonya Nimri.

Here she offers step-by-step instructions on how you can make your own map purse! Make one of the city are visiting and you won't need to carry an additional map.

I especially like the added touch of the toy car "latch".

Tennessee Representa

From MiBlox shoes:

This is the shoe that might make Boost Mobile change their pitch, no longer will people wonder "where you at" or for that matter where you're from. Not only does the Tennessee Representa perfectly coordinate with your favorite jersey with its colors of orange white and grey, it also helps you proudly rep your roots with a detailed TN map including cities like Chattanooga, Memphis, Knoxville, Nashville and beyond!

I know I've always looked for shoes that will answer the question, "Where you at?"

According to the company's site, a portion of every shoe sold will be donated to charitable organizations supporting programs for urban youth.

Also available in Georgia...


Thanks to Keich for the tip

Miserable Hawaii

I haven't bored you all with postcards from my collection in weeks. So, today I'll share my Hawaii postcards, along with a few highlights (lowlights?):



Many people assume Hawaii is a "paradise". I've never been there... but that's what I've been told... Bob Neubauer tells us about his honeymoon, in Miserable Hawaii. "We came for sunny skies and relaxation. Instead we got rain and bad colds."



A Forum dedicated to Things you HATE about Hawaii, including:

• Gigantic size cockroaches that fly.
• Noisy coqui frogs
• Coffee Can mufflers
• Expensive everything (not just housing)
• Hawaii is sinking and the beach is disappearing
• Giant Red Stinging Ants!
• Beat Up a Haole Day
• Giant toads

Hawaii has a crystal meth problem (However, the drug-rehab site linked here has a nice map themed design...)



Each island is actually a volcanic explosion waiting to happen...



A military wife hated living in Hawaii so much that she bought a domain and started a blog about it. "Hawaii Sucks" only lasted two months before she ran out of steam. Maybe it got better... (or maybe she escaped...)



Racial tensions are simmering in Hawaii's melting pot



Triumph the Insult Comic Dog on Hawaii weather:




I'm sure there are far more people who appreciate living in or visiting Hawaii than are respresented here... But since I have been assaulted in the past about the "paradise" of Hawaii, I thought I'd share a little bit of the other side...

Mind the Gap

From the BritishDepot.com. Get your London Underground gear:

This site if full of everything that a British expat or fan could want, from biscuits to oven mits and flip-flops to lentil soup.

Use one of these mugs to drink your soup... and never get lost on the tube again...



A Friendly Reminder to American Tourists.

Spoof London Underground Announcements by Emma Clarke

Elisabeth Lecourt Map-Wear

In one of my very earliest Cartophilia posts, I commented on maps as art, by highlighting the clothing-art work of paper sculpture artist Jennifer Collier. Yet another maps-clothing-artist comes to my attention:



Elizabeth Lecourt uses maps to sculpt clothing. In the October 5, 2005 issue of Step Inside Design Magazine, Mary Fitcher said:

... Technically she's not a fashion designer, however, Elisabeth Lecourt (a French student of art in England) is turning heads with her intriguing line of map-wear. She folds and cuts individual maps by region to produce clothes not to be worn but rather hung. To date she has pressed and ironed 60 pieces of faux garments, mostly pleated parochial dresses and button-down shirts made out of modern maps. Universal by nature, her work is popular wherever shown...

Thanks to Ms. Cartophiliac for pointing me in the direction of this cartographic artist.

The Path to the White House Leads Through Ohio

In the 2004 United States Presidential Election, Ohio was one of the "battleground" states. George Bush's victory in the state was by only 2.11%. The Next President of the United States will likely need to win Ohio to achieve an electoral victory. On March 4, Hillary Clinton will need to win Ohio to continue her quest for the Democratic nomination against Barack Obama.

To help Clinton, Obama and McCain find their way around the state, I recommend one of these handy Ohio map T-shirts from my collection.

Important Ohio facts:

Ohio was the 17th state to enter the Union, in 1803.

In 1836, Ohio lost the Ohio-Michigan War, thus being obliged to keep Toledo.

Seven presidents were born in Ohio, making it second to Virginia's eight.

Ohio is known as the "Buckeye State", however, never eat a real buckeye nut, as they are poisonous.

The State Fossil of Ohio is the trilobite.

Crossing the Rubicon

Earlier, I wrote about my experiences in the Diplomacy Hobby, as a gamer and a zine publisher. This t-shirt was given to me as a wedding present by a couple of my old Dip buddies, Scott and "Goz". I suppose I could wear it to a tournament and not need a conference map...

Back when I was publishing my Diplomacy zine, Crossing the Rubicon, my friend, Bill Williams, designed this logo for me. I share it here because, knowing my love of maps, he incorporated an antique globe into the design. Bill had a special color printer that could make t-shirt iron-on transfers. Unfortunately, we forgot to reverse the image... so we printed it again and put the mistake on the back of the shirt:



I am using the old zine name, and the logo Bill designed, for a new blog I started last month. Crossing the Rubicon is primarily my boardgaming log, but I may get around to other articles about boardgames, and reprinting my old zines.

UPDATE: I later decided one blog is enough...

Mount Tamalpais State Park - Trail Map Bandana

From my map ephemera collection: This is a trail map from Mount Tamalpais State Park in California, just north of San Francisco and the Golden Gate. The park offers "6,300 acres of redwood groves, oak woodlands, grassland slopes, chaparral and rocky ridges. Offering spectacular views of the nearby Pacific and the surrounding San Francisco Bay Area, from its ridges, slopes and the 2,571-foot high, East Peak."

The trail map is printed on a cotton bandana. The value is that even if it rains, your map will still be readable! Unfortunately, I have never been there. This map was given to me by a friend.

Coincidentally, just as I was preparing to post this image, I saw this post from our friends at Contours: the National Geographic Maps blog.

Nat Geo Maps to Launch National Trails Database



"TOPO!® Explorer, launching in May, will present users with detailed topographic maps, aerial photography, a hybrid map made from the two, and an extensive, freely browsable, online database of trail descriptions, recommendations and unique points of interest."

A handy tool for hikers and backpackers.

World Shirt

I spent some time yesterday photographing and scanning a variety of items from my map memorabilia and ephemera. In my collection I have several T-shirts with maps on them. I'll start with antique maps of the world.



If only Columbus, Magellan and de Gama had shirt like these... Exploration would be a piece of cake.

Fun with Transit Maps

In my last post, I shared my postcard depicting the Boston MBTA subway system:



In response, Gerry sent me a link to this image:



Fun with anagrams!

You can even buy a T-shirt with this image.

Thanks, Gerry!

Then, as usual in the morning, I checked Boing Boing to see what's new, and they have this amusing image (that you can also buy on a t-shirt):



But wait! There's more!

From the Animals on the Underground:

Maps as Art

Jennifer Collier, of Stafford, England, creates "innovative textiles and craft pieces using natural and found materials". Naturally, I am partial to her use of maps in creating sculptures of shoes and dresses: