Oxford

Just a postcard quickie. Two postcards from my collection -- Oxford, England:



The city of Oxford is most famous for the University of Oxford.



In the United States, many communities would like to be associated with the academic reputation of Oxford, England. I counted 17 states that have a town named Oxford. Two of them (at least) have colleges or universities in those towns. How many "Oxfords" have you visited?

Mexico vs. Great Britain

Sam Hughes likes to write and post Things of Interest. Of interest to me today is The Great British Venn Diagram. This handy diagram helps to clarify (for those who seem to have trouble keeping it straight) the difference between England, Great Britain, the British Isles and the United Kingdom.

Via Catholicgauze, who has created his own diagram to explain Mexico versus Mexico versus Mexico

#510

Swindon's Magic Roundabout

In what looks to me like a driver's nightmare: Swindon's Magic Roundabout.



Constructed in 1972, the roundabout consists of five mini-roundabouts arranged in a circle. Its name comes from a popular children's television series The Magic Roundabout. Depending on your BBC survey, it has been voted the fourth or seventh scariest junction in Britain.


View Larger Map

A few weeks ago, Ms. Cartophiliac's friend sent a hilarious YouTube video of the roundabout in action, with a Benny Hill soundtrack. Sadly, it has already been taken down. But below are several more videos to give you a flavor of the experience.







Here is one recommended by Jude (see comments):



And for those of you new to driving through roundabouts, here is a useful instructional video:



And finally, my favorite Roundabout:

Maps of War: March of Democracy

Maps of War: The Visual History of War, Religion and Government offers Flash animated maps to help users understand historical and current events. The latest addition to the site is March of Democracy, charting the ebb and flow of democratic ideals through history and across the map of the world:

Where has democracy dominated and where has it retreated? This map gives us a visual ballet of democracy's march across history as the most popular form of government. From the first ancient republics to the rise of self-governing nations, see the history of democracy: 4,000 years in 90 seconds...!

Other maps include:

History of Religion: How has the geography of religion evolved over the centuries? and Imperial History: Who has controlled the Middle East over the course of history?

Transit Maps of the World

I've been waiting for months, and I finally got my hands on a copy of Transit Maps: The World's First Collection of Every Urban Train Map on Earth, by Mark Ovenden. This work is a comprehensive collection of historic and current maps of every rapid-transit system on earth. With all of its colorful graphics, it makes a beautiful coffee-table book for travel and graphic design enthusiasts.

Major cities all over the globe are included. Here is an example from Tokyo:



Also included, this fanciful map of a world united by a single transit system:



The history of the London Underground can be charted by the succession of user maps that were produced through the last century:



From my collection, two postcards of the London Underground showing some growth of the extended lines:

1985	circa 1995

Below are the other two transit map postcards from my collection:



Trade offers for for additional transit map postcards are always welcome.

For additional fun with transit maps, see my earlier post.

Finally, this transit map representation of Eustace Tilley. This map was one of the winners in a contest where artists were invited to create new versions of the mascot of the New Yorker Magazine.

“Eustace Tilley Subway”, by Alberto Forero, Minneapolis, Minnesota

Other Map Blogs of Note

While I never imagined what I was doing here was completely original... I hadn't yet come across other blogs that were devoted to "fun with maps". Since starting this blog several weeks ago, I have discovered several.

Maps For Us: The Children of America Need Maps appears to have started just a few weeks before mine. Clearly inspired by Miss Teen South Carolina:



Maps For Us encourages folks to send in their maps to help children learn from maps... submitted maps are serious and whimsical, and include everything from maps to coffee shops in Amsterdam:



The the lost continent of Atlantis:



UPDATE 11/6: But, they haven't posted since September, so they seem to have lost interest already...

UPDATE 12/2: "This Account Has Been Suspended". I guess the joke is over.

Strange Maps appears to have been publishing from the UK since 2006. This cartophile shares odd maps that he finds or his reader send. Most of the maps appear to have some serious intent, such as this map of the socio-economic divide of England:



or a folk art rendition of Peru:



Launched in March 2003, The Map Room is a blog that points to maps, map collections, map-related resources, and material about maps on the web.

His most recent post, brought this new "Atlas" to my attention:



2003!

I sort of had an idea for a blog like this back in 1994... but I didn't know what blogs were.

That was right about the time I had, what I thought was a brilliant idea... I would compile a bibliography of Alternate History books. However, while I was compiling titles, I found a website that was already doing it. The website that would become Uchronia: the Alternate History List had already compiled a list three times the size of mine.

Yet again, I am unoriginal. But I'll keep at it. I still have hundreds of post cards, ads and other map memorabilia that maybe, just maybe no one else has posted...

If you find any of this remotely interesting, please feel free to comment. Also, feel free to send interesting links or images of map memorabilia to me at Admin AT cartophilia.com.