Art & Inspiration Rotating map in sunvisor, "map visor", anyone ever seen one?

Gents,
I have one of these cool map visors that I got from my 1948 Cadillac, something I have never seen before. It has replaceable maps and I found the box with extra map rolls inside the car as well. There is a knob on the bottom that you turn and the map rotates up and down inside the visor. Google is showing nothing, any idea what the era is of these things? Very cool accessory, here is a picture in the car (sorry I had to write on it, scammers are all over stealing pictures and advertising parts for sale).

 

I had one on a houseboat mounted above the wheel when we cruised Thousand Islands. Of course it was a chart but same idea. Damn handy for navigation pre GPS.

 

Cool! What wont they think of next? . I have never seen one.

Ben

 

Very cool concept. Never seen or heard of one before.

 

Very cool. Any kind of label,info on the map itself?

 

Wow that's nifty. Just needs a slot to hold my 4.0 reading glasses.

 

That is cool but it wouldn't surprise me if that product might just be the reason behind the worlds first "distracted driving" charge

I can easily picture a car swerving all over while the driver is attempting to read the small print. I wonder if it was supposed to be installed on the passenger (or shall I say "navigator") side of the car

 

Kind of reminds me of a "directional aid" we saw at a vintage car museum in Maine. Maybe the first "Navigation System". lol
I had never seen one before. Speedometer cable hooked up to it to move the directions dependent on the speed of the car.

 

I wonder who took that picture...

 

Could have used one yesterday. Went from going north then went east because in my mind I thought the city we were heading to was that way. Oh well, small corrective change took care of it.

 

all the kids say, "what the hell do you need with a map?" i still use 'em, though!

 

My wife and I make a good team..... she misreads the map, and I make the wrong turns!

 

I usually get a belated “Turn Here” when she is monitoring the GPS map on the phone. Then I get a “it’s recalculating hold on”

 

Thanks for showing that. I had never seen or heard of it before. I really think it's cool.

 

A little bit related, I seem to remember on the old TV show Adam 12 that they had a `hot sheet' that wrapped around the passenger visor.

 

Just sent a message to an outfit called the " Road Map Collectors Association " asking them if they are familiar with this type of map. Hope to hear back from them in the next couple of days.

 

I just got home late, checked my computer and I didnt take any pictures of the box, but I took a video when I was going through the car. Fast forward to the part where I am going through the compartment in the back of the front seat and you will see the box and the maps, all in excellent condition. I didnt even know about the compartment, my daughter found it! Oh and found some interesting reading material in the front glove box LOL.

 

Just added a video I took when I got the car, shows the map box and the maps that are inside, plus more interesting stuff LOL.

 

I must say I am amazed that nobody here has had one of these, this is always the place where nothing is unknown! I need to check the box for a mfg date.

 

That is really cool. I've never seen one and I'm a map guy!

 

A company called Iter Avto built this model sometime in the early '30's. If the driver changed areas, he had to change maps. The article I read was written by someone whose first language wasn't English so from what I can gather, the map didn't move unless the vehicle was in motion. It was probably driven off of the speedometer. Unless you mated a parrot with a homing pigeon, this was early 20th century GPS at its finest.


The second pic is of the Plus Fours Routefinder and it was in use in England in the early 1920's. It was worn on the wrist and you advanced the roller manually. There were several route maps that came with it. I can't seem to insert these pics here. Tried copy and paste. No dice.

 

that was a great line about the mating scenario!

 

Good find! Funny too!

 

I'll bet there's a copyright date on the map somewhere...

 

Organizations like the AA published route maps here at least into the '90s, on long paper strips. They weren't associated with any accompanying device, but were intended to be folded or rolled up and opened to the appropriate part.

And doubtless a few phantom settlements, if you're familiar with the area.

 

I seem to remember seeing something like that in an old JC Whitney catalog,they had everything back then.I bet you could get serious money for them,its a really neat accesory to have,id love to have one for my old car,propably needs to be updated though. Harvey

 

DUDE! You scored!!!

 

I remember a relative used a spiral bound notebook style map. I believe he got it from AAA. Bigger than a pocket notebook but smaller than one used at school. Laminated pages that you flipped and it might of had gas stations or points of interest highlighted, I can’t remember.

 

lol that was an unexpected find! No year on it anywhere, but I tossed it, condition was worn and well used