[SamAdams76]

I'm old enough to remember the Rand McNally maps in the glove compartment.

Younger people cannot comprehend. We used to unfold these gigantic maps in the car. Some were local but others would be of the entire Southeastern USA for example. We'd have to first locate where we were on the map and then plot a course to where we were going to go. We were completely ignorant of road construction projects and such so sometimes we'd navigate ourselves into a massive traffic jam.

And then those maps would never fold back together in quite the same neat way. Eventually, we'd get frustrated and toss the entire map into the trash.

If you were taking a longer trip and belonged to AAA, they would provide you with a customized flip map called "Trip Tik" and a human person would put it together for you and highlight in magic marker where you needed to go. As a child, I was always put in charge of this and was the designated navigator.

Don't forget your Traveller's Cheques!

[polymuser]

I used TripTiks in some early state-state jaunts.

You could tell travelers by the compass on their dash or windshield.

And there was one correct way to look at a map. North up.

[NWFree]

Their map books were a lot better. Still have them around.

[drSteve78]

Been on that route!!

[ProtectOurFreedom]

As the miles unfolded on a trip, you’d have to refold the map to a new section. Dad would do that in the late 50s while doing 80 on the then-new interstate freeways in the West on our biannual trip to visit family all over the country. I can still hear Mom “George, don’t do that!” while he was “steering” with his knee, folding and re-folding the map, and figuring out where we were.

I had a field service engineering job in industrial and utility power plants when I graduated from college. I logged 30,000 miles per year driving between Lower Snailshell and Upper Pig Oink and every village in between. Dad’s lessons on how to steer with the knees while fiddling with the map came in real handy!