-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        MAPCO (Map Corporation Of America) Date Codes
Date:   Thu, 18 Oct 2012 03:09:39 -0400
From:   David Alston <[log in to unmask]>
To:     [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>, a



Greetings

I have a number of maps in my collection which were published by MAPCO -
the Map Corporation of America (based in Boston - not the Texas-based
Mapsco, or the Jacksonville Florida company) between approximately 1955
and 1963.

First off, I am unsure of, precisely, what years this company was in
business.  It's my understanding that they were an enormously expanded
outgrowth of the Boston-based Interstate Publishing Company, which
published city street maps of various cities from South Carolina to
Maine on the East Coast, along with a few cities in Canada.  If anyone
could help me with some of the history of this company, that would be
appreciated.

Secondly, I am also trying, unsuccessfully, what kind of date coding
that appeared along the lower edge of their maps.  I'll offer a few
examples:

   * Their map of New Orleans features the following code:
     474-JS96B35-1596-16(NC1052).  Proposed interstates appear on this map.
   * Their map of Medicine Hat, AB features the following code: BT
     66020-999-149
   * Their map of Cincinnati features the following code:  JM
     55E916-693-113 (R379)
   * Their map of Modesto CA features the following code:  JP 55A928-600-19
   * Their map of Canton and Massillon features the following code: MCA
     76D126-1211-93(R744)
   * Their map of New Bedford MA features the following code:
     JS66B015-896-34(RG810)


I have around 40 or 50 maps published by this company, and have yet to
find much consistency in their coding - these codes may be date codes or
stock numbers, or both, and they are the only codes that appear on the
maps.  Some of their custom maps - for banks or real estate companies -
have no codes at all, and none of them have copyright dates.

I've been unable to find much about this company online, a surprising
lack of info, given the vast size of their catalog, which apparently
extended into Mexico, Canada, and parts of the Caribbean, in addition to
all US states and territories.  I haven't found anything in the Road Map
Collectors database, or in any lists of other companies date codes.  It
seems that Arrow inherited much of MAPCO's US and Canada distribution
and marketing network, during the 1960's at least (and I haven't found
date codes on the Arrow Maps, or my ~1945-~1960-era Geographia Maps that
feature the maroon cardstock covers either).  Some of the MAPCO base
maps in Connecticut, upstate New York, and Ohio were purchased after
MAPCO's demise, and were kept up-to-date by Hagstrom, and use Hagstrom
date codes, through the early 1970s.

Any help or info with this would be greatly appreciated.

David Alston