This is too interesting not to forward ... from MapHist

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        part of Texaco World's Fair map to be exhibited
Date:   Fri, 1 Feb 2008 18:20:59 -0000
From:   Tony Campbell <[log in to unmask]>
Reply-To:       Maps-L
To:



Part of the 'world's largest road map' to go on display

January 31. <
http://www.timesledger.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19250883&BRD=2676&PAG=461&dept_id=551069&rfi=6 >
'Tiles from Texaco World's Fair map on view' (by Jeremy Walsh in the
TimesLedger).

'A much loved road map is going indoors - and then underground. New Yorkers
will have the chance to view the famous paved Texaco Map from the 1964
World's Fair as portions of it are deconstructed and preserved before their
eyes. Conservationists have combined their technical efforts with an
exhibition exploring the history of the map, the World's Fair and the pop
art movement at the Queens Museum of Art. The exhibition lasts from Jan. 27
to May 4 ... The exhibit also includes photographs comparing the map's
condition in 1964, the '90s and the present day, as well as a photo mosaic
of the map in its current state by artist Anthony Auerbach, who documented
the entire surface of the terrazzo map from a height of seven feet. As the
photographs and the tiles themselves show, decades of neglect, weather and
vandalism have taken their toll ... Preserving the tiles is a complicated
process that involves removing the 600-pound tiles, taking out all the old,
rusting iron supports, filling in missing spaces on the face, and replacing
the support with a honeycomb matrix.'

Ten of the tiles (covering Long Island) will be conserved and exhibited. For
the rest, fund-raising will be needed.
Another source, 'New York State Pavilion (1964-1965 World's Fair)' <
http://www.nyc-architecture.com/BKN/BKN003.htm > describes it as 'an
oversized map of the state of New York, which is made up of 567 mosaic
terrazzo panels weighing about 400 lbs. each, largely covers its floor. The
map is said to have cost one million dollars at the time, and displays the
locations of all Texaco gas stations in the state of New York ... the world's
largest road map.' They sadly conclude that the map is 'beyond repair'.
Other pictures here < http://tentoftomorrow.com/terrazzomap.aspx >.

Presumably some maphisters will remember this.

Tony Campbell

[log in to unmask]

** extract from: 'Latest News' < http://www.maphistory.info/newslatest.html
>