The first type are cartographic souvenirs marketed exclusively for the tourist trade. We include among these tourist maps a variety of products, such as paper placemats and napkins favored by family style restaurants advertising local tourist attractions. These maps are especially short-lived because they are used on the spot and are rarely taken home and preserved. The second type of map collectible comprises household objects shaped like a world globe. The image of power and worldliness conveyed by the globe is transferred to everyday objects as pincushions, lamp bases, cigarette holders, and transistor radios.
Maps permeate our lives in ways that are often unacknowledged.
The third type of map in this exhibition comprises maps that are utilitarian in purpose and non-standard in form. In the twentieth century, map puzzles have become a common form of adult entertainment. Another large sub-category are maps on stamps, which are works of art in their own right and convey historical and political messages. All of the objects on display here are worthy of being collected. They preserve whole areas of popular and material culture that are otherwise quickly lost to historical view.