Picked up a 1962 map of Europe at a garage sale for $3, total fiction

I was at a church rummage sale in Ohio last Saturday and found this old Hammond map folded up in a box of cookbooks. Paid 3 bucks for it because the colors were nice. Got it home and started looking at the borders. East Germany and West Germany are both there obviously, but they also still had a country called 'Czechoslovakia' with a big chunk of Silesia that doesn't match any modern border I know. The weirdest part was the Soviet Union labeled across the top with these dashed lines showing 'future planned republics' that never happened. I didn't believe old maps could be that wrong about basic geography until I saw this one. Anyone else find a map that was just totally off base compared to what we know now?

2 comments

2 Comments

gibson.sean8d ago

Respectfully, I think you might be reading the map wrong. "Future planned republics" sounds like someone trying to sell a vintage item on eBay for more money. I've got a 1963 National Geographic map and it shows Czechoslovakia exactly where it should be, no weird Silesia chunk or dashed lines anywhere. Could it be that map was a fantasy or speculative map made for fun, not a real atlas? Did you check the copyright or publisher info on it?

wesleypatel8d ago

That 1963 National Geographic map you mentioned actually made me change my mind on this whole thing. I used to think those old maps were always accurate too, but after comparing the borders side by side, I realized my Hammond map was definitely some kind of alternate history or speculative atlas, not a real geography tool.