Catalog Archive
Auction 176, Lot 188

"[Lot of 2] Street Map of City of Los Angeles and Environs [and] Auto Road Map Los Angeles & Vicinity",

Subject: Los Angeles, California

Period: 1930 (circa)

Publication:

Color: Black & White

Size:
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Two scarce pocket maps by G.A. Ferguson of the short-lived American Automobile Owners Association (not AAA - see below):

A. Street Map of City of Los Angeles and Environs (21.0 x 27.7"). Highly detailed map of Los Angeles extending from Baldwin Hills and Huntington Park to North Hollywood and Pasadena. Shows the street grid pattern, parks, cemeteries, country clubs, and more. Verso contains a street index, list of driving ordinances, guides for turning and passing, and a small inset of the "Central Traffic District." One example located on OCLC.

B. Auto Road Map Los Angeles & Vicinity (27.9 x 18.6"). A pair of regional road maps covering Southern California. The recto shows the Los Angeles region from the coast to Big Bear and Baldwin Lake while the verso contains an Auto Road Map San Bernardino Mountain Resorts showing access to Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear from San Bernardino and Redlands.

The American Automobile Owners Association (AAOA) began operations in 1926 and by 1927 had 17,000 members in Southern California. AAA sued them in 1927 claiming their name and emblem infringed on AAA. The trial court denied AAA’s claim and the verdict was upheld on appeal in 1932. However, by 1932 the AAOA had ceased publication of its American Auto News which it had published since 1929. Records show some tax issues around 1932, and it appears that the AAOA ceased operations at that time, a victim of the Great Depression.

References:

Condition: A

Clean and bright examples, issued folding.

Estimate: $180 - $220

Sold for: $120

Closed on 2/12/2020

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