Our New World: An Old World
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Last Saturday, Robb was standing in the kitchen looking out the window, and commented on the beautiful globe for sale at the yard sale across the street. This prompted a conversation about the antique auction Sheila and I went to years ago in rural upstate NY where a totally crappy falling-apart globe sold for six hundred dollars. The auctioneers offered no special provenance on that particular globe, and I left the auction convinced that everyone there had lost their minds.
But dang, that globe for sale down on the sidewalk sure was pretty.
And half an hour later, I was storming down the stairs with a wallet full of cash.
Robb and I spent the next hour or so trying to figure out when this globe was produced, because, strangely, it didn't have the usual printed copyright date. There are some really perplexing questions posed by this globe, which shows Israel and Newfoundland and Labrador as part of Canada (1948), but not a divided Germany (1949) or Korea (1953).
Things certainly have changed in Africa. I don't imagine anyone would be comfortable using the name Slave Coast anymore. Interestingly, all colonies are printed in the color of their ruling nations, with French-ruled countries colored purple, Portuguese countries being green, and pink representing the British Empire.
The globe isn't particularly well constructed. Somehow Delaware got obliterated by shoddy glueing. I love the slight wonkiness of this world, as well as its patina. You can imagine that many hands spun this globe, over many decades.
The printed legend declares that this is a "starlight globe," and I love how all the oceans and seas are printed in black. The Black Sea actually is black. And Istanbul is Constantinople.
Best two bucks I've spent in ages.
Last Saturday, Robb was standing in the kitchen looking out the window, and commented on the beautiful globe for sale at the yard sale across the street. This prompted a conversation about the antique auction Sheila and I went to years ago in rural upstate NY where a totally crappy falling-apart globe sold for six hundred dollars. The auctioneers offered no special provenance on that particular globe, and I left the auction convinced that everyone there had lost their minds.
But dang, that globe for sale down on the sidewalk sure was pretty.
And half an hour later, I was storming down the stairs with a wallet full of cash.
Robb and I spent the next hour or so trying to figure out when this globe was produced, because, strangely, it didn't have the usual printed copyright date. There are some really perplexing questions posed by this globe, which shows Israel and Newfoundland and Labrador as part of Canada (1948), but not a divided Germany (1949) or Korea (1953).
Things certainly have changed in Africa. I don't imagine anyone would be comfortable using the name Slave Coast anymore. Interestingly, all colonies are printed in the color of their ruling nations, with French-ruled countries colored purple, Portuguese countries being green, and pink representing the British Empire.
The globe isn't particularly well constructed. Somehow Delaware got obliterated by shoddy glueing. I love the slight wonkiness of this world, as well as its patina. You can imagine that many hands spun this globe, over many decades.
The printed legend declares that this is a "starlight globe," and I love how all the oceans and seas are printed in black. The Black Sea actually is black. And Istanbul is Constantinople.
Best two bucks I've spent in ages.
Comments
just4bees on AQ
Chrissy/Brandy
It is a fun item to have hanging around, to see such a perfect shape for our world. Anyhow, your post reminded me to update that website!!! Yikes, I was shocked to see what came up when I clicked on the link.
Hope you two are well.
xoxo
Sheila
Annalisa
I LOVE $2 finds!
my parents have a circa 1926 globe in their library. i spent hours as a kid staring at it.
black ocean globes started to get popular in the 1930s but the bestselling black ocean globe was made by "replogle" through the 1940s, and you can pinpoint its age here:
http://www.replogleglobes.com/howOldIsYourGlobe.php
okay so i am a geek that way!
awesome score!