Rand McNally has released a limited edition boxed gift set about the Great American Roadtrip.
The Open Road: Rand McNally and the Story of the Great American Road Trip is a nostalgic journey through transportation milestones, auto innovations, and roadside iconography – with some modern-day tools to help plan and memorialize the family road trip.
The set contains a 32-page book, The Open Road, giving an overview of motorists, road-side Americana, and the birth of the road trip. It also includes an up-to-date mid-size Road Atlas; an attractive, ready-to-frame wall map poster with the U.S. road network; and a gift box to hold the items.
The Open Road book chronicles the origin of the U.S. highway numbering system, the development of roadside services (“filling” stations, drive-in diners, inns and more) to support the growing number of road-trippers and the development of the Recreational Vehicle (RV) lifestyle. From the first cross-country trips of the 1900s to the Mid-Century “Golden Age” through to the high-tech road-culture of the 21st-century, this book takes the reader on a journey that spans generations of road trips.
Among other tidbits, the book explores:
- How the drive between New York and San Francisco was reduced from 63 days to less than 7;
- How the family car evolved from the Model T to the SUV;
- When the so-called Tin Can Tourists become intrepid RVers;
- Why a depot hack would be on the lookout for a Sterling Streamliner;
- What makes U.S. Patent 1909537 so entertaining;
- And, who was the Uniroyal Lady?
The set is available at select Walmart and Books-A-Million locations as well as online at randmcnally.com and on Amazon for a suggested price of $14.99.
