How Road Maps Were Made in the 1940s

While Apple takes on the challenge of besting Google's mapping service, perhaps we should take a quick pause to see how far we've come.

Over at The Atlantic's video channel, Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg shows us (courtesy of the Prelinger Archive) Caught Mapping, a 1940 educational film from Chevrolet.

The show demonstrates how road maps were made at the time. It captures the entire process, from field surveillance for route updates to photographing a fresh map using the largest camera you've ever seen to create a negative for press production. Of course, Chevrolets are strategically scattered throughout.