Vintage Subway Map

(1948 Subway Map v. 2009 Subway Map)

A friend of mine moved this weekend and I inherited an old, beat up, taped together subway map that was on his refrigerator. It was a phenomenal find. The subway lines (see history, it's fascinating) are not alphabetic as we know them today, but independently operated lines by 3 different companies - IND (Independent Subways), IRT (Interboro Rapid Transit Subway), and BMT (Brooklyn Manhattan Transit). After researching online, I found the exact same map, the 1948 System Map. The back of the map has advice on how to dial calls from NYC coin telephones and states they cost 10 cents. Amazing how far we have come. In comparison to the 1958 subway map, the design sense has changed entirely. The newer map is more simplified, almost utilitarian, in color use and typography, whereas the 1948 map is more colorful, with varying typefaces and geographic terrain. There continues a dramatic progression with the times, 1969 and 1978 are both more computerized, clean, and technical, leaning toward the current subway map with which we are all so familiar. I love that design and typography can become cultural archetypes, and in certain circumstances are like life's artwork, going unnoticed until the passage of time.