Phone app maps are useful. But paper street maps are still popular and are
experiencing a renaissance in sales. One map company, the A-Z maps in Britain,
even has a musical stage show based on the 80-year evolution of street mapping
(The Telegraph, August 4, 2015).
British woman, Phyllis Pearsall, designed a map of London streets in 1935
that is still the most widely used navigational tool in the country. Pearsall,
an artist, walked the streets – 3,000 miles to chart 23,000 streets – made notes,
sketched the settings by hand, designed a pocket-sized guide, created a
company, and self-published her A-Z Atlas
and Guide to London and Suburbs.
Now the guide, with red and blue lettering on the cover, is a British icon.
Pearsall (1906-1996), daughter of Hungarian map-maker, worked as a teacher in
France, and a shop assistant in Paris, before returning to London in 1926 to
marry an artist. The marriage ended in 1935 – and she commenced her map-making
idea when she lost her way one day. Over the course of a year she created her
map, but publishers rejected her idea. Her father suggested that she establish
her own company. WH Smith agreed to stock 250 copies, and Pearsall used a
wheelbarrow to hand deliver copies to sales outlets. It became an instant
success.
She had to cease her business during World War II when selling maps was
banned in England. After the war, paper restrictions in Britain forced her to
print the map guide overseas until the early 1960s. In 1966 Pearsal formed the
Geographers’ Map Trust to prevent her company from being taken over after her
death. She never remarried.
Computers were introduced into the company in 1991, but before that all
maps were hand-drawn. After her death in 1996, the company continued. Recently
a musical about Pearsall’s life, called The
A-Z of Mrs P, was staged at Southward Playhouse. The company can tell their
maps from fake ones. To prevent imitations they insert a small deliberate
mistake in each edition.
Sales dropped from 2005-2012, but 2015 has seen a resurgence in sales. The
company diversified to create Our Adventure Atlases, wallpaper, floor
coverings, clothing, mugs, and artwork.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/features/phyllis-pearsall--the-woman-who-created-a-z-maps/
Comments
Post a Comment