Ontario Road Maps - 1940 Supertest

1940 Supertest

Folded Dimensions: 3.75" X 10.5"

Open Dimensions: 31" W X 10.5" H

Date Location: In lower right corner beside the Manufacturer's name is the number 40.

Cover Description: White cover with green center showing a "Supertest" sign hanging from a frame as would be seen in front of a service station. Orange and dark green text.

Date Code: "40" on main side, lower right corner

Scale: Both sides - 1" = 18 miles

Main Legend Side Features: Legend, map of Southern Ontario, only as far north as a Wiarton - Bala - Renfrew line, "Morning Check-up" advertisement and a "Look for this Sign" advertisement. A banner across the top of the map proclaims; "American Money Accepted by Supertest Dealers at Current Rates of Exchange"

Opposite Side Features: Legend, Map of Northern Ontario with Owen Sound on the southern edge, Renfrew on the eastern and Sault Ste. Marie on the north western edge of the map, cartoon and cover.

Other: Produced by the Map Speciality Company

Note: A westbound mileage key is located across the top of the maps and an eastbound key is located across the bottom.

Map Folding Pattern: Click on Cover Below

North Arrow Used on This Map.

The dating of maps from this era is not a science. The

demands of the war and shortage of supplies quite often

meant that maps were prepared and then not printed for

distribution until years later. Although this map has a 40

in the corner - it is not guaranteed that was the year of distribution.

Other maps had specific date codes, others had the years

on the cover and more often than not ingenuity has to be

relied upon while looking at similar dated maps to determine

the current development of roads as a clue to what year a

map may be.

Legend

Main Side Advertisement

The rear cover of the folded map consists of part of this cartoon by Jimmie Frise. The map has to be unfolded to view the entire drawing. Jimmie Frise had fought in World War I and maimed his left hand in a munitions accident during the battle of Vimy Ridge. Frise began a career at the Toronto Star after submitting a cartoon to the editor about a contentious issue of the day.

His first comic strip was "Life's Little Comedies" in 1920 - which became known as "Birdseye Center" in 1923. Frise went to the Montreal Standard in 1947 but the Star maintained the rights to the "Birdseye Center" comics. In 1948, shortly after beginning with the Standard - Jimmie Frise died. His art work lives on in with this issue of the Supertest map.