The Age of My Globe

I got a globe for my birthday from my friend Sara. She got it at a little farm/antique store. I opened it from its paper bag wrapping and instantly fell in love.

First of all, it's small, only 10 inches in diameter. Second, it's this awesome faded blue color that I remember from the globes of my childhood. None of that fancy stuff they have now. Third, it has a super metal base and arm and on the top is a metal circle that moves with timezones on it so you can line it up and see what time it would be one place if it was another time in another place.

I, being the egghead* that I am, immediately took a quick spin to the legend and found that there is no publication date. Nothing. It tells me the diameter, and all the colors and symbols and their meanings. It tells me where it was produced (USA) and what company authorized it (Replogle Globes, Inc.) and where they are (Chicago). A quick search shows this company still alive and kicking in the Windy City. They began producing globes in 1930.

But, apparently, they didn't date the publication of each globe.

And so, with 5 beers in me at midnight with Sara on the couch trying to go to sleep to face her early morning and three children, I opened up Google and tried to figure it out. First thing I noticed, of course, was Siam. Well, this'll be easy! When did Siam become Thailand? So we looked. And it said 1939. Bingo! This globe is from before 1939. Wow, cool! But then something contradicted that. I don't even remember what. So we read the Siam/Thailand Wikipedia more closely. (Note: Wikipedia is a godsend. Not for citing in your research paper, but for anecdotal info like this, surely.) Ah! How about that? Siam became Thailand in 1939 and then went BACK to being Siam from 1945 through May 1949. And then it became Thailand again. That explained the contradiction.

Well, okay then. 1945-1949. Well, on this globe, Germany is whole. And it was split after WWII, in 1949 actually. So that doesn't help narrow it down. Tibet doesn't help. It's on this globe, but it wasn't taken by China till 1950. And Indonesia doesn't help either. It's on this globe as the Netherlands Indies, and it became Indonesia in 1949 as well.

That's where we finished and went to bed last Saturday night. And just yesterday, with a free moment at work, I decided to narrow it down further. The globe is on the front corner of my desk now, looking great. And so, here we go.

Nanking is on here, and it was only in use as the name of Nanjing until 1949. Big year, that one. But no help.

Wait, Korea! Korea helps. It's whole on here. When the heck was Korea whole? Before the Korean War I would imagine, right? A quick search finds it split in 1948. Narrower: 1945-1948.

Bangladesh! I don't see Bangladesh! (The fact that I'm even aware of Bangladesh is a direct result of working here at Tufts now, as this year's theme for the IGL is South Asia and I just happen to have booked two students tickets to Dhaka, Bangladesh in December!) That gets it a bit more narrowed down. It's not here on this globe and it was created in 1947 from part of India. So now we're down to 1945-1947.

Onward to Africa. Will this help? Djbouti doesn't. It didn't come along till the 1970s. Anglo-Egyptian Sudan was so-called until 1956. No help. Northern Rhodesia became Zambia in 1964, so no help there. Chad came into being in 1960 out of French Equatorial Africa, which is on my globe. Here is Dahomey, a sub-area on my globe, part of French West Africa, independent in 1960, now Benin. No help. Morocco, on my globe a part of French West Africa as well, achieved independence in 1956. I think Africa isn't going to help, since much of the movement there happened later than this globe was produced.

Back to Asia. Outer Mongolia is on here. A referendum was passed in October 1945 to recognize Outer Mongolia's independence from Inner Mongolia (China). So that puts us back in 1945 again, although this globe has to have been produced after October 1945 and that means likely in early 1946. So let's take a point for this one and say we've narrowed it down to 1946-1947. Pleasing. But I want a year. One year.

Alaska doesn't help. It became a territory in 1912 and is marked as such on my globe. Juneau is there, with a little star, but it has been the capital of Alaska since 1906. As a side note, I wasn't even sure Juneau was on the map it's written so small. And Anchorage isn't even on this globe. Apparently, before they were a state in 1959, we didn't really care about their major cities.

I spin aimlessly for a while. I check out South America and Central America and everything looks like I know it to be. I spin some more. Greenland is there, check. Iceland, check. A little piece of cardboard is missing at the top of the UK, blocking Northern Ireland. Oh well. Spin some more.

Hold on. Go back to Asia! I got it! I found it! On my globe, the Philippines are marked as Philippine Islands. They achieved independence following WWII and became the Philippines on July 4, 1946. Finally!

So there you go. This globe was produced between October 1945 and July 1946. A 9-month window. I'll take it! Very cool. A globe that is over 60 years old for my 37th birthday from a friend I've had for 22 years. What a treat. Thank you, Sara!

END NOTE: As I was just looking for an image of a globe that looks like mine, I came across this link. Jeez. Who knew? And hello! If they just printed the year on the legend, no need for that. On second thought, though, all this fun and this post wouldn't've been necessary, so I take that back. No image is good enough, so I'll just update this later with a photo of my actual globe.

*From above, next to the word "egghead": I am currently in love with Julia Child, having just finished her memoir and she loved this word. I am bringing it back!