Writing Life

I bought a globe today. That’s not so unusual. I collect globes. I found this one at a local antiques store. The proprietor was asking $60 for it. I offered him $40. Eventually we agreed upon $45.

Whenever I bring a globe home, I sit down and have a little chat with it. I ask it questions, such as, “Do you recognize the state of Israel?” Or: “Do you identify Hawaii as a state or a territory?” This is how one goes about dating a globe. Of course, I always do a little bit of dating at the antiques store before buying a globe, but not until I bring a it home do I really start trying to nail down its birthday. This isn’t always easy. Globes tend to be coy about their age. When a globe is left undated, only an expert can tell if some of its information has grown stale. A casual globe shopper, seeing an undated globe on a store shelf, will probably just assume it is up to date. For this reason, globe makers are traditionally reluctant to put a date on a globe.

There are several online sites that will tell you how to date a globe. But the information isn’t always that helpful. For instance, the George F. Cram Company, one of America’s preeminent globe makers, has an online resource called “How Old Is My Globe?” which asserts that in 1928 the Western name for China’s capital changed from Peiping to Peking. Presumably then, any globe that lists Peiping where China’s capital is supposed to be must have been made prior to 1928. Likewise, the Cram timeline notes that Persia became Iran in 1935. Presumably then, one could never find a globe that listed both Iran and Peiping, because they never existed at the same time. But I have a globe that shows both Peiping and Iran. It was made by Replogle Globes, another major American globe manufacturer. Cram may have switched from using Peiping to Peking in 1928, but Replogle continued to use Peiping until well into the 1930s. So how does one go about getting an exact date for a globe? The key is to remember that it is easy for a globe maker to let an old name linger on a globe after it has become obsolete, but it is nearly impossible for a globe maker to anticipate the advent of a new state or a new name for an old state. In 1946, few globe makers could have been expected to know that in a few years’ time the area known as Palestine would become the state of Israel. The state of Israel was created in 1948. It might be possible to find a globe from 1950 that still shows Palestine where Israel now sits. But you are not likely to find a globe from 1946 that mentions the state of Israel, since it didn’t exist at the time. My new globe recognizes Israel, so it cannot have been made prior to 1948.

In March of 1945, the area once known as French Indo-China was seized by the Japanese. A few months later, when World War II ended, the French attempted to retake the area. But the Viet Minh, a national liberation movement, resisted the French effort. The two sides fought for control of the region until April of 1954, when the Geneva Conference granted the locals their independence and created four new countries – South Vietnam, North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia – in what was once French Indo-China. But between 1945 and 1954, the question of who controlled the region was so uncertain that most globe makers dropped the “French” from French Indo-China and called it just plain Indo-China. My globe identifies the area as just plain Indo-China, meaning that it was probably made before 1954.

I know the globe had to have been made between the birth of Israel in 1948 and the death of Indo-China in 1954, but can I narrow down its origin to a specific time in that six-year period? Yes I can. My globe shows Germany as one country. But Germany was divided into two countries – East Germany and West Germany – in 1949. It usually takes at least a year before a new country’s name begins showing up on world globes. Israel’s name probably didn’t appear on many globes made in 1948. And East and West Germany probably didn’t begin to appear on globes until 1950. Since my globe recognizes Israel but not the creation of East and West Germany, I can safely say that it must have been manufactured in 1949. My wife was also manufactured in that year, and thus it is a favorite year of mine.

After identifying the age of my new globe, I tried to determine its current resale value. My globe was made by Replogle. It is ten inches in diameter. It sits on a metal base. Inside the base is a recessed area that once held both a small world atlas and a brochure entitled “The Story of the Globe.” My globe is missing its atlas but, fortunately, it retains the original brochure. My research told me that the atlas is easy to replace but that the brochures are nowadays fairly rare. I found a used replacement atlas online and ordered it. The total cost, including shipping, was $3.69. When they have both an atlas and a brochure, models of my globe sell online for between $150 and $250. Thus, if I were forced to list it on eBay or Craig’s List, I could expect to reap a profit of at least $100 on my new globe. But I have no intention of ever getting rid of it. Just as I have no intention of ever getting rid of my wife. Although, if I keep spending her hard-earned money on outdated globes, she just may start thinking about getting rid of me.

10 Responses to “DATING A GLOBE”