The H.M. Gousha Company was one of the "Big Three" major producers of

road map A road map, route map, or street map is a map that primarily displays roads and transport links rather than physical geography, natural geographical information. It is a type of navigational map that commonly includes border, political boundar ...

s and

atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

es in the United States during the 25 years following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, making maps for free distribution by

oil companies The following is a list of notable companies in the petroleum industry that are engaged in petroleum exploration and production. The list is in alphabetical order by continent and then by country. This list does not include companies only involved ...

and auto clubs. Following the end of the free-road-map era, Gousha distributed maps through retailers, and published a number of travel guides and other travel-related books. Brands under the Gousha imprint from the 1970s onward included Chek-Chart and Fastmap, one of the first lines of laminate-encapsulated maps.

History

Harry Mathias Gousha, a sales executive for

Rand McNally Rand McNally is an American technology and publishing company that provides mapping software and hardware for consumer electronics, commercial transportation, and education markets. The company is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois with a di ...

, left that company in 1926 to start his own map company out of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, quickly becoming Rand McNally's chief competitor by offering the Touraide: a spiral-bound book with road maps, points of interest, and accommodations that was custom assembled for individual buyers. In 1947, the company moved its headquarters to 2001 The Alameda in San Jose,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. H.M. Gousha Map Company was acquired by the Times Mirror Company in 1961, and then

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

in 1987. In Gousha's later years, the company operated out of Comfort TX. Analog maps (large plate, hand etched negatives) and digital maps were produced out of this office. Predominantly, road maps were being produced with a catalog containing the major cities throughout the US. Hundreds, if not thousands, of sources were studied to continually improve and update the cartographic library for veracity of information and viability of sales. Maps could be found in major bookstores, gas stations, and under other companies imprint. Finally, the company was purchased by Rand McNally in 1996; by then,

Viacom Viacom, an abbreviation of Video and Audio Communications, may refer to: * Viacom (1952–2005), a former American media conglomerate * Viacom (2005–2019), a former company spun off from the original Viacom * Viacom18, a joint venture between Pa ...

had become the parent of Simon & Schuster. Its production facility in Texas was closed and virtually all workers laid off. The Gousha artwork became part of the Rand McNally archive, and much of the company's archives were turned over to the

Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities. It is located in Chicago, Illinois, and has been free and open to the public since 1887. The Newberry's mission is to foster a deeper understanding of our wo ...

References

External links

Collection of Gousha Maps
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060111211723/http://www.newberry.org/smith/Mapline/96/96feature.html , date=2006-01-11 – Chicago

Defunct mass media companies of the United States Publishing companies established in 1926 Map companies of the United States Defunct companies based in Chicago Companies based in San Jose, California Defunct companies based in Illinois Defunct companies based in California Design companies established in 1926 1926 establishments in Illinois Publishing companies disestablished in 1996 1996 disestablishments in California Gulf and Western Industries