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Saw a very interesting video of how globes were made back in 1955 (you know, back when globes were a thing :-D)

I often watch videos with the sound off, but this is a good one to watch with the sound.  Some facts from the video:

  • 60,000 globes were made each year at this specific London firm.
  • First the wooden balls were covered with a type of paper and then 9 coats of plaster, to a thickness of 1/8″.
  • Then the countries are applied – one strip at a time.  You have to be careful here though, since being off by even a small fraction of an inch would cause the map to be miles out of alignment!  After that, the seams between each strip of paper is painted
  • Total time to handmake the globe (in 1955) was about 15 hours.

Another globe making video

And then there’s this video, that looks to be from perhaps the 1980s or so, with another look at globe making.

With online maps so prevalent, I can’t remember the last time I actually used a globe.  Of course, I still like to keep track of the places I use, which is why I use this magnetic world travel map with pins.


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