The Greyhound Map of This Amazing America. Natural and Man-Made Wonders...
Cartographer:
Wagner, N.
Date of Creation:
1941
One in a series of pictorial maps done by Greyhound to advertise and promote travel by bus. Wartime events would soon put severe limits to recreational travel. In addition to the colorful vignettes, the text on the verso is a numbered index of 117 destinations, routes and attractions: Greyhound... the Super-Coach Way... Serves More of "This Amazing America" Than Any Other Travel System".
The Greyhound Line was founded in 1914, but only known by its iconic name from 1929. By the early 1930s, travelling by intercity bus was beginning to rival the railroads in popularity. In 1934 “It Happened One Night”, starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, won five Academy Awards, and its plot in which the handsome pair meet and fall in love while travelling across country by bus, is credited with an extra-ordinary uptake in Greyhound travel. During the 1930s the Greyhound Line produced a series of “Good-Natured” maps of the United States, highlighting their routes across the nation. Interestingly, by this time the Company was offering “Nite Coach Sleeper” service on some routes. The buses were now “highway cruisers”.
The "Super-Coach" featured was manufactured as the Series 743 by the Yellow Coach Manufacturing Company from 1937. Greyhound bought a total of 1,256 buses between 1937 and 1939.