Everything about this 1960s combination map and fan is fantastic: the Asia-centric map, the gold foil edges, the delicate wooden handle, and the beautiful illustrations. Lovely and doubly practical!
Above, a closeup of the route map. Via the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection, which believes it dates to around 1960:
Date estimated. Promotional rare paper hand fan 24×25, with wooden handle, 16 cm. Colored in gold, blue, and orange, with gold borders. Elaborate colored illustration on verso. Show Air India routes to five continents, to New York, Europe, East Africa, Asia and Australia.
In cas you were wondering, David Rumsey is President of Cartography Associates, a digital publishing company based in San Francisco, and is Chairman of Luna Imaging, a provider of enterprise software for online image collections. Lots of great stuff over there!
