The finest and most imaginative road map covers were created in the 1930's. Many owed their attractiveness to the art deco design movement. In a way, the great depression encouraged automobile travel as people moved about the country looking for work. The migration of the Okies from the midwest to California along Highway 66 became part of auto folklore. From here on, only one map is shown for each year. The selection was made to include as many different issuers as possible.

	1930 TEXACO - RAND MCNALLY. The same cover design was used on the 1929 map. The Texas Oil Company was founded in 1903 and the trademark 'Texaco' name appeared in 1906, see Thompson.
	1931 PARCO - LANGWITH. This is one of the most decorative covers of the 1930's showing a group of Spanish explorers, probably either Columbus or Cortez. The town of Parco, Wyoming, was built in the 1920's by the Producers and Refiners Corporation of Denver. So the town was named after the company or the company after the town. They published a few road maps and this is believed to be the only one of Pennsylvania. The town of Parco was later renamed Sinclair after another oil company. Langwith Inc. was located in Minneapolis. The map is titled 'LANGWITH'S MOTOR TRAILS MAP PENNSYLVANIA' as the Map Image shows.
	1932 SHELL - H. M. GOUSHA. Shell produced very beautiful covers in the late 20's and early 30's. Variations on this 3 panel license plate motif were used for several years.
	1933 CONOCO - H. M. GOUSHA. Here is a map with a 3 panel map on the cover. The Continental Oil Company was based in Denver and, like several other oil companies, offered a travel bureau service for a while. The company became a subsidiary of Dupont in 1981. The Map Image shows the early 30's Gousha cartography.
	1934 PENNZOIL - MID-WEST MAP CO. This map introduces the Mid-West Map Co. from Aurora, Missouri, who made maps from the late 20's to early 40's. This map is undated but closely resembles the dated 1933 map. The Map Image shows the cartography, which was somewhat cruder than the major competitors.
	1935 REPUBLIC - H. M. GOUSHA. This is a small oil company based in Pittsburgh that no longer exists. It has a very patriotic cover; the kind you might expect to see in the 40's, not the art deco 30's.
	1936 GULF - GALLUP MAP & SUPPLY CO. This map is included because it was made by the Gallup Co. from Kansas City. The map is undated but appears circa 1936. For some reason Gulf dropped Rand McNally, gave the map concession to Gallup, and went to this plain cover which it used into the 40's. See the Map Image and compare.
	1937 STERLING - H. M. GOUSHA. Sterling was a small oil company eventually taken over by Quaker State, who continued to market gas using the Sterling name so other gas dealers would market Quaker State motor oil.
	1938 SINCLAIR - RAND MCNALLY. Sinclair issued some of the most beautiful road maps of the 30's with these 5 panel pastel designs. If maps were included strictly on attractiveness, most of the maps for this decade would be Sinclair. The company was founded in 1916 by Harry F. Sinclair and was acquired by ARCO in 1969, see Thompson.
	1939 CITIES SERVICE - H. M. GOUSHA. This oil company had one of the more peculiar names, apparently they avoided rural service.