# Is there anyone here who can't read Thomas Guide maps?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [June 25, 2003, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175 "2003-06-25T00:09:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2003, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175/1 "2003-06-25T00:09:41Z")
[This thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=192740) reminded me of a question I’ve been meaning to ask: Is there anyone here who can’t read a Thomas Guide[sup]TM[/sup] map?
My wife, whom I love more than anything, can’t. Since I drive 90% of the time, this makes her role as navigator a largely non-functioning one (though she is good at reading street signs).
She says she prefers those fold-out ones, which I find a royal pain, so I don’t own any in my car. She says she gets confused moving from one page to the next and that all the “jumping around” from page to page is irritating. I find them exponentially easier to consult (especially as a driver) and just don’t get it.
How can you _not_ read one? (that is, unless you’re bad at reading maps in general) Anyone else out there that can empathize/explain Mrs. AG’s perspective?
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### Author:  [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2003, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175/2 "2003-06-25T00:53:41Z")
I don’t miss much about the time I lived in L.A. except the THomas Guide. I wish they would publish one for NY. (and I _am_ bad at reading maps in general.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175/3 "2003-06-25T00:55:51Z")
Before I got a computer, I used Thomas Guides all the time. I can relate to the hassle of turning to the right pages. This is because I can never be bothered to look up the route beforehand, and it’s hard to drive and flip pages at the same time. (L.A. traffic, doncha know.) So I usually just use MapQuest and print the page out.
But I still keep a Thomas Guide in my car, and I do still use it when I don’t use the computer. But I’ve learned to pull over before I start reading it. 😉
IMO if you live in L.A., you _must_ have a Thomas Guide.
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### Author:  [@milquetoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milquetoast)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175/4 "2003-06-25T01:04:59Z")
I’ve never heard of a Thomas Guide™ map, but I infer from your post that it’s basically a map in book format. Rand McNally makes a line of city street maps called StreetFinder that comes in book format. I bought one when I first moved to Chicago.
I agree with your wife that flipping from page to page is annoying. But the amount of detail it offered made it indespensable. To deal with the flipping of pages, I just looked at the map to learn a basic route to my destination before I left, and left the book open to the page that contained my destination. When I got the general vacinity, I could consult the map for more specific detail.
I have sinced move to Rocheter, NY. Though a much smaller city, I bought a street finder book here as well. I love 'em. I occasionally flip through my Chicago one for nostalgia. Aah…
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### Author:  [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2003, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175/5 "2003-06-25T01:19:45Z")
Interesting. I’ve lived in CA most my life so I assumed TG was a nation, not a regional, resource. I’ve seen other types of maps in book format that definitely _aren’t_ user-friendly, but TGs are great: Big Grid letters, directional arrows that tell you which page is N/S/E/W, micro-and macro-maps in the same book, and a spiral binding that makes folding pages back to the relevant page incredibly easy. Is CA the only state with TG maps, or are there others?
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2003, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175/6 "2003-06-25T01:31:27Z")
Thomas Bros. makes maps for Southern California; Northern and Central California; Pacific Northwest; Greater Washington, D.C. Area; Las Vegas, Nevada; Phoenix & Tucson, Arizona.
[http://www.thomas.com/](http://www.thomas.com/)
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### Author:  [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2003, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175/7 "2003-06-25T01:50:58Z")
We in the NYC area have Hanstrom or Geographia map books. Then have their benifits and drawbacks.
The most obvious drawback is:
Why is every place I go to on the edge of the map (causing me to flip between 2 pages), or worst at the corner (4 pages).
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### Author:  [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2003, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175/8 "2003-06-25T03:28:35Z")
Interesting that their web page almost completely ignores their biggest market. Guess they’re trying hard to expand into the DC area.
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### Author:  [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2003, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175/9 "2003-06-25T04:55:41Z")
Thos. Bros. map books are like bibles for me. I think I used them in the Wash. DC/N.VA areas, as well as the ADC series (which seems better for DC/NOVA). I sometimes check Mapquest, but have been given wrong info. or complicated routes.
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### Author:  [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175/10 "2003-06-25T05:15:40Z")
I love the Thomas Guide Maps. I was a shock when I moved to Hooterville to discover that they don’t have Thomas Guides. I felt terribly lost.
No Thomas Guides, and no Trader Joe’s. How _do_ I survive here in Hooterville? 😉
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### Author:  [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175/11 "2003-06-25T15:50:33Z")
Never heard of Thomas Guide Maps. Got links to any sample pages? I have a feeling they are much like [a Mapsco](http://www.mapsco.com), which I personally love, but I agree they are an acquired taste. Once you figure out how to use them you never go back.
Enjoy,
Steven
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### Author:  [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2003, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175/12 "2003-06-25T16:52:13Z")
Mtgman, I found a [Thomas Guide](http://www.mapsco.com/cgi-bin/Mapsco.storefront/3ef9d32d0ab34a6e273f0c60a7c406e8/Product/View/TBM&2D42274) map on the link you provided…
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### Author:  [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)
#### Post date: [June 25, 2003, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175/13 "2003-06-25T22:13:26Z")
The Thomas Brothers Company is in the process of being sold to Rand McNally. It was family-owned and the latest generation of Thomases aren’t interested in it. However, the maps will still be sold under the Thomas name because it has a lot of goodwill attached to it.
In the library where I work there are always a few people who don’t want Thomas Guides. So we keep a few Auto Club maps for those who can’t grasp the concept.
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### Author:  [@racer72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racer72)
#### Post date: [June 26, 2003, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175/14 "2003-06-26T00:00:49Z")
Last summer I sold an 8 year old Thomas Guide for close to what I paid for it new. The buyer thought it was a good buy. I received my first one in 1984 for Christmas from my mother. It was the King/Pierce county edition for Washington. In 1994 I upgraded to the King/Pierce/Snohomish edition. Last summer I bought a 2002 KPS edition and that is when I sold the old one. I still use mine quite a bit, I find it is handier than online maps if you want to look at a map of specific area rather than a specific address.
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### Author:  [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)
#### Post date: [June 27, 2003, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anyone-here-who-cant-read-thomas-guide-maps/184175/15 "2003-06-27T00:41:53Z")
Thomas Guides are in the same spirit as Mapscos. When I lived in Dallas/Fort Worth until 1993, I thought they were great. Then I moved to Los Angeles and saw the Thomas Guide. 🙂
The amount of _useful_ information in the TG’s is stunning. I’ve got a 1997 LA/Orange Counties edition in my truck, and it’s finally starting to fall apart. (There’s no good place to store it, so it gets shoved/kicked around a lot). I can probably hold out until the 2004 edition hits the shelves.
I hope Rand McNally doesn’t mess with Thomas too much - I didn’t know that they were buying them, and it worries me just a tad. The Rand McNally book-map that I bought once left a lot to be desired.