Hitting the road

Unceremoniously discarded by the millions, languishing deep in the corners of overstuffed glove compartments, wedged behind the seat cushions of old Buicks lie forgotten examples of one of the great commercial artifacts of twentieth-century America: the oil-company road map. For generations of intrepid motorists, free maps available at gas stations across America charted the dreams and thrills of adventure on the open road. Hitting the Road traces our country's love affair with the automobile through the colorful graphics and alluring images that graced these charming remnants of a bygone…