(April 15, 2013) SKOKIE, Ill. — Today, Rand McNally's 90th edition of America's #1 Road Atlas — the publication that has been commonly found in cars since the days of the Model T — has been declared road-ready. From family vacations and roads trips with friends, to weekend getaways and unexpected adventures, Rand McNally has helped generations of explorers create long lasting memories.

And to celebrate the 90th anniversary, Rand McNally also officially launched an ebook version of the atlas as well as an iOS application for iPad.

The inaugural edition of the atlas, published in 1924, was referred to as the "Rand McNally Auto Chum."  The nation was embracing car travel as nearly two million Ford Model T's hit the road with gas costing 21 cents a gallon. Featuring the 48 states that existed, hand drawn, and covering only roads made of concrete, the atlas did not contain many of the features considered common for today's printed, online, and mobile maps.

In 1924, the Road Atlas:

    • Did not identify roads by number; instead roads were listed by their names, such as Roosevelt Highway. In fact, the atlas depicted zero miles of interstate, as those roads did not yet exist. Today's atlas contains more than 47,000 miles of interstate included in 160,000 miles of highways.

     • Did not include an index for cities, or other places. If a driver didn't know where a town was located, he or she would have to page through the atlas to find it. The current Road Atlas features eight pages of detailed index with tens of thousands of points of interest (including all 59 U.S. National Parks in addition to place names).

      • Did not appear in full color. The 1924 atlas was printed in only two colors, dark blue and red. The first full-color edition was printed in 1960. Today's maps use color to indicate road classification, terrain, and city size among other descriptive details.