Ford Times Map of Famous Restaurants

Ford and General Drafting Company’s weak attempt to replicate the Michelin Guide.

This map of famous restaurants across the United States seems less like a compilation of the nation’s best eateries, and more of a puff piece for the Ford Times Magazine. Hundreds of various locations featured in the promotional publication are shown across all fifty states, listed in further detail on the verso.

It’s unlikely that these represent anything close to the ‘best restaurants’ in the United States, but rather are another way to feature businesses that paid for inclusion in the Ford Times. A small editor’s note on the reverse makes the obvious assumption. “It [the map] should not, however, be interpreted as a complete list of all the fine eating places in the United States.”

Apart from an interesting directory of small restauranteurs in the 1960’s, the map also presents a great snapshot of the nation’s road development. Unsurfaced highways are depicted adjacent to the growing network of interstates and toll roads. Created by the General Drafting Company in 1964 and published by the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan.