The Air Line Shortest, Fastest Scenic Motor Route Between New York and Boston

Co-opting railroad terminology during the early Age of the Automobile.

This rare 1920s piece by Mixers Motor Maps primarily shows the robust network of roads between New York City and the Massachusetts coast (notably, Boston). Several routes are named and brightly highlighted in red; noting total length, distances between points, highway numbers (where applicable), and local accommodations. Of particular interest is The Elton hotel, an elegant property located in Waterbury and a favorite of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The Elton and/or the Waterbury Chamber of Commerce may have been a sponsor of the piece, as it also features several strip maps showing recommended trips from Waterbury to popular cities in the region. Routes to Montreal and Quebec are shown at the top, while the verso presents Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C (via Philadelphia and Baltimore). Photographs, text, and a map of New England’s Ideal Tour (on which the Elton is included twice) further promote the luxurious building, billed as ‘The Most Attractive Hotel in New England.’

Also of interest is the front cover, which titles the map ‘The Air Line.’ This is a clear reference to the (more well-known) incomplete railway of the same name, first planned in the mid-19th century to connect New York and Boston in a (more or less) straight shot. The ‘air line’ nature of the route (noting a third form of transportation!) refers to its direct layout, compared to the more winding and often slower railroads that followed favorable topography.