TIL my 1962 map of Atlantis was actually a real Navy chart

Last week I was organizing my shelf and found this old folded map I bought for $8 at a garage sale in Akron. I always assumed it was some fun fantasy atlas from the 60s, but when I actually looked close, the grid coordinates and depth markers matched a real ocean survey off the Azores. Turns out some cartographer just redrew a Navy chart and slapped "Atlantis" on top as a joke. I was stuck choosing between keeping it as a silly fake or cataloging it as a genuine naval document. I went with the fake route since the joke is way more interesting than the boring real thing. Has anyone else found a so-called fake map that turned out to be based on something real? How do you label those?

1 comments

1 Comment

ross.angela28d ago

See, I'm going to disagree with you there. A real naval chart with a joke overlay is actually more valuable, not less, because it's a piece of history with a punchline. The boring real thing is just a chart, but your map tells a story about someone in the 60s who thought it was funny to put "Atlantis" over a real survey. I'd label it as both: naval chart reproduction, plus fantasy overlay, plus note the joke in pencil on the back. That way future you or anyone who inherits it knows exactly what it is, and the joke stays alive. And honestly, if you ever wanted to sell it, the fake-Atlantis angle is what draws people in, not the real coordinates.