Thomas Brothers Maps

1985 San Diego County — $8.95 (on sale)

Dan — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 12:43:15 +0000

1985 SAN DIEGO COUNTY THOMAS GUIDE ATLAS & STREET MAP

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Not in perfect condition, there are a couple of with damage on the edges but this book is in good overall condition

Nice San Diego collector piece

499 pages

Measurements: 10″ X 8″

Seller: vintage1source / ends June 27, 2011

Well, it’s been awhile since I’ve actually taken a look at some of the different options for selling on eBay. One is this “make offer” button.

On this sale, I went ahead and used it. $8.95 is actually overpriced. So I decided to “offer” $3.59. Making the total with shipping $6.00.

Immediately rejected. I guess there is a set minimum on this feature. Fine. I went up to $4.59.

Rejected again.

So this won’t sell.

I’m still convinced that 80s atlases are plentiful in supply and not vintage enough to command more than $5.00 when I know I can spend the next five years cruising thrift stores in San Diego (if I was still in San Diego) and find them for two dollars.

I just hope the seller doesn’t discard the atlas.

Atlases for sale this week on eBay – 5/23/11

Dan — Mon, 23 May 2011 15:26:00 +0000

A couple of Renie atlases have dropped onto eBay this week. Though I’ve never held a Renie atlas in my hand, they seem to have similar quality to the Thomas company.

Here are the links:

1943 Renie Atlas Los Angeles County -

very good condition, starting bid $11.83, shipping $3.50

ends 5/25/11.

1951 Renie Atlas Los Angeles County Census Edition -

good condition, starting bid $9.99, shipping $3.00

ends 5/27/11.

***

Reasonable shipping in both cases. That Census edition of Renie looks interesting.

Thanks for the comments… hope to post more soon.

Dan — Mon, 23 May 2011 15:04:01 +0000

I haven’t been paying much attention to this blog lately, but I want to thank everybody who has taken the time to discuss this specialized hobby with me.

I am still monitoring eBay for those vintage atlases. I am seeing about 2 or 3 pre-1980 San Diego atlases each year. I know there are a lot more out there tucked into attics, in storage, or on the shelves of an antique store.

If you have a question, feel free to ask.

Disclaimer: this is not a sales site.

Dan — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 07:28:07 +0000

I wanted any readers to please be aware that this is not a Thomas Brothers sales site.

This is merely a tool to track eBay and other websites to appraise vintage Thomas Guides.

From now on, any comments that offer to buy or sale will be deleted.

I am unable to provide a bona fide service like eBay, or Amazon.com. Please use their search functions to find what you are looking for.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to comment.

Dan

1946 Los Angeles County – $127.51 — WOW!

Dan — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 06:57:20 +0000

VINTAGE THOMAS BROS. POPULAR ATLAS OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY 1946

This vintage Thomas Bros. Atlas was printed when the population in all of Los Angeles County was only 3,435,000 and few if any of the Freeways as we know them today were in existence. You will also NOT find many of the streets that we Angelinos travel today as the communities of that day had not yet expanded to handle the growth that has occurred since then.

The Atlas consisting of 156 pages contains, in addition to the usual maps and indexes, lists of Buildings, Universities and Colleges, Hospitals, Motion Picture Studios and other points of interest plus the population of cities/towns in the county. Also you will find the Los Angeles transit lines and the L A Motor Coach lines and their routes. Finally on page 154 you will find a listing of the Constabulary- Personnel for the county’s townships.

The atlas is in very good condition given its age. All pages are present and completey attached to the ring binder with the exception of the 1st page which has separated from the 1st 4 rings at the top and 2 rings at the bottom. Also the 1st page appears to have been laminated on the front only which has created some wrinkles and caused the top and bottom corners to curl up as shown in photos. There are no tears or other damage to the pages.

Seller: thebookvendor1934 / Buyer: chume65

Two people got lucky. First, the seller was able to procure a 40s L.A. County that is in remarkably good condition, and then sell it for more than I absolutely expected.

Then the buyer is able to fight off another bidder and get this fabulous treasure.

I have seen 1950s Los Angeles atlases stall at $10.00, but this earlier edition must be an absolute rarity for the price that it fetched.

I’m still not sure if Thomas produced a San Diego atlas in book form this early, but if it did, the price could easily be double.

More pictures from the sale:

1976 San Diego County – $0.99

Dan — Sat, 17 May 2008 20:15:02 +0000

San Diego County Popular Street Atlas 1976 Thomas Bros

Map has doodles inside front cover and a hand drawn map on the back cover.

Most pages have some minor staining

All pages present and securley fastened

Seller: kdhood/ Buyer: dougitt25

I think I missed an opportunity here.

I don’t have a 1976, and somebody got very good value for this one at 99 cents, with reasonable shipping costs.

Like the previous entries, it looks to be in fair condition, however, at least having a record of what the streets looked like in 1976 is valuable to me.

I can’t be sure from the cover if it is definitely a 1976 edition, because it looks like Thomas made a one-time decision to not print the year on the cover. The 1975 green and 1977 yellow cover editions have the year printed on the cover.

I have a Riverside atlas with practically the same cover back in San Diego in storage, and I think it’s a 1976 edition.

In my opinion, the buyer received a great deal.

1983 San Diego County – $25.00 (unsold)

Dan — Tue, 06 May 2008 01:44:03 +0000

1983 San Diego County Road Atlas

A 1983 San Diego County Road Atlas made by Thomas Bros. includes street indexes, popular points of interest, and emergency telephone numbers.

Seller: bubbazfree/ ends May 13, 2008

This won’t sell.

There just isn’t enough demand for a 1983 atlas at $25.00 (and $5 shipping parcel post). For Thomas Guides released in the 1980s, I think there was still enough of them around when eBay was founded in 1995, that collectors were able to get value for them.

In the mid-90s, I was still finding 1970s atlases at thrift stores for $3.00 and under regardless of condition.

This item looks to be in fair condition. If it was pre-1975, I think it would get at least one bid.

Maybe if the loaf of bread was included, I’d reconsider.

Update: I was right. It didn’t sell. I wonder if the seller will relist, or throw the atlas in the garbage.

1969 Los Angeles County – $8.99 (unsold)

Dan — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:38:55 +0000

1969 Los Angeles County Street Atlas Guide Thomas Bros

1969 Los Angeles County Street Atlas Guide by Thomas Bros Maps.The year after the riots!!! In color. Used, but overall nice condition!!

Seller: captwingover / ended April 24, 2008

$8.15 shipping Parcel Post. Like the previous entry, this one is in fair condition and has exorbitant shipping. It is no surprise that this went unsold.

I do believe San Diego atlases are in higher demand; this atlas in this condition would have sold, for probably around $15-20, if it had been.

1982 Los Angeles County – $4.99 (on sale)

Dan — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:14:46 +0000

Thomas Bros 1982 Los Angeles County Street Atlas Guide

That is a very shabby-looking atlas. For $6.99 shipping parcel-post, I think this item will have a hard time selling.

1954 San Diego County – $20.50

Dan — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:01:26 +0000

VINTAGE SAN DIEGO COUNTY ATLAS 1954 EDITION THOMAS BROS

Up for auction is a very collectable book titled 1954 EDITION THOMAS BROS. POPULAR ATLAS of SAN DIEGO COUNTY complet street information. This old book has over 60 pages of maps and information. This old book is not in very good condition as it has had a lot of use over the years. However it is still collectable because of it’s age. On one page of this vintage book is a 1954 calendar.

Seller: kdexpress/ Buyer: wbd / ended March 7, 2008

This is the oldest atlas for San Diego I have seen on eBay since I have been looking. I put in a snipe bid at $10.00 because I thought the book’s fair condition would deter some bidders.

I’m not surprised it went for over $20. This auction gives me a better idea at appraising the value of atlases in fair condition. If it was in excellent condition, it could have fetched between $50-70, maybe as much as $90 based on my experience.