Globe, American, Weber Costello, Lunar, 12-Inch Table Globe, Plastic Stand, Chicago, 1969-70 (Reserved)

Weber Costello
12-Inch Moon Globe
Chicago: c. 1969-1970
Molded plastic stand
15 inches high
Reserved

Lunar globe covered showing the topography of the lunar surface in simulated raised relief, with lunar craters and seas in tones of tan, and labeled in dark blue. The globe is attached to the original black plastic molded modernist cradle stand. Landing sites are labeled for Lunar Orbiter I, Lunar Orbiter II, Lunar Orbiter V, Ranger IV, Apollo 12, Surveyor III, and “Apollo 13 (Proposed).” The latter two help date the globe to after November 1969, date of the Apollo 12 mission, but before April 1970, when Apollo 13 was launched. Longitude and latitude lines are shown, and the equator is overlaid with a narrow strip of calibrated equator tape. A legend provides a mileage scale and lunar data — the moon’s diameter, circumference and distance from earth. The globe is copyrighted by Weber Costello but the credits list the publisher as Benefic Press, which was formerly an educational publishing division of Beckley-Cardy Company.

On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the moon and two American astronauts walked on it. This highly publicized milestone in human history stimulated interest in the NASA space program and in the study of the moon and its topography. Numerous American globe makers met the demand of an eager public with lunar globes such as this one.

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