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Shell cartoguides from France: 1958-1980

In 1958 Shell replaced its card covered maps, with a plain and uniform design, by a series of colourful Cartoguides. These divided the country into 13 sections (Corsica was not added as the 14th section until 1962) and on one side carried a map at a scale of 1:500,000. This was copyrighted by Shell Berre (the operating company in France) but designed and printed by Foldex France (simply referred to as "F.F." on the map). The reverse of the cartoguide had an alphabetical gazetteer, although the earliest series also included a general description of the area and an illustration of a character in regional costume. The first series ran from 1958-60 and had cover drawings by Jean Colin. Although the covers were identical, there were numerous changes on the map to the line drawings of featured sights between the 1958 and 1959 editions. In the early years, cartoguides were given away free at Shell stations, although they were also sold as a set in the attractive wallet shown below. Later sets had plain wallets in blue, red or black vinyl, overprinted in white or gold.

Wallet from 1959 series of maps
Wallet from 1959 maps 1959 Shell cartoguide 3
1958 Section 3:
Normandie 1959 Shell cartoguide 12
1959 Section 12:
Pyrénées - Côte Basque 1959 Shell cartoguide 13
1960 Section 13:
Languedoc Roussillon

In 1962 a new series was produced with cover drawings by Nathan. The small black and yellow drawings of selected buildings were taken off the face of the map and replaced by a few stylised images in the expanded gazetteer on the reverse. The maps were first dated on the cover in 1963, when they were given overlapping years (eg 1963/64). In 1964 the yellow top was generally replaced by white with a larger Shell logo, although I have examples from section 4 and 11 that retain the old style, suggesting that there may have been more than one printing in each year.

1962 Shell Cartoguide 7
1962 Section 7:
Centre 1963 Shell Cartoguide 4
1963 Section 4:
Ile de France 1964 Shell Cartoguide 5
1964 Section 5:
Rhin & Meuse 1965 Shell Cartoguide 9
1965 Section 9:
Périgord Atlantique

In 1966 the cover designs were changed again to one with multiple images representing the area, drawn by Alain Cornic. Internally there were few changes, although a panel promoting Shell's Assistance Tourisme was added from 1967. Corsica's map was narrower, reflecting the smaller area of the island compared to mainland sections.

1966 Shell Cartoguide 11
1966 Section 11:
Provence - Côte d'Azur 1967 Shell Cartoguide 1
1967 Section 1:
Nord 1968 Shell Cartoguide 10
1968 Section 10:
Auvergne - Cévennes 1966 Shell Cartoguide 14
1966 Section 14:
Corse

ca1972 Shell Cartoguide 7 - Centre (France)
1973 Section 7:
Centre
More recent Cartoguides are less commonly found, probably as they were only sold in sets. Left is a 1972 example, with a cover design by Hamot.
The 1975 and 1980 sets used a smaller format, but the same cartography inside. More busy scenes (but no Shell logo) on the 1975 covers (right) were replaced by a less attractive geometric design in 1980. Only the colours varied between sections, now credited to Recta-Foldex.
1975 Shell cartoguide 11
1975 Section 11:
Provence - Côte d'Azur 1980 Shell cartoguide 3
1980 Section 3:
Normandie

Each series of cartoguides was accompanied by a Shell map of France, usually to a distinctively different design (although the 1980 series kept to the same style). This was included with the set of maps in later series as number 15, although the number was not printed on the map itself.

1959 Shell map of France
1959 1964 Shell map of France
1964 1966 Shell map of France
1966 1975 Shell map of France
1975

Finally, a number of other maps accompanied the cartoguides on an irregular basis. Shell, like Total, occasionally issued maps showing all night stations, including those with a night bell where it was acceptable to wake up the garagiste in the middle of the night! Its 1960 map of "Europe" actually only covered S Germany, Austria, N & C Italy, Switzerland, and SE France. The camping map of France had a sister navigation guide: both are described as being cartoguides. Paris featured on a number of maps - in 1967 the reverse had a full street listing, but by 1972 it was given up to a map of the suburbs. The 1971 map below shows Shell locations selling gasoil (diesel) for use by truckers.
1958 Shell postes ouvert la nuit
1958 postes ouvert la nuit 1960 Shell map of Europe
1960 SE Europe
1964 Shell Camping map
1964 Camping map

1967 Shell map of Paris
1967 Paris 1972 Shell map of Paris
1972 Paris 1971 Shell gasoil location map (France)
1971 gasoil locations

Shell has continued to issue maps in France from time to time, including a thematic series in the 1990s.

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Text and layout © Ian Byrne, 2000-8

Finally, a number of other maps accompanied the cartoguides on an irregular basis. Shell, like Total, occasionally issued maps showing all night stations, including those with a night bell where it was acceptable to wake up the garagiste in the middle of the night! Its 1960 map of "Europe" actually only covered S Germany, Austria, N & C Italy, Switzerland, and SE France. The camping map of France had a sister navigation guide: both are described as being cartoguides. Paris featured on a number of maps - in 1967 the reverse had a full street listing, but by 1972 it was given up to a map of the suburbs. The 1971 map below shows Shell locations selling gasoil (diesel) for use by truckers.	1958 postes ouvert la nuit	1960 SE Europe	1964 Camping map
	1967 Paris	1972 Paris	1971 gasoil locations

Overview of French maps		Home Page	Shell maps home page
	Brands List		Next Shell Page
Text and layout © Ian Byrne, 2000-8