Whenever you look at a globe, you always face the immediate problem of not being able to simply determine the age of the globe. For whatever reason, globe manufacturers usually do not put dates on their globes. Very occasionally, you might find one with a date near the legend or manufacturer logo, but it is a rarity.
Instead, one usually must resort to the game of "find the country name/border change that most accurately estimates the date". For instance, if the globe shows the "Soviet Union", it’s at least earlier than 1991. If it shows "Rhodesia" instead of "Zimbabwe" it is from before 1980. If it shows "French West Africa" occupying a significant part of the African continent, it was made before 1960. If Israel isn’t there, it’s pre-1948. You get the idea.
It’s actually rather fun. I personally usually start off looking for the USSR or a divided Germany and then typically start looking at Africa or southeast Asia as those areas have experienced the greatest change in recent decades. Some great resources to help in dating globes are available from:
- 20thcenturyglobes.com: Dating Globes
- Omniterrum: Dating Globes
- Replogle: How Old is Your Globe?
- George F. Cram Company: How Old is My Map or Globe?
The latter two are obviously particularly useful if you have a Replogle or Cram globe. By the way, the first site I mentioned, 20thcenturyglobes.com is a great general resource for people looking to learn more about US globes from the early to mid-20th century. The site maintainer, Carolyn Burrell, has done a great job collecting information from that era.
