An Archival Taquito — Transporting Oversized Maps to the Houston Museum of Natural Science
Note: This post was originally published in 2017. After an incredibly successful exhibit at the Houston Museum of Natural Science, the Map of the State of Texas and the Connected Map of Austin’s Colony have since safely returned to the GLO Archives.
Mapping Texas: From Frontier to the Lone Star State, an exhibit currently running at the Houston Museum of Natural Science through January 15, 2018, traces the cartographic history of Texas from the sixteenth to the twentieth century. Fifty rare maps from the collections of the Texas General Land Office and the personal collection of Frank and Carol Holcomb, of Houston, are on exhibit. Additional maps are on loan from The Bryan Museum in Galveston and the Witte Museum in San Antonio.

Two notable large maps from the GLO are on exhibit, which required special packaging for their transport to Houston. To ensure they arrived safely, Pressler & Langermann’s Map of the State of Texas (1879), and the Connected Map of Austin’s Colony (1837, 1892)[1] became the main ingredients in an archival taquito!
The internet is a great resource of information for topics such as history, science, movie trivia, how-to videos, dogs, cats, pandas, etc.; however, the internet is virtually useless for anyone seeking advice for moving large maps. In fact, the best recent article was about moving the truly gigantic “Battle of Atlanta” cyclorama painting to the Atlanta History Center. As we weren’t going to need a crane, the article was not helpful.

Archival literature is full of advice for moving oversized material — some say roll it, while others recommend flat transportation. When archivists use the term “oversized,” however, they generally think in terms of “larger than 11 x 17 inches, but smaller than the average large pizza.” A map measuring nearly nine feet by nine feet falls well outside of this range.
Loyal readers to this blog may recall that the last time a large map was transported from the GLO for an exhibit, the menu called for an “archival sandwich.” That map, the Connected Map of Austin’s Colony, was “only” seven and a half feet in length. The extra 18 inches on the Pressler-Langermann map made it impossible to create a flat enclosure that would clear the threshold of the map vault door at the GLO, so enterprising Archives staff had to get creative. They agonized over the decision but ultimately decided that the two maps would be better protected if rolled. Shipping flat was logistically too difficult and dangerous — hence, an archival taquito.

As archivists are wont to do, the tube in which the Pressler-Langermann map had arrived from conservation ten years ago was still hanging around in the map vault — “just in case!” The “tube” in this case is much more than the sturdy cardboard in which our reproduction maps are shipped. In fact, it is a concrete form tube used in commercial construction. Nothing says overprotection like commercial grade building materials!
The diameter of the tube was such that each map would only have to roll over itself one and a half times. The wider the tube, the less of a bend the maps would sustain. The tube was wrapped in inert polyethylene to prevent the migration of acid in the tube onto the maps. To minimize handling, it took only two passes to roll the maps, and three to complete the taquito. Archives staff first laid out three large overlapping sheets of acid-free paper atop a huge bank of four map cases, a surface measuring 10 feet by 12 feet. Over this paper, the smaller Connected Map was laid first, and then the Pressler-Langermann map was placed on top.

Starting at one end, four staff members carefully, slowly rolled the Pressler-Langermann map. Keeping the taquito firm, they then rolled the Connected Map over the Pressler-Langermann map. Rolling one map directly over the other with no buffer between them was appropriate in this case because both maps had been conserved and mounted onto an acid-free cotton backing. The two maps were wrapped around the tube, which, while it seems counterintuitive, was necessary to provide the support that would prevent the maps from collapsing under their own weight. One final pass was made down the length of the table, wrapping the acid-free paper over the maps and taping the outer wrapping closed. Finally, the roll was inserted into a long square box, the ends of which were covered and taped shut.
Archives staff stood back and marveled! There was, however, one problem: in adhering to archival standards, a cardinal sin of Tex-Mex was committed — no queso or guacamole was found anywhere near the taquito.
Thousands of documents in our collection are in dire need of costly conservation. We are attempting to raise funds for the Save Texas History Program — to donate and help conserve a map, click here!
[1] The 1892 tracing of the map was selected for this exhibit. The 1837 Connected Map had just come off exhibit at the Witte Museum in San Antonio and could not be exhibited again due to caution over the maximum light exposure (visible and ultraviolet light) it had sustained over the life of the map. Excessive light exposure can cause fading or yellowing.


