| The
Shape of Texas: Maps As Metaphors |
|
| |
|
THE TEXAS
SILHOUETTE
by
Brewster Hudspeth |
Being
instantly recognized isn't the same as being easy to draw.
At one time it was said that two of the most recognized shapes in
the world were the old 6.5 oz. Coke bottles and the Texas outline.
|
|
|
Vacant
building outside of Rowena, Texas
Runnels County
TE Photo, August 2001 |
Texas
is shaped on one side by the Gulf of Mexico, on three sides by rivers
and the four remaining sides are shaped by straight-arrow surveyors.
The result is a highly irregular, but pleasing, shape.
Other than Florida and Oklahoma (two other states with panhandles)
state outlines just don't measure up to Texas. Of course there are
"mutant" states like two-piece Michigan or Maryland with it's three-mile
narrowness; but Texas is the only state we know of whose shape is
frequently incorporated into tombstone design. Try doing that with
Hawaii.
Of course, Texas wouldn't be in the (physical) shape it's in if long-ago
legislators hadn't cut loose parts of what is now Colorado and Oklahoma.
For once, Texas legislators knew what they were doing.
Texans truly love the outline of Texas - and so do Arkansans, Oklahomans,
New Mexicans, Old Mexicans, and Louisianans. They all sleep better
knowing that Texas is content and isn't about to take any (more) of
their territory.
Known
for it's informality, Texas has graciously allowed sign painters some
artistic license when it comes to painting representations of the
state. While there are currently no silhouette responsibility laws;
there are clearly a lot of signs that could be considered a crime
against the state.
In this corner of Texas Escapes we feature some of the more, let us
say, "creative" representations of the Texas silhouette. |
|
|
Silhouette
in green.
Wise County
TE Photo, February, 2004 |
Like
children's drawings, state outlines can be amusing and entertaining.
While the artists probably wanted to do a better job, hand and eye
coordination is a rare gift.
Some signs were drawn from reputable geography books, while others
seem to have been drawn from a distant fifth-grade memory. It's safe
to say they were all drawn with love - and of course, that's what
counts. |
|
|
10%
Off
Ledbetter, Texas
Fayette County
TE Photo, November 2004 |
|
|
Texas
as Arrowhead
Liberty, Texas
Liberty County
TE Photo, September, 2004 |
|
|
Nice
job.
Somewhere in Grimes County
TE Photo, May, 2003 |
|
|
The
Red River Straightened. Near Raymondville, Willacy County
TE Photo, June, 2003 |
|
|
"Occupied
Louisiana", Tomball, Texas
Harris County
TE Photo, September, 2004 |
|
|
Freeform
Pinehurst, Texas
Montgomery County
TE Photo, September 2004 |
©
John Troesser
Readers with photos of a particularly primitive or naive
sign depicting the Texas silhouette, please contact
us. |
|
|
