Taking a globe apart, a learning experience

     Today I took one of my globes apart, something I don't do too often, it's not a thing that should be done especially because I really don't know what I'm doing. It did not spin well and I wanted to clean the metal parts so that it could spin freely again, mission accomplished. Well as with most things getting it apart was easy, putting it back together.......well I just made it without any damage. Now wiser and more humble I want to share a discovery:

1930 Rand McNally 8 inch orb 

Now two things I have learned from this picture

1. This globe should undergo a professional cleaning, very typical of most globes the northern hemisphere has picked up considerable dirt over it's 85 or so years. More on that later.

2. More striking the time dial affixed to this globe protected a small circle from dirt, AND sun exposure, notice the small red area part of northern Canada this island is red,  this is a fairly common Rand McNally globe, and in every example I've ever seen there is not a speck of red left.

Globe makers have always had trouble with red pigments, this color has a hard time standing up to the sun and is very prone to fading. In fact it is completely gone from the surface of this orb. I was shocked to discover it! I had until today thought that this globe was produced with monochromatic land masses, a bit unusual, but now I see it was not.

     I can sit at this picture and imagine what this globe looked like when it was newly purchased, it actually looked a lot like  globes sold today, perhaps the ocean was a different shade but other than that they are extremely similar.

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