Replogle, founded in Chicago in 1930 and now based in Broadview, claims to be the world’s largest manufacturer of globes.
HAVE RECENT WORLD EVENTS HELPED THE SALE OF GLOBES? We had a 25 percent increase during the fourth quarter of 2001. I suspect with the war and the other turmoil in the world, people are interested in finding out where these places are on a globe rather than a map.
WHY NOT A MAP? A globe shows the true specifications of the Earth. Maps are distorted, especially at the polar areas. I think it’s important to people to see where these areas really are.
HAVE YOU HAD TO DO MUCH REMAPPING? There were a lot of changes in the early 1990s, such as the former Yugoslavia. We haven’t done much lately. Canada added new provinces about two years ago. SOME BORDERS ARE IN DISPUTE. HOW DO YOU RESOLVE THESE ISSUES? We portray the way the U.S. government sees our world and where boundaries are drawn. Some people don’t always agree because these are political boundaries.
HOW IS YOUR GEOGRAPHY? CAN YOU BE STUMPED? As much as I look at our product, sometimes I don’t know where something is. I know where the French Polynesian Islands are generally, but I don’t know the names of all 180 of them.
