Editing Encyclopedia:Reference Desk archive unanswered (section)

== Phrase history: "You are here" ---> ==

Dear Wikipedia Folks,

On which map was the phrase "You are here" first used and who created it? I have seen that phrase, usually with a little arrow pointing to a spot, placed on everything from a photo of a spiral galaxy to a timeline of dinosaurs. I can remember it as far back as the early 1980s. Also, is it at all related to the much earlier phrase "we are here, we are here, we are here!" yelled by the character's in Dr Seuss' ''Horton Hears a Who''?

Thank You,
Tanja

:I've always had the impression it started on actual maps. When you go to a big mall, or a theme park, they'll often provide you with a map, or mount several on boards throughout. That isn't much use if you don't know where you are in the first place, so they show you. That has, for as long as I've been alive (born in 1987) always been a You Are Here arrow. That's the only practical use I've ever seen them put to, so I always assumed that was their original purpose. [[User:70.243.46.200|70.243.46.200]] 17:23, 2 January 2006 (UTC)

::I've got nothing better. I recall seeing the usage in the late 1970's, but have no documentation. A patient person might consult a newspaper comics historian for the first reference to "you are here" in a gag to set a boundary for when it first showed up. ~~
:::You could try the emails on this site. They may have the answer or be curiuos about it if they don't. http://www.geography.wisc.edu/histcart/index.html --[[User:Canoe1967|Canoe1967]] ([[User talk:Canoe1967|talk]]) 06:28, 23 March 2012 (UTC)

The magazine Skiing in its Jan 1974 issue on page 98 mentions "…complete maps at each intersection, each with a 'you are here' designation."  This in reference Parc du Mont Ste.-Anne and Station Forestiere de Duchesnay.