Posted on 06/09/2016 5:08:47 AM PDT by V K Lee
Travelers, let us now raise a glass--or perhaps a curvy old Coca-Cola bottle, freshly pried from a vintage service station fridge--to John Margolies, author, photographer, lecturer, road-trip royalty.
Before Margolies came along, there was a little less love in this country for drive-through doughnuts and neon sombreros. But Margolies, 76, who died of pneumonia on May 26 in New York, spent most of his adult life seeking, snapping and celebrating the commercial imagery of America’s Main Streets and blue highways.
His books, including ”Roadside America,” “Home Away From Home” and “Pump and Circumstance,” delve lovingly into an America of neon signage, threadbare motels, sun-baked gas stations, faded resorts in New York’s Catskills, drive-in theaters, miniature golf courses, and all manner of vernacular architecture and design
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
I love old hotels, motor courts and diners.
Vacations as a child were spent traveling the vast USA by auto B4 Interstate Highways were conceived. These images are etched in the mind. The diners, motels, and quirky items along the byways...the Paul Bunyan and Babe characters in Minnesota to name but one. So much to see in our great nation. Petrified Forest, Yellowstone, the beautiful waterfalls along the west coast highways. They all bring smiles of delight.
Love this stuff....so primitive, yet so imaginative.
Me, too. Fond memories of childhood vacations. USA is a vast landscape filled with sights.
Who can forget the rattlesnake exhibit on old Hy 66 at the Texas-Oklahoma border.
When I-40 first went through that area I noticed the exhibit had changed locations till that area was also bypassed by I-40.
Then there was the CLUB CAFE in Tucumcari NM, and Clines Corners. Dozens of signs in both directions!
Ans who can forget the Sheraton Inn sign on the Turner Turnpike between OKC and Tulsa! It always raised my blood pressure amongst other things. Then one day someone painted a full one piece black bathing suit on “the girl wearing nothing but a smile and a towel(bikini) in the picture on the billboard in the field near the big old highway...”
You might like to visit this site. Do remember his collection of old Motor Court, diner postcards seen on line. Lots of memories there ...even matchbook pics
http://www.lileks.com/index.html
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They are wonderful books. Years ago I sent one of them to friends in a European country. They have no idea about our vast land, and how far people traveled from place to place as we were building our infrastructure. Those gas stations with the big red Coca-Cola coolers and mom’n’pop eateries with home cooking were oases for travelers. Roadside billboards led the way. When we were kids, many summers Dad and Mom drove us from Maryland to Myrtle Beach SC or points in Florida via Route 1, before I-95 was built — and Route 1, the major North-South coastal route, was only TWO LANES in many places below Richmond! We counted the miles between the Howard Johnson’s restaurants and the Stuckey’s gift and candy shops, and made many stops at roadside stands to buy fried chicken, bags of pecans, baskets of peaches, or “All You Can Drink” fresh-squeezed orange juice.
Haven’t heard/seen a Howard Johnson’s reference in many years. An “homage” to the chain.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd-Qhspihlc
Wonderful yesteryear photos at the LA Times link.
Bkmrk.
Your family vacations sound so like mine. As a child every summer the fam took a road trip in America. Many times to visit my dad’s family in N Dakota/Minnesota. And one year even to Chicago (uncle there). In those days 2 lanes, endless detours, looking for rest rooms and sleeping in the back seat of a station wagon for restless children. The times were totally different then and looking back...after all the gripping done at the time, these memories are tightly held. The trip to Pike’s Peak and Yellowstone made twice and one trip thru Arizona and all their ‘goofy cactus’ on the way to California, up the west coast highway all the way thru Washington State on up into Canada (camping on one of the many lakes for a week) Childhood memories to last a lifetime. :-) Felt so fortunate as to be able to meet our great nation on a one-to-one basis. Those feelings never fade.
LOL Yes, those are remembered as well...if not the exact phrases used, they are remembered as being seen in a number of states. They were always good for a laugh which, if necessary, helped to wake the drive back from the daydream he might have been experiencing. Thanks for the reminder! Believe there might be a published book on these signs and sayings released in the past 10-15 years. Must remember to check it out to see if could be found.
RIP.
And so many of them are being lost to decay and new construction.
I miss the old 2 pump gas stations with the big porches...
But time marches on. But, sometimes I wonder if QT and Racetrack were good trades for those old stations, though.
Thank you so much!
:-)
It is remembered years ago a chain of service stations which were very modern lots of glass and light. For some reason the name of STANDARD is associated with the chain. Each station was very much like a Stucky’s (remember them?) They had shelves filled with glassware of all types. Souveniers, gidgets, gadgets, and perhaps a dinner in the store. It seemed there were always customers in the store itself. And then the really old stations with the two pumps, both topped with glass to see the actual pumping mechanism working. These had to have been introduced back in the 20s-30’s at least. And many of those stations were alongside the owner’s house (shades of ‘Psycho’ It would not be unusual after driving all night to badly need petrol, pull into a closed station, lock the doors and fall asleep until the morning came along with the chickens/roosters which would wander the ground crowing with the morning sun. The trip alone was remembered almost as much as the final destination.
Sounds wonderful. Being on the east coast, we traveled as a family from Nova Scotia to Florida. I especially loved the historic sites like Mount Vernon, Monticello, Luray Caverns, Natural Bridge, Blowing Rock, Skyline Drive, the Chesapeake beaches, Williamsburg, Atlantic City, Ocean City, the Outer Banks, Brookgreen Gardens, etc, and all the Federal sites and museums in Washington, DC. We made some trips to NYC, ate at the Automat and went to see the Rockettes, up to Niagara Falls, also the many historic sites in Philly, and to lots of National and State Parks in the region. Often we carried our picnic stuff. There used to be picnic tables and overflowing trash cans—watch out for bees and bears—by the side of the roads where there was an overlook to a valley or stream.
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