Journalist Rolando Pujol has created a fantastic book that meticulously, voluminously, and joyously chronicles the beauty of the commercial art and architecture of the American roadside. The Great American Retro Road Trip, jam-packed with amazing photographs by Pujol, will be released this week.
I don't know how Pujol traveled to every corner of the country to experience and photograph so many neon signs, ridiculous giant statues, and food-shaped architecture, but he certainly did. I have to admit that this kind of nostalgic Americana thrills me. I've been known to stop the car to take a picture of a particularly cheesy motel sign that still boasts "Color TV."
He divides the book into a chapter for each area of the country, and within each area he features the best retro attractions in several categories: "Roadside Quirks"; "Roadside Eats"; "Mainstays of Main Street"; "The Inn Crowd" (motels); "Sweet Stops"; and "Cheers!" (bars and taverns).
And Pujol's taste is impeccable. I'm no expert on the amazing retro sites of great swaths of America, but in the areas I know well, Pujol is dead-on in documenting my own favorite kitschy landmarks, both iconic and obscure. For example, in the northeast, he includes both New York City's gaudy Papaya King and Brewster, NY's gorgeously quaint Red Rooster. In New England, he features Cambridge, MA's famous giant Shell sign, and Lee, MA's tiny Joe's Diner (which happened to be the setting of Norman Rockwell's painting, "The Runaway").
And from my far too few road trips, I appreciated Pujol including such favorites as the famed Wall Drug (Wall, SD) and Bedrock City (Williams, AZ).
I enjoyed learning the term "privilege sign," which refers to those once ubiquitous signs for stores, restaurants, or bars with the logo of a soft drink or beer brand prominently displayed, provided to the establishment by the brand's company.
You can buy The Great American Retro Road Trip: A Celebration of Roadside Americana here.
I also recommend Pujol's great newsletter (and Instagram account), The Retrologist, which documents and gives updates on retro landmarks. If you love these retro signs and attractions, you'll love this newsletter. But I have to warn you: the updates are interesting but almost never good news. They're nearly always about a beloved landmark in danger of being torn down, being torn down, or sometimes happily barely saved from being torn down.
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