The native genius of America's mid-era automobile culture
Before the advent of corporate communications and architectural uniformity, America's built environment was a free-form landscape of individual expression. Signs, artifacts, and even buildings ranged from playful to eccentric, from deliciously cartoonish to quasipsychedelic. Photographer John Margolies spent over three decades and drove more than 100,000 miles documenting these fascinating and endearingly artisanal examples of roadside advertising and fantasy structures, a fast-fading aspect of Americana.
This book brings together approximately 400 color photographs of Main Street signs, movie theaters, gas stations, fast food restaurants, motels, roadside attractions, miniature golf courses, dinosaurs, giant figures and animals, and fantasy coastal resorts. In an age when online shopping and mega-malls have reconfigured American consumerism, stripping away idiosyncracy in favor of a bland homogeneity, Margolies's elegiac 30-year survey reminds us of a more innocent unpredictable and colorful past.
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more. |
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
About the photographer:
John Margolies is an author, photographer, and lecturer on American architecture and design. For 30 years he has explored America's highways in search of unique architecture. Author of a dozen books, his photographs and articles have appeared in The New York Times Magazine, Esquire, Domus and Architectural Record.
About the author:
Phil Patton writes about car design for The New York Times and is a contributing editor to ID magazine. He was a consultant for Curves of Steel: Streamlined Automobile Design at the Phoenix Art Museum, and Different Roads: Automobiles for the Next Century at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
About the contributing author:
C. Ford Peatross is director of the Center for Architecture, Design and Engineering in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress. He is the author of Eero Saarinen: Buildings from the Balthazar Korab Archive (2008).
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I own and have read and re-read many of John Margolies' previous books on roadside art and architecture such as "Ticket to Paradise" (movie theaters); "Home Away from Home" (motels); "Pump and Circumstance" (gas stations). These books mix period images, advertising and ephemera with John's razor-sharp, color-saturated Kodachromes. The text on all of these is well researched but not clogged with academic jargon. Clearly, Margolies has a vast knowledge as well as appreciation of the graphic qualities of these once largely ignored (even reviled) manifestations of the spirit of American entrepreneurism.
So, of course, when Taschen announced "Roadside America" - a profile of Margolies and a collection of his stand-alone photographs - I pre-ordered with anticipation and some curiosity to see how they would look, raw against the page unframed by text. They are, I think, the purest evocation of this lost exuberance. Many interpretations of roadside phantasmagoria are sentimental nostalgia. Others have that whiff of satire that sometimes emanates from "art" photography. Margolies' images are iconic, never ironic.
There are photographers whose work is interesting only when accompanied by extensive explanation. There are photographers whose work is intriguing without print accompaniment. There are only a few, like Margolies, which work either way. Although he seems to have made a career of avoiding the attachment of "artist" to his name -- this book will make that hard to do. The physical book is an incredible package -- beautifully printed, beautifully designed. And it's an incredible bargain.
This handsome volume takes us on a trip through the country. His other books have tantalizing insight into old downtowns and commercial districts. Next up, I hope - John Margolies' Main Street. This one we will definitely pre-order too!
So, of course, when Taschen announced "Roadside America" - a profile of Margolies and a collection of his stand-alone photographs - I pre-ordered with anticipation and some curiosity to see how they would look, raw against the page unframed by text. They are, I think, the purest evocation of this lost exuberance. Many interpretations of roadside phantasmagoria are sentimental nostalgia. Others have that whiff of satire that sometimes emanates from "art" photography. Margolies' images are iconic, never ironic.
There are photographers whose work is interesting only when accompanied by extensive explanation. There are photographers whose work is intriguing without print accompaniment. There are only a few, like Margolies, which work either way. Although he seems to have made a career of avoiding the attachment of "artist" to his name -- this book will make that hard to do. The physical book is an incredible package -- beautifully printed, beautifully designed. And it's an incredible bargain.
This handsome volume takes us on a trip through the country. His other books have tantalizing insight into old downtowns and commercial districts. Next up, I hope - John Margolies' Main Street. This one we will definitely pre-order too!
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Robin Benson
Format:Hardcover
What a treat for road fans: four hundred beautifully printed color photos that capture the exuberance of the man-made landscape once you exit the interstate.
John Margolies has been snapping vernacular signs, buildings and structures since the 1970s and published several books over the years and this latest big, chunky one probably has his best work. In Phil Patton's short introduction he says that Margolies just wanted to document as much as possible of this visual quirkiness and commercialism before it disappeared. This will explain why the photos are a no-nonsense straight on record of what he found and thank goodness, too, the signs and buildings are fascinating enough without any arty photo techniques.
There are no chapters or sections though several pages do show photos grouped in themes: movie theaters (with some real gems); neon signs; gas stations; huge animals and statues; crazy golf or fast food joints. The sequence is a bit like driving along some local road and coming across all kinds of structural eccentricity designed (and probably made) by the owners all designed to make you take your foot of the gas pedal for a closer look.
The book is well produced as you would expect from Taschen: mostly one whole page photo or with generous margins and all with location and date captions; printed on matt art with a 175 screen. Nicely the book's flyleaf kicks off with a spread of about forty of those lovely Large Letter postcards forming a montage. What better way to start the BIG book of roadside relics that are preserved in these great photos.
***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
John Margolies has been snapping vernacular signs, buildings and structures since the 1970s and published several books over the years and this latest big, chunky one probably has his best work. In Phil Patton's short introduction he says that Margolies just wanted to document as much as possible of this visual quirkiness and commercialism before it disappeared. This will explain why the photos are a no-nonsense straight on record of what he found and thank goodness, too, the signs and buildings are fascinating enough without any arty photo techniques.
There are no chapters or sections though several pages do show photos grouped in themes: movie theaters (with some real gems); neon signs; gas stations; huge animals and statues; crazy golf or fast food joints. The sequence is a bit like driving along some local road and coming across all kinds of structural eccentricity designed (and probably made) by the owners all designed to make you take your foot of the gas pedal for a closer look.
The book is well produced as you would expect from Taschen: mostly one whole page photo or with generous margins and all with location and date captions; printed on matt art with a 175 screen. Nicely the book's flyleaf kicks off with a spread of about forty of those lovely Large Letter postcards forming a montage. What better way to start the BIG book of roadside relics that are preserved in these great photos.
***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I received this book last Christmas and am thrilled with it. I am a big fan of roadside attractions & their signs, including gas stations, drive in theaters, restaurants, brand name logos, grocery stores and especially motels. Their artistic/architectural design and role in our business, marketing, and recreation culture is fascinating to me. This book is a beautiful coffee table collection of many unique and fascinating sights all around the country, at least one i have seen myself- the giant peach crack water tower in Gaffney, SC, and a similar, but slightly smaller one identical to it in Clanton, Alabama (the latter not included in the book.) As a kid/teenager, i would enjoy taking pictures of various signs and sights out the window of the car. This book brings back good memories of trips taken as a kid and the sights and shops we would discover along the way.
Pictures of abandoned buildings stir up the imagination of people's adventures in them of yesteryear. This book gives you a chance to become familiar with many sights all across the country you may not be familiar with and may want to visit someday, right from the comfort of your own home. In short, sightseeing on a trip is just plain fun!
Our family owns "Home Away From Home" another book by John Margolies on motels, as well as one i own personally, "The American Motel" by Michael Karl Witzel, and this is another great addition.
I wish more people were as passionate about this subject as this John Margolies is. Highly recommended for the travel fan who enjoys all the fun things to see around this great country.
Pictures of abandoned buildings stir up the imagination of people's adventures in them of yesteryear. This book gives you a chance to become familiar with many sights all across the country you may not be familiar with and may want to visit someday, right from the comfort of your own home. In short, sightseeing on a trip is just plain fun!
Our family owns "Home Away From Home" another book by John Margolies on motels, as well as one i own personally, "The American Motel" by Michael Karl Witzel, and this is another great addition.
I wish more people were as passionate about this subject as this John Margolies is. Highly recommended for the travel fan who enjoys all the fun things to see around this great country.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Roadside America
Very good only wish it had been in English. I love it nevertheless. The photograpy was great. How do they fine all thse wonderful sights?
Published 4 months ago by Jackie Solomon
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not Vintage Roadside
Book is a little misleading in that all or most of the photos are from the 1970s 80s & 90s. I thought that they would be more vintage photos from the old days of road travel, 1940s... Read more
Published 7 months ago by D. Scott
5.0 out of 5 stars
A feast for the eyes!
I own many of John Margolies's books, but this one is absolutely my favorite. It's a huge book and the photos are gorgeous. Mr. Read more
Published 21 months ago by A voracious reader
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Chronicle of the American Roadside
This is a great book. It has a larger format than Margolies' previous books and contains a wonderful cross section from the thousands of super-saturated Kodachrome images... Read more
Published on January 29, 2011 by Guy
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
