The Drive-In, the Supermarket, and the Transformation of Commercial Space in Los Angeles, 1914-1941 [Hardcover]

Richard W. Longstreth (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 1999

Richard Longstreth is one of the few historians to focus on ordinary commercial buildings--buildings usually associated with commercial builders and real estate developers rather than architects and thus generally overlooked by historians of "high" architecture.Here Longstreth explores the early development of two kinds of retail space that have become ubiquitous in the United States in the second half of the twentieth century. One, external, is devoted to the circulation and parking of automobiles on retail premises. Longstreth analyzes the origins of this development in the 1910s and 1920s, with the super service station and then the drive-in market. The other type of space, internal, was introduced soon thereafter with the single-story supermarket. The most innovative aspect of the supermarket was how its interior was designed for high-volume turnover of a large selection of goods with a minimum of staff assistance. Longstreth focuses on Los Angeles, the principal center for the development of both kinds of space, during the period from the mid-1910s to the early 1940s. This richly illustrated study integrates architectural, cultural, economic, and urban factors to describe the evolution of retailing and how it has affected the urban landscape.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The service station, the drive-in market and the supermarketAinstitutions that today are so ubiquitous that they scarcely seem to require commentAushered in new ways of conceiving and organizing commercial space, according to Longstreth, who teaches American studies at George Washington University. As cars and parking became the primary components in the construction of new retail centers, they turned shopping from a "pedestrian activity" into a "park-n-shop" one. Shopping as we know itAwith large parking lots, and unencumbered, unassisted movement through vast aisles of ever-changing merchandiseAwas a product of the early 20th-century car culture initially specific to Los Angeles, Longstreth asserts. His book relies heavily on accompanying documentary photographs of the streamlined, modernist service stations, fanciful drive-in markets and palatial supermarkets that dotted the Southern California landscape in the prewar years. Most, if not all, of the buildings these photographs depict have been changed or no longer existAfalling victim to the shifting economy of the car culture that spawned them. Longstreth's argument, focusing on abstract spatial relationships between exterior and interior, and public and private, isn't always alive to the peculiar, often ghostly, beauty of these places, such as the early supermarkets designed as Moorish palaces to attract road-side customers. Though he unearths intriguing information and a cache of fascinating photos, Longstreth's study may prove too dry for general readers, the text aimed primarily at architects and urban planners; one is left wishing for more cultural history. 164 illustrations.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

Longstreth's concise account advances, with the clear, plain logic ofa perfectly organized aisle at Lucky, a thesis that should make everyAngeleno proud." Ralph Rugoff, LA Weekly

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (April 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262122146
• ISBN-13: 978-0262122146
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 7.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,482,300 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great look at the cultural history of Los Angeles, June 18, 2000

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This review is from: The Drive-In, the Supermarket, and the Transformation of Commercial Space in Los Angeles, 1914-1941 (Hardcover)

A fascintating look at the cultural history of Los Angeles and the way in which commercial spaces played a part in developing it. A must for anyone that's seriously interested in more than the usual history lesson on Tinsletown. Actually, more than simply Los Angeles, this book gives clues as to how the development of commericial spaces that we've come to take for granted have influenced cultural history across the entire nation, with Los Angeles leading the way in innovation.