Overview

Expectation, anticipation, discovery—each of these is a facet of an American institution, the road trip. With a focus on vernacular roadside architecture built between 1920 and the late 1960s, the golden age of the American road, Road Trip is a time capsule, a snapshot taken primarily in the early 1970s, of an extraordinary era and its roadside buildings, restaurants, gas stations, motels, and places of amusement, most of which are now long since gone. Built in an age of unbridled imagination, these structures speak to the fancies of their original owners and builders as much as to the purposes for which they were built: a gas station whose pumps are covered by a canopy in the form of a fully realized B-29 bomber; a hot dog stand named Frank ‘n’ Stein, whose diners are met by a colossal Frankenstein bearing in one hand a mustard-covered dog and in the other a mug of foaming beer. With more than 200 previously unpublished full-colour photographs of the iconic imagery of the American highway and richly descriptive text, Road Trip will delight and engage both the armchair traveler, the enthusiast of Americana, the architectural enthusiast, and all those longing for the romance of the road.

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9780789327611

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Reviews

Armed with a Nikon F, the architectural historian [Richard Longstreth] shot them all, coast-to-coast, on Kodachrome film for slides, through the 1970s and into the mid-1980s. The 200 images in his book are rich in color - and in nostalgia and wonder that will beckon readers of all ages. - Architects and Artisans From hamburger joints to drive-ins, this is an entertaining and, in its own way, sad trip down memory's blacktop lane. -The Chicago Tribune

-Armed with a Nikon F, the architectural historian [Richard Longstreth] shot them all, coast-to-coast, on Kodachrome film for slides, through the 1970s and into the mid-1980s. The 200 images in his book are rich in color - and in nostalgia and wonder that will beckon readers of all ages.- -Architects and Artisans -From hamburger joints to drive-ins, this is an entertaining and, in its own way, sad trip down memory's blacktop lane.- -The Chicago Tribune Armed with a Nikon F, the architectural historian [Richard Longstreth] shot them all, coast-to-coast, on Kodachrome film for slides, through the 1970s and into the mid-1980s. The 200 images in his book are rich in color - and in nostalgia and wonder that will beckon readers of all ages. -Architects and Artisans From hamburger joints to drive-ins, this is an entertaining and, in its own way, sad trip down memory's blacktop lane. -The Chicago Tribune

Armed with a Nikon F, the architectural historian [Richard Longstreth] shot them all, coast-to-coast, on Kodachrome film for slides, through the 1970s and into the mid-1980s. The 200 images in his book are rich in color - and in nostalgia and wonder that will beckon readers of all ages. - Architects and Artisans

Author Information

Richard Longstreth is a passionate observer of the American road and has driven cross-country on numerous occasions—and always with a camera. An architectural historian and professor at George Washington University, where he directs the program in historic preservation, he is the author of numerous books and articles, including On the Edge of the World: Four Architects in San Francisco at the Turn of the Century, as well as City Center to Regional Mall: Architecture, the Automobile, and Retailing in Los Angeles, 1920-1950.

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