SOCIETY for
COMMERCIAL
ARCHEOLOGY
Advocates for America’s
Roadside Heritage
SOCIETY for
COMMERCIAL
ARCHEOLOGY
Advocates for America’s
Roadside Heritage
SOCIETY for
COMMERCIAL
ARCHEOLOGY
Advocates for
America’s
Roadside Heritage
Photo: Vintage Wisconsin Dells
Celebrating the signs, structures and experiences of the 20th-century American roadscape.
The SCA is a member-supported organization. Join now and gain exclusive access to a full calendar of live and virtural events, subscriptions to the SCA Journal and Road Notes, password access to full-text articles on this website, member pricing at our conferences, free downloads and more. And the adventure continues on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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FROM OUR LIBRARY
DR. PATRICK’S
POSTCARD ROADSIDE
SCA tourmaster Kevin Patrick’s Facebook series is now collected here. Take a trip!
Celebrating the signs, structures and experiences of the 20th-century American roadscape.
The SCA is a member-supported organization. Join now and gain exclusive access to a full calendar of live and virtural events, subscriptions to the SCA Journal and Road Notes, password access to full-text articles on this website and more!
Join Now
FROM OUR LIBRARY
DR. PATRICK’S
POSTCARD ROADSIDE
SCA tourmaster Kevin Patrick’s Facebook series is now collected here. Take a trip!
Upcoming Events
ZOOM EVENT: Rick Kilby’s “From Mesmerizing Mermaids to Water-skiing Elephants”
Join us on Wednesday, November 11, 2020 for Rick Kilby’s “From Mesmerizing Mermaids to Water-skiing Elephants: Roadside Attractions at Florida Springs.” Kilby will discuss Florida’s pre-Disney era, where places like Rainbow, Silver, and Weeki Wachee Springs evolved to try to separate these visitors from their wallets. Register today.
Learn More / Register
Learn More / Register
RESCHEDULED: Summer Tour
PLEASE NOTE: Our marvelous mid-century weekend in Queens, New York, sponsored by the Society for Commercial Archeology and co-host Retro Roadmap, has been postponed to 2021 (at the earliest) due the COVID-19 crisis. Please see details.
Learn More / Register
Learn More / Register
News
SCA Weekly News Review: October 25, 2020
Take a neon-lit road trip to the ruin porn of L.A. Your weekly news awaits.
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SCA Weekly News Review: October 18, 2020
It will come as no surprise to sign lovers that this week’s news parade is being led by an elephant.
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SCA Weekly News Review: October 11, 2020
This week’s trip down (the still open but often struggling) memory lane.
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NEW! THE JIM SEELEN MOTEL IMAGES COLLECTION
14,000 MOTELS
SCA member Jim “Motel King” Seelen’s motel images collection is now part of our library. This database contains more than 23,000 images with details on more than 14,000 motels that once operated in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
NEW! THE JIM SEELEN MOTEL IMAGES COLLECTION
14,000 MOTELS
SCA member Jim “Motel King” Seelen’s motel images collection is part of our library. This database contains more than 23,000 images with details on more than 14,000 motels that once operated in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Articles
Living at the Motel
FULL ARTICLE by Elsa Court – The increase in the urban population combined with the stagnation of wages in the service industry have made it more likely for middle-class households resort to using budget motel rooms as semi-permanent accommodation.
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The Atomic Roadside
By Douglas Towne – Las Vegas knows how to throw a party like no other. But no matter how cutting-edge Sin City soirees are today, there's no competing with the fiery bashes the city held in the 1950s.
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Revisiting: Boring Postcards
In 2005, we published a short book review of Boring Postcards, by photographer Martin Parr. The original review is reposted here. But before taking the short trip back, it would be worth your time to take detour into Parr’s full oeuvre.
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Q&A: Alison Isenberg on Downtown America
As part of our commitment to exploration of the scholarly history of the American roadside as it relates to issues of race, class and gender, we proudly present this Q&A with Alison Isenberg, author of Downtown America.
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Q&A: Victoria Wolcott on Race, Riots, and Rollercoasters
The SCA is building a list of academic works focused on the intersection of American culture and the American roadside. To kick things off, we invited Victoria W. Wolcott, Professor of History at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, to answer a few questions about her book, Race, Riots, and Rollercoasters.
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The Rise of White Flour
FULL ARTICLE By Ronald Ladouceur – The development and promotion of one product more than any other illustrates the power of modern banding both to manipulate and exploit cultural and racial anxieties and promote purchase by otherizing non-buyers.
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