SOCIETY for
COMMERCIAL
ARCHEOLOGY
Advocates for America’s
Roadside Heritage
Membership is your ticket to tours, conferences, pop-ups, publications, articles, and more.
Join the SCA
SOCIETY for
COMMERCIAL
ARCHEOLOGY
Advocates for
America’s
Roadside Heritage
Membership is your ticket to tours, conferences, pop-ups, publications, articles, and more.
Join the SCA
The SCA is the oldest national organization devoted to the signs, structures and experiences of the 20th-century American roadscape.
Subscribe to our free email newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And become a member, enjoy our great publications, SCA Journal and Road Notes, and join us on our next adventure!
Albany Pop-Up Tour a Huge Success – See story and photos.
The SCA is the oldest national organization devoted to the signs, structures and experiences of the 20th-century American roadscape.
Subscribe to our free email newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And become a member, enjoy our great publications, SCA Journal and Road Notes, and join us on our next adventure!
Albany Pop-Up Tour a Huge Success – See story and photos.
The SCA is the oldest national organization devoted to the signs, structures and experiences of the 20th-century American roadscape.
Subscribe to our free email newsletter. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. And become a member, enjoy our great publications, SCA Journal and Road Notes, and join us on our next adventure!
Upcoming Events
Mike’s Upper East Side Pop-Up Tour
October 12, 2019: Join the Society for Commercial Archeology for a pop-up event in New York City on October 12, 2019, as we follow our president, Michael Hirsch, in search of his Manhattan Five Faves.
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2020 TWA Hotel and Queens Regional Tour
June 5-7, 2020: Celebrate the SCA’s next regional tour by flying back to the 1950s in mid-century style in Queens, NY! We’re holding this event in conjunction with Beth “Mod Betty” Lennon’s Retro Roadmap.
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WRAP-UP: Wacky Wisconsin – SCA’s 42nd Annual Conference
“Wacky Wisconsin” – SCA’s 42nd Annual Conference – brought together roadside enthusiasts, historic preservationists, and academic scholars interested in commercial roadside artifacts from across North America.
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News
SCA Weekly News Review: September 14, 2019
A shrine to kitsch, a Mission District movie theater restoration and revealing interview with Texas photographer Trent Lesikar anchor this week’s news review.
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SCA Weekly News Review: September 8, 2019
Is one of Colorado’s greatest roadside attractions doomed to extinction? This and more in our weekly news review.
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SCA Weekly News Review: September 1, 2019
This week, we let the road take us from Kennedy to Canada to Japan. Ōsaka wa subarashī rōdotorippudesu!
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Articles
The Art of the Movie Theater: A Disappearing American Tradition
By Stefonie Klavens – During the Great Depression, opulent movie palaces allowed one to escape and dream a while for the price of a ticket.
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Bringing Back Broad
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE by Emily Taggart Schricker – In March 2019, SCA members were treated to a tour of three historic buildings situated north of Philadelphia’s City Hall – the Studebaker Building, the Divine Lorraine Hotel and the spectacular Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera House.
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SCA Wisconsin Dells Field Trip Guide
The SCA is proud to present Kevin Patrick’s Field Trip Guide to “Wacky Wisconsin.” Read online. Also available as a PDF download.
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Close Cover Before Striking
FULL ARTICLE By Diane DeBlois In the period between World War I and II, cigarette smoking was commonplace, and the most popular advertising giveaway was the matchbook. The following samples illustrate some businesses that catered to tourists.
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Sombreros Tequila & Sin
By Douglas C. Towne – For Cinco de Mayo, the SCA celebrates in true roadside style with a classic article by Douglas Towne on the "turista" districts just south of the border.
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