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

On the Road Since 1977

Join us as we explore the 20th-century landscape of drive-ins, diners, neon signs and roadside attractions.

An SCA membership buys a world of adventure. A full calendar of tours, conferences and online presentations. Subscriptions to our celebrated semi-annual journal and quarterly newsletter. Free access to our website and vast digital library … and so much more.

Join Now

Register Now!

Get yourself psyched up and signed up for the upcoming SCA conference, May 31 – Jun 3, in Erie, PA. Good people. Guided tours. So much to see! Details here.

REGISTER ON EVENTBRITE

On the Road Since 1977

Join us as we explore the 20th-century landscape of drive-ins, diners, neon signs and roadside attractions.

An SCA membership buys a world of adventure.
Join Now

Register Now!

Get yourself psyched up and signed up for the upcoming SCA conference, May 31 – Jun 3, in Erie, PA. Good people. Guided tours. So much to see! Details here.

REGISTER

SCA EVENTS

Bowling alley ball rack

ZOOM EVENT: Susan Bregman – Straight Outta Worcester: The Story of Candlepin Bowling

Wednesday, April 12, 2023: Join author and photographer Susan Mara Bregman for an affectionate look at one of America’s quirkiest pastimes – candlepin bowling. Register on Eventbrite
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<span style="color: red">REGISTRATION NOW OPEN:</span> Amused in the Alleghenies: SCA 46th Annual Conference and Tours

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN: Amused in the Alleghenies: SCA 46th Annual Conference and Tours

Join the Society for Commercial Archeology at our upcoming 3-day conference in Erie, Pennsylvania, May 31 -June 4, 2023. Reception, tours, presentations, a cool downtown, good company and good times! You’ll love every minute! Register on Eventbrite
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Vintage Postcard: Downtown Erie, PA

CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS: Amused in the Alleghenies: SCA 46th Annual Conference and Tours

We are currently soliciting abstracts for the June 2nd presentation session at Amused in the Alleghenies: SCA 46th Annual Conference and Tours. Hurry, deadline for abstracts is April 15th, 2023. Submission instructions and event details at the link.
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Joel Baker

ZOOM RECORDING: Joel Baker – The Fall and Rise of the American Giant
NO LOGIN REQUIRED

Wednesday, March 15, 2023: Join Joel Baker, founder in 2012 of American Giants, as he discusses the history of the roadside giants known as “Muffler Men,” and his teams efforts to restore these American Giants. Watch Video
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<span style="color: red">RECAP: </span>The Golden Age of Air Travel

RECAP: The Golden Age of Air Travel

Join SCA board member Tim O’Brien as he recaps the many, many highlights of our summer tour, “The Golden Age of Air Travel.” As you will see, an amazingly good time was had by all.
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EVENT RECORDINGS

ROADSIDE NEWS

Unique Cafe Owners

SCA WEEKLY NEWS REVIEW: March 19, 2023

A little all over the place this week, as we like it.
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Stuckey’s Promotional Flyer

SCA WEEKLY NEWS REVIEW: March 12, 2023

Reminiscences, recriminations and revivals.
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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.

View Database

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.

View Database

SCA ARTICLES

FIVE FAVES – U.S. ROUTE 40

FIVE FAVES – U.S. ROUTE 40

More than a half-century ago, I discovered George Stewart’s 1953 book, U.S. 40. That landmark publication about pre-Interstate road travel and a slice of American life contained 115 brilliant photographs and about 100 essays about everyday life along what is perhaps the greatest highway in the nation.
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Dining in Transit: Holidays Aloft

Dining in Transit: Holidays Aloft

From the New-York Historical Society Museum & Library Blog: Airlines began serving special holiday meals in the late 1930s. Since a meal would be served inflight anyway, why not add a bit of fun and festiveness to the service, especially on days when people would prefer not to fly?
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“Lumbering” Into the Past: Fantastic Chicago Ghost Signs Uncovered

“Lumbering” Into the Past: Fantastic Chicago Ghost Signs Uncovered

Last summer, Bob Behounek, a retired sign painter, discovered three ghost signs on wood-siding boards about eight inches in height. Advertisements on this material are rare, usually limited to fences and water tanks atop buildings. The signs were in remarkably fresh condition and exposed when a newer siding was removed as a step in the tear-down of a house built in the 1880s.
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Mid-Century Modern Blockheads

Mid-Century Modern Blockheads

By Heather M. David – Are you a blockhead? From the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, concrete block was mass-produced in the U.S. and very popular. It can be seen in many residences, office buildings, schools, churches, motels, and shopping centers from this period.
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Lost Photos, Found Memories: Motels

Lost Photos, Found Memories: Motels

By Edward Engel – Images of roadside cabin courts and teepee-shaped motel rooms shot by honeymooners or vacationing families in the heyday of American tourist travel are among the thousands of “found photos” I own. I hope you enjoyed this sampling of images of motels and the folks that stay in them.
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Exposing the “Motel Menace”

Exposing the “Motel Menace”

FULL ARTICLE by Lyell Henry – The tourist camps that had at first been hailed as delightful expressions of American character and genius now were as likely to be viewed as hotbeds of sordidness and immorality, even as “Camps of Crime,” said J. Edgar Hoover.
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Dr. Patrick’s Postcard Roadside

DR. PATRICK’S POSTCARD ROADSIDE: The Blue and White Restaurant

DR. PATRICK’S POSTCARD ROADSIDE: The Blue and White Restaurant

Constantine Spiridon and his two brothers opened the Blue and White Restaurant at 211 Liberty Street in downtown Warren, PA, in 1925. It was one and a half blocks north of US 6, certainly the coast-to-coast reference on this postcard showing its 1937 Art Moderne remodel.
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DR. PATRICK’S POSTCARD ROADSIDE: New York City’s West Side Piers

DR. PATRICK’S POSTCARD ROADSIDE: New York City’s West Side Piers

A circa-1960 postcard shows New York City’s Transatlantic Steamship Terminal in the Hudson River between 44th and 54th streets ...
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DR. PATRICK’S POSTCARD ROADSIDE: Cedar Tourist Court

DR. PATRICK’S POSTCARD ROADSIDE: Cedar Tourist Court

Westward across the plains of Kansas, US 40 originally split at Manhattan with the south branch following the Victory Highway through Salina (current US 40), and the north branch following the Midland Trail through Clay Center.
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The Society for Commercial Archeology is an all-volunteer road-tripping organization fueled entirely by your support.

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Standard and donation-level memberships available