NOTE: Book reviews featured here are “reprints” from the SCA Journal, both recently published and from our archives. Not all titles may still be in print, or if in print, offered at the price or in the format listed.
66 on 66: A Photographer’s Journey
66 on 66: A Photographer’s JourneyBy Terrence Moore
Tucson, Ariz.: Schaffner Press, 2018
144 pages; 10 x 11.5 inches, $27.95 hardcover
Reviewed by Douglas C. Towne
Terrence Moore is a talented photographer, and his gifted eye is apparent in 66 on 66, a coffee table book that is his latest contribution to the lore of the Mother Road. The book’s 66 images are more than a display of Moore’s photographic prowess, however. They synergistically work together to create what contributor Clark Worswick describes as “a memorial to a vanished time and place.”
Florida Roadside Attractions History
Florida Roadside Attractions History: The Complete Guide to Florida Tourist Attractions Before DisneyBy Ken Breslauer
Gaithersburg, Md.: Signature Book Printing, 2018
208 pages; $29.00 hardcover
Reviewed by Ralph S. Wilcox
Three years ago, my parents retired to Florida from Pennsylvania. They, like many other Northerners, fled south for warmer weather and to escape the never-ending snows that always seemed to blanket their area. It was for these very same reasons that thousands of tourists flocked to Florida every year beginning in the late 19th century.
No Vacancy
No Vacancy: The Rise, Demise, and Reprise of America’s MotelsBy Mark Okrant, illustrations by Laura HodgdonConcord, New Hampshire: Plaidswede Publishing, 2013
138 pages, illus., $15.95 paper
Keith A. Sculle
Author Mark Okrant has launched readers on another nostalgic journey where small roadside lodgings serviced travelers overnight. In the introduction, he states of this book and its predecessor, Sleeping Alongside the Road (2006) they offer “a nostalgic look at the American motel, an American icon that is indelibly etched in the memories of nearly half of all Americans age forty and older” (p. ix).
Lakefront Anonymous, Chicago’s Unknown Art Gallery
Lakefront Anonymous, Chicago’s Unknown Art GalleryBy William Swislow (text and photographs) and Aron Packer (photographs)
Chicago: Interestingideas.com, 2021
Softcover, 160 pages, $40
Reviewed by Joseph Marlin
Who would have thought there would be a book about graffiti and vernacular stone carvings on Chicago’s lakefront? Not I, and I live here! But William Swislow, an SCA board member, has spent three decades photographing and documenting these works typically created by untrained, anonymous carvers.
Neon: A Light History
Neon: A Light HistoryBy Dydia DeLyser and Paul Greenstein
San Francisco: Giant Orange Press, 2021
Softcover, 88 pages, $25
Reviewed by Douglas C. Towne
There’s a new book on neon signs that excels at, in the authors’ words, bringing “the light of the past into the present.” The cleverly titled Neon: A Light History beautifully and meticulously illuminates the evolution of this electrifying advertising medium. But that’s only the start. The text goes a step further and connects neon signs with the larger economic and societal forces that impacted them, placing them in the crux of American history.
Two Up and a Bag of Chips! George’s Coney Island
Two Up and a Bag of Chips! George’s Coney Island: Serving the Worcester Community for Over 100 Years By Kathryn Tsandikos with Holly Robinson
Cambridge, Mass.: TidePool Press, 2021
Softcover, 144 pages, $30
Reviewed by Harold Aurand Jr.
I’ve never been to Worcester, Massachusetts, and so, of course, I’ve never eaten at George’s Coney Island either. As soon as I saw this book, though, I knew I needed to have it in my collection. I have other books on restaurants, but usually, they’re about certain types, like diners, steakhouses, or chains. Books on just one restaurant are rarer, or maybe they’re published and marketed locally and harder to find.
The American Roadside in Émigré Literature, Film, and Photography 1955-1985
The American Roadside in Émigré Literature, Film, and Photography 1955-1985By Elsa Court
Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan, 2020
193 pp., hardcover, $84.99
Reviewed by Paul Sherman
Ever since Alexis de Tocqueville roamed the fledgling United States and wrote Democracy in America, the idea that the fresh eyes and ears of a foreign intellectual can provide insights that natives might miss has become something of a trope.
Highway 101: The History of El Camino Real
Highway 101: The History of El Camino Real By Stephen H. Provost
Fresno, Calif.: Craven Street Books, 2020
170 B & W and 33 Color images
248 pp., paperback, $20.95
Reviewed by Barbara Gossett
Stephen Provost has once again documented the course of a wonderful road trip while providing detailed and entertaining commentary about the history, geography, and (of course) commercial archeology of U.S. Highway 101.
