The Motel in America"In The Motel in America, John Jakle, Keith Sculle, and Jefferson Rogers take an informative and entertaining look at the history, architecture, and business of motels in the United States. Like Jakle and Sculle's acclaimed The Gas Station in America, this book explores the effect on American culture as citizens became motorists. The new breed of automobile traveler rejected the hotels of the railroad era, which were located in congested downtown areas and lacked adequate parking. Instead, they came to favor the roadside lodgings outside city limits which came to be known as motels, a term first used in Arthur Heineman's Milestone Mo-tel, opened in San Luis Obispo, California, in 1926." "The popularity of motels grew steadily throughout the century, booming after the Second World War and reaching a peak in 1961, when there were some 61,000 motels operating throughout the country, the vast majority of them independently owned. These motels were an integral part of the American landscape, shaping their guests' ideas about modern living, introducing Americans to the consumer novelties of the age: color televisions, automatic coffee makers, shag rugs, even residential swimming pools. By the 1980s, most of the country's 40,000 motel establishments were affiliated with referral and franchise chains, reflecting the traveler's need for uniform quality and the entrepreneur's desire for regional or national recognition." "The history of the motel, from autocamp to franchise, has long been overlooked. Although motels have come to be taken for granted, they illustrate much that is central to the American experience. In The Motel in America, motels at last receive the careful interpretation they deserve."--BOOK JACKET |
Contents
2 | 6-39 |
Conclusion 324 | 10-27 |
Notes 341 | 13 |
| 27 | |
Contents | 41 |
The Motel as Architecture 23 | 64 |
3 | 64 |
Remember the Alamo Plazas 90 | 6-90 |
Contents | 10-57 |
2 | |
MomandPop Enterprise 57 | |
Remember the Alamo Plazas 90 | |
The Rise of PlaceProductPackaging 120 | |
6 | |
8 | |
9 | |
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Common terms and phrases
advertising Alamo Plaza Hotel Albuquerque all-suite American Motel Association auto camps Auto Court automobile Best Western Blvd brand building built cabin camps California chain was headquartered circa construction corporate Cottages culture Days Inns developed downtown Econo Lodge entrepreneurs Farner FIGURE guests Hampton Inns Hilton Holiday Inn Holiday Inns Hospitality Franchise Systems Hotel and Motel Howard Johnson's Ibid Inn's investor syndicate investors Kemmons Wilson landscape leading counties Locations by county lodgers Lodging Establishment lodging industry Marriott Memphis motel chain MOTEL FRANCHISING MOTEL IN AMERICA motel industry Motel Management motel owners motel room motel trade Motor Court Motor Hotel Motor Inns Motor Lodge operated Park percent place-product-packaging Plaza Hotel Courts postcard profit properties Ramada referral chains restaurants Rodeway Inns room geography Sculle Sheraton Shreveport Statler Super 8 Motels Texas tion Torrance Torrance's Tourist Camp Tourist Court Journal tourist home TraveLodge York