A Smattering of Fun Links and Resources
Roadside Attractions
Florida’s Lost Tourist Attractions: an incredible collection of information about defunct tourist attractions in Florida.
Route 40 Roadside Attractions: Chock full of Route 40 history and images from New Jersey to California.
Larger Than Life: a directory of giant things.
Roadside America: guide to offbeat tourist attractions. Great resource for planning your road trip.
Marina the Fire Eating Mermaid: Love mermaids like we do? Keeping the spirit and history of wonders like Aquarama & Aquarena Springs alive, Marina not only performs her mermaid shows but also belly dances, walks on swords, eats fire, and gives poi ball lessons!
Skating Rinks
Skating: guide to open rinks by city and state.
Roller Skaters Gazette: Includes some nice history on Mineola Roller Rink and Earl and Inez Van Horn.
National Museum of Roller Skating: free admission to the largest collection of historical roller skates in the world. Also on exhibit: patents, medals, trophies, photographs, artworks, films and videotapes, costumes, library and archival materials, and roller skating memorabilia.
Bowling Alleys
Bowling 2 U: a quick guide to open bowling alleys by city and state.
Online Archive of California: Incredible photo collection featuring Tower Bowl.
Motor Courts & Motels
Motel Americana: celebrates historic motels still in operation. Lists motels by states with commentary and photos.
Diners & Drive-Ins
Diner City: State by state guide to great diner food.
Diner Hotline: A wonderful source for all things diner. Current news, great history and a wonderful collection of diner memorabilia.
American Roadside: great articles and news updates on operating diners and preservation efforts.
RoadFood: Great forum on where to eat on any trip.
Roadside Architecture
Roadside Peek: one of the most interesting sites on the web. Content is updated frequently and photos are great.
Roadside Architecture: priceless collection of images from across the U.S. featuring roadside giants, diners, motels, neon signs, etc.
Roadside Online: News and views from the back roads and main streets of America. Home of the incredible Diner Finder.
Society for Commercial Archaeology: Established in 1977, the SCA is the oldest national organization devoted to the buildings, artifacts, structures, signs, and symbols of the 20th-century commercial landscape.
Googie Architecture Online: wonderful web site illustrating all things Googie with a focus on California architecture.
John Margolies: The master of roadside architecture photography.
Preservation
Preservation Directory: organization promoting preservation of historic buildings, historic downtowns and neighborhoods, cultural resources and heritage tourism.
Recent Past Preservation Network: Preservation site dedicated to buildings constructed in the last 50 years. Highlights those in danger of demolition and how you can help. Includes motels, bowling alleys, and drive-ins.
National Trust for Historic Preservation:
A private, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to saving historic places and revitalizing America's communities. Actively involved in the preservation of Route 66 motels and many other historic sites.
Los Angeles Conservancy: Active in preservation and revitalization of the architectural and cultural heritage of greater Los Angeles.
Other Great Sites
Rat Patrol Radio: internet radio station playing 1940s Big Band and Swing music along with authentic WWII radio shows and news excerpts.
Vintage Roadtrip: A blog maintained by Vintage Roadside covering our roadtrips. Includes narrative & photos along the way.
Vintage Roadside on Flickr: A collection of photographs taken by us during our travels. Roadside attractions, vintage neon signs, giant dinosaurs & more!
San Diego Historical Society: searchable online archive of the Journal of San Diego History, 1955 to the present.
Route 66 News: features great articles along with listings of Route 66 related events, restaurants, lodging, attractions, and campgrounds. Frequently updated, this is a great site to find what's happening along Route 66.
Lincoln Highway News: wonderful site featuring current news and informative history regarding one of the premiere coast-to-coast highways.
Black Eyed Susan Skate Shop: Our roller derby friends from out Baltimore way. Owned and operated by 3 members of the Charm City Roller Girls, BESSS carries a full compliment of derby equipment including an exclusive Carlin's Park Roller Rink t-shirt produced by Vintage Roadside for BESSS.
Max Grundy: Combining the graphic style and color palette of WWII propaganda art with hot rods, UFOs, and more, Max's art is truly unique. Our current favorite is Viva Las Wasteland.
Font Diner: fun retro style fonts.
Route 20 Pulse: monthly newspaper covering the 120-mile stretch of New York’s U.S. Route 20, between Duanesburg and LaFayette. Recently picked up the coverage area west to Skaneateles and south to Hamilton.
PDX (Portland, Oregon) History: detailed history and wonderful images of Portland’s past attractions. Includes extensive history of Pixieland.
Roadtrip America: Great articles, useful links, and a friendly, active forum sharing recommendations for places to visit along with travel advice and tips for the road.
Books
Roadside Attractions
Chris Gethard. Weird New York (New York: Sterling Publishing, 2005)
Ken Breslauer. Roadside Paradise: The Golden Age of Florida Tourist Attractions, 1929–71 (St. Petersburg: RetroFlorida, 2000)
John Margolies. Fun Along The Road: American Tourist Attractions (Boston: Little Brown, 1998)
Tim Hollis. Florida’s Miracle Strip, (Jackson: Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2004)
Brian Butko. Roadside Giants (Mechanicsburg: Stackpole Books, 2005)
Skating Rinks
Lou Brooks. Skate Crazy (Philadelphia: Running Press, 2003)
Bowling Alleys
H. Thomas Steele. Bowl-O-Rama: The Visual Arts of Bowling (New York: Abbeville Press, 1986)
Gideon Bosker and Bianca Lencek-Bosker. Bowled Over: A Roll Down Memory Lane (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2002)
Motor Courts & Motels
John Margolies. Home Away From Home (Boston: Little Brown, 1995)
John A. Jakle, Keith A. Sculle, and Jefferson S. Rogers. The Motel in America (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996)
Diners & Drive-Ins
Jim Heimann. May I Take Your Order? American Menu Design, 1920 – 1960 (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1998)
Witzel, Michael Karl. Drive-In Deluxe (Osceola: Motorbooks International, 1997)
John A. Jakle and Keith A. Sculle. Fast Food: Roadside Restaurants in the Automobile Age, (Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1999)
Other Great Books
Peter Genovese.The Great American Road Trip: US 1 Maine to Florida (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1999)
Chester Liebs. Main Street to Miracle Mile: American Roadside Architecture (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1995)
Alan Hess. Googie Redux (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2004)
Lynne Arany and Archie Hobson. Little Museums: Over 1,000 Small (and Not So Small) American Showplaces (New York: Henry Holt, 1998)
John Margolies and Emily Gwathmey. Signs of Our Times (New York: Abbeville Press, 1993)
Susan Croce Kelly, Route 66: The Highway and Its People (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1988)
Maggie Valentine. The Show Starts on the Sidewalk: An Architectural History of the Movie Theatre, Starring S. Charles Lee (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1994)