The native genius of americas midcentury automobile culture. John margolies, photographer of whimsical architecture. View detailed pictures that accompany our john margolies roadside america photos article with closeup photos of exterior and interior features. For 30 years he has explored americas highways in search of unique architecture. Art historian john margolies 19402016, responding to the beauty of such. They show how the american roadside landscape has evolved. Roadside photographer john margolies at the library of. John margolies photographs of roadside america the public. Library of congress releases 11,700 freely usable photos of roadside america, taken by john margolies.
John margolies is an author, photographer, and lecturer on american architecture and design. His journey culminated in the photo book, john margolies. Weirdest, wildest roadside attractions of connecticut and. American tourist attractions another amazing album from americas number one roadside observer, and more on. John also was encouraged by and visited modern structures appearing by american mavericks following in the roadside oddities tradition. Take a digital tour of americas vintage roadside stops. In that book are three mississippi images, two on jacksons highway 80 and one from highway 61 south of natchez. Roadside america john margolies strange buildings in. The preeminent photographer of the american roadside for the last three decades, margolies has preserved a record of the drivein theaters, motels, diners, gas stations, miniature golf, curio shops and tourist attractions that are increasingly disappearing from the blue highways of america. Revisiting a classic photo compendium of giant roadside. For three decades he drove the back highways of america looking for crazy buildings, funny billboards, offbeat neon signs, peculiar figures. Most recently, a book of his photographs called john margolies.
See more ideas about roadside attractions, america and vintage neon signs. Farewell to john margolies, who glorified the diners and. Retro roadhusband and i made perfect time to nyc last night for the john margolies book signing. Architectural critic and curator john margolies 19402016 traveled the united states and took pictures of roadside amenities, attractions, and architecture from 1969 to 2008, compiling a unique archive of 20thcentury americana. Honestly we really had no idea what to expect with roadside america we knew it was supposed to be a miniature village with trains running through it, but that was about it. John margolies had a vision about americas unique buildings quickly disappearing long before communities and others realized their importance. Over the course of 30 years, margolies traveled more than 100,000 miles along americas back roads documenting miniature golf courses, drivein theaters, motels, restaurants, and gas stations. American roadside attractions from library of congress. Jim heimann is the executive editor for taschen america. John margolies photo collection released to public domain. John margoliess most popular book is roadside america. John margolies roadside america photograph archive.
The library has selected the john margolies roadside america. John margolies photographs of roadside america the. Library of congress releases 11,700 freely usable photos. His aesthetic clarity contrasts with the thread of roadside mania that most fully entered mainstream culture a nostalgiafueled appreciation of route 66 and other tourist highways that resonate with the childhood memories of baby boomers. The new john margolies, roadside america is a fantastic summing up of 30 years of labor. Margolies produced tens of thousands of images, resulting in a spate of richly illustrated books, including john margolies. During the course of his travels, john margolies also amassed an extensive collection of historical materials documenting the same vanishing american roadside that he was photographing. Roadside america, published in 2010, which presents a sweeping portrait of the nation through its roadside embellishments. For almost forty years, he documented the most remarkable examples he found, publishing some of his discoveries in books and consigning the rest to an archive. John margolies roadside america photograph archive prints and photographs reading room, library of congress overview of the john margolies roadside america photograph archive, a documentary study of twentiethcentury american roadside and commercial architecture. Margolies, appetite whetted on road trips with parents who never pulled over, began crisscrossing the country in the mid1970s.
Im thankful to taschen for giving john margolies the coffeetable book treatment he deserves. Through the lens of john margolies focuses on the vanishing american sites that world. While robert frank showed us the often aching realities of the united states in the 20th century, margolies gifted us with all its weird and its wonderful. Enter your email address here and well update you on availability. Margolies was a mere 94 pages, but there were many more volumes to come from this prolific hunter and gatherer of roadside images. These roadside photos of 60s and 70s columbus will make. A nostalgic trip through roadside americas weirdest sites. John margolies is nuts about weird signs and buildings.
Phil patton writes about car design for the new york times and is a contributing editor to i. John margolies roadside america captures fading landmarks to american automobile culture. From the 1960s onward, margolies documented an america that barely exists anymore, having given way to endless interstate exits featuring the same chain restaurants, gas stations, and hotels. John margolies is the great documenter of 20th century roadside american architecture, and this is nice, largeformat collection of some of his best photos. John margolies has 18 books on goodreads with 475 ratings. Farewell to john margolies, who glorified the diners and motels of roadside america and left us,000 photos martin theater, talladega, alabama. The native genius of americas midera automobile culture before the advent of corporate communications and architectural uniformity, americas built environment was a freeform landscape of individual expression. These include buildings made in the shapes of the things they sold, strange tourist attractions, themed restaurants and hotels, and other oddities offered to.
From the start, margolies knew the quirky motels, miniature golf courses, diners, billboards, and gas stations were being endangered by franchising and changing fashions not to mention changing patterns of. However, i got the feeling we were in for a retro road trip experience when we walked into the. Phil patton before the advent of corporate communications and architectural uniformity, americas built environment was a freeform landscape of. Roadside america with john margolies press release the. Such perfect timing in fact that we scored a free on street parking space within 10. The john margolies roadside america photograph archive.
Ford peatross, phil patton, jim heimann, john margolies isbn. Before the advent of corporate communications and architectural uniformity, americas built environment was a freeform landscape of individual. The exhibit is photographer john margolies photographs of unusal and everday roadside attractions compiled over the last three decades. John samuel margolies was an architectural critic, photographer, and author who was noted for celebrating vernacular and novelty architecture in the united states, particularly those designed as roadside attractions. John margolies roadside america photograph archive prints. John margolies was a photographer who spent more than three decades taking pictures of americas roadside tourist architecture. John margolies books list of books by author john margolies. John margolies roadside america photos photo gallery.
John margolies roadside america blog the henry ford. Opening inside henry ford museum june 20, 2015 through january 24, 2016, roadside america. Signs, artifacts, and even buildings ranged from playful to eccentric, from deliciously cartoonish to quasipsychedelic. While many roadside landmarks are long gone, they live on through the work of late photographer john margolies. Photographer john margolies spent over three decades and drove more than 100,000 miles documenting these fascinating and endearingly artisanal examples of roadside advertising and fantasy structures, a fastfading aspect of americana. Another book i need to buy from taschen is roadside america by john margolies. A new book by photographer john margolies, roadside america, explores our evolving taste and the changing face of americas roadsides.
Roadside america exhibit henry ford museum hotrod hotline. Roadside america, published in 2010, which presents a sweeping portrait of the. Through the lens of john margolies opens at henry ford museum june 20, 2015 dearborn, mi june 8, 2015 americas forgotten landscape takes center stage in a new exhibition at the henry ford. Vanishing highway architecture in america 1981, margolies warned that modernism threatened to displace such popular. Townley milk bottle, and classen streets, oklahoma city, ok. Revisiting a classic photo compendium of giant roadside curios john margolies played an outsize role in memorializing americas outsize attractions. Even his first book, published in 1981, was elegiacally called the end of the road. That year, margolies also published his first book of photographs, entitled the end of the road, referring. See all books authored by john margolies, including pump and circumstance. John margolies roadside america photograph archive by subject. Author of a dozen books, his photographs and articles have appeared in the new york times magazine, esquire, domus and architectural record. Learn more about the john margolies roadside america photograph archive. Through the lens of john margolies opened at the henry ford museum in dearborn, michigan on june 20 and will be on display until january 24, 2016. Glory days of the gas station, and fun along the road.
He documented against blue skies motels, driveins, diners, gas stations and other businesses with eyecatching architecture. The john margolies roadside america photograph archive is one of the most comprehensive documentary studies of vernacular commercial structures along main streets, byways, and highways throughout the united states in the twentieth century. In 20, the henry ford acquired 1,500 transparencies from margolies 75,000strong archive of images. The library of congress released 11,710 photos taken by john margolies between 1969 and 2008.