American Motels

Posted By Mark on Jul 5, 2011

Not only would I like to live forever, I’d like to have lived forever. I want to see everything that ever was, is, and will be. Sadly, stupid mortality will get in the way and my experience of the universe will be incredibly limited. I’ve seen some impressive things (and a lot of crap too) but not enough for my liking, and every time I look back at historical photos or writings or consider the various scientific conclusions of evolutionary progress on this planet I get a welling up of a sense of, well, not quite nostalgia – since I never saw or lived through these things in the first place – but something akin to it. A temporal wanderlust, perhaps. For instance, take the following postcards of American motels from the glorious era of American motels (whenever that was) uploaded by Jordan Smith: I’m not American, I wasn’t alive in the forties, fifties, or sixties, and I can’t help but imagine that a lot of these places would have been just unbelievably terrible places to stay in. But don’t they look fantastic anyway? There’s a wonderful style there that’s gone now. But it’s only just gone. In the grand scale of things I missed out on seeing these with my own eyes by a tad less than a smidge of a fraction. In a word: buggerations! Below I’ve selected a handful of my favourite motels from the postcard collection. Check out the entire set (linked in the paragraph above) and subscribe to Jordan’s In The Heart Of Downtown site to be kept up-to-date with every new American motel discovery too. Alexandria Bay in New York is the location of Captain Thomson’s Motor Lodge, featuring air conditioning and private balconies over the water. Of course, wood panelling is present too. You have to have wood panelling. What’s slightly more interesting about the motel room pictured is the size of the beds. Two beds, I understand. Two double beds… has implications. This motor lodge may have catered for large people. Alternatively – and I’m favouring this thought – it may have been popular with swingers. Look at that couple by the window. They’re looking out for beautiful people in polyester suits and flowery dresses to join them for an afternoon romp. You know they are. This is the Colonial Statler Hilton Inn, just twenty minutes from downtown Boston, and it’s not hard to love this place instantly. A swimming pool in a dome; if that doesn’t scream The Future to you then you’re not seeing the world through my eyes. What’s even better than a motel with a Future Pool?...

Amok Time

Posted By Mark on Jul 3, 2011

Subtle

Posted By Mark on Jul 2, 2011

Project 365 – Week Twenty Six

Posted By Mark on Jul 2, 2011

The Photo Every Day project completes its twenty sixth week, a week that witnessed a lot of activity from the Red Arrows flying over Chichester as part of the annual Goodwood Festival of Speed. Or, as I like to call it, the Goodwood Festival of Traffic Jams Adding Thirty Minutes To The Daily Commute If You’re Lucky. Admittedly, not as catchy a...

Project 365 – Week Twenty Five

Posted By Mark on Jun 25, 2011

The Photo Every Day project completes its twenty fifth week, a week with highlights being accidentally photographing a bee with its tongue sticking out and – while photographing budgies in a cage – engaging in a conversation with a woman regarding whether or not budgies could really love one another, disagreeing with her that they could, and getting accused of being a...

Mob Rewards

Posted By Mark on Jun 22, 2011