Retro Motel Signs Route 66

I can’t say I would be tempted to stay in some of the motels located along Route 66 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. A few are houses of ill repute and the illegal drug trade while others have been shut down for these reasons.

But the kitschy Americana signs of a bygone era are art of the Atomic Age. They represent the great American road trip for which Route 66 is the icon. The famed highway, which runs from Chicago to Los Angeles, was the main artery for travel by car before freeways and interstates superseded it during the second half of last century.

I love how the services offered remain retro--color cable TV, for example. Do they even make black and white televisions anymore? There were no signs for free wifi.

It was a well spent afternoon in the blazing August heat photographing them.

Many of the motels are being torn down although there is a movement to restore and preserve some to their former glory.