I was delighted to be joined recently by the Rolando Pujol, to discuss and dissect two 20th century documents of American road culture , Howard Johnson’s and Holiday Inn. And while I promote listening to the Everything is a Primary Source Podcast in any setting, I have to say that this episode is absolutely perfect listening for driving down the highway.
The United States has always had a road culture; we are a society constantly on the move. As such there has always been an inn-keeping industry. In some ways road hospitality has gone unchanged since the days of colonial taverns offering beds, food and news to stagecoach passengers, as those same things continue to be sought when people look for lodging. But the revolution in long-distance travel that was prompted by automobiles likewise made for alterations to what travelers could look for when weariness set in.
Howard Johnson’s is a product of the road and travel culture that came with the post-World War I period, marked with the creation of the US Highway system by the end of the 1920s. Holiday Inn came about due to a similar, albeit more robust, touring and vacationing society that came about after World War II, denoted by the enhancement to the highways, the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System.
Episode 16: "Hojo's Motel/ Holiday Inn" with the Retrologist, Rolando Pujol