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- Holiday Inn, Memphis, Tennessee, 1958 - After World War II, roadside lodging options were mostly limited to independently owned motels with varying standards and rates. Entrepreneur Kemmons Wilson opened the first Holiday Inns in Memphis starting in 1952. His motels offered consistent, quality service and amenities at family-friendly prices. Within a few years, Wilson's Holiday Inns had revolutionized industry standards and become the nation's largest lodging chain.
- 1958
- Collections - Artifact
Holiday Inn, Memphis, Tennessee, 1958
After World War II, roadside lodging options were mostly limited to independently owned motels with varying standards and rates. Entrepreneur Kemmons Wilson opened the first Holiday Inns in Memphis starting in 1952. His motels offered consistent, quality service and amenities at family-friendly prices. Within a few years, Wilson's Holiday Inns had revolutionized industry standards and become the nation's largest lodging chain.
- Roadside Picnic, circa 1930 - Motorists taking long trips often packed their own meals. This photograph shows a family stopped alongside the road having a meal and using a tree stump as a table.
- circa 1930
- Collections - Artifact
Roadside Picnic, circa 1930
Motorists taking long trips often packed their own meals. This photograph shows a family stopped alongside the road having a meal and using a tree stump as a table.
- Holiday Inns: Revolutionizing an Industry -
- March 23, 2018
- Collections - Set
Holiday Inns: Revolutionizing an Industry
- Roadside Taverns -
- May 26, 2015
- Collections - Set
Roadside Taverns
- Tourist Cabin from Irish Hills Area of Michigan, on Exhibit in Henry Ford Museum (detail), September 2007 - Tourist cabins grew in popularity in the 1930s. They provided motorists with convenient, economical roadside lodging. This circa 1935 cabin, once part of a cluster along U.S. Highway 12 in Michigan's Irish Hills, was acquired by The Henry Ford in 1986. This photograph of its interior was taken in 2007.
- September 01, 2007
- Collections - Artifact
Tourist Cabin from Irish Hills Area of Michigan, on Exhibit in Henry Ford Museum (detail), September 2007
Tourist cabins grew in popularity in the 1930s. They provided motorists with convenient, economical roadside lodging. This circa 1935 cabin, once part of a cluster along U.S. Highway 12 in Michigan's Irish Hills, was acquired by The Henry Ford in 1986. This photograph of its interior was taken in 2007.
- Tourist Cabin from Irish Hills Area of Michigan, on Exhibit in Henry Ford Museum, September 2007 - Tourist cabins grew in popularity in the 1930s. They provided motorists with convenient, economical roadside lodging. This circa 1935 cabin, once part of a cluster along U.S. Highway 12 in Michigan's Irish Hills, was acquired by The Henry Ford in 1986. This photograph of its interior was taken in 2007.
- September 01, 2007
- Collections - Artifact
Tourist Cabin from Irish Hills Area of Michigan, on Exhibit in Henry Ford Museum, September 2007
Tourist cabins grew in popularity in the 1930s. They provided motorists with convenient, economical roadside lodging. This circa 1935 cabin, once part of a cluster along U.S. Highway 12 in Michigan's Irish Hills, was acquired by The Henry Ford in 1986. This photograph of its interior was taken in 2007.
- Burma-Shave Roadside Signs, 1964-1965 - While this "jingle" was first composed in 1933, the Burma-Vita company manufactured this set of signs for display at the 1965 Detroit Auto Show. From the late 1920s to the early 1960s, sets of six signs like these marketed the company's famous "brushless" men's shaving cream along rural roads in most states.
- 1933-1940
- Collections - Artifact
Burma-Shave Roadside Signs, 1964-1965
While this "jingle" was first composed in 1933, the Burma-Vita company manufactured this set of signs for display at the 1965 Detroit Auto Show. From the late 1920s to the early 1960s, sets of six signs like these marketed the company's famous "brushless" men's shaving cream along rural roads in most states.
- Kemmons Wilson’s Holiday Inns - At a time when Americans are traveling less and the lodging industry is making big changes, let’s take a look back at the story of Kemmons Wilson, whose Holiday Inns revolutionized roadside lodging in the mid-20th century.
- May 28, 2020
- Collections - Article
Kemmons Wilson’s Holiday Inns
At a time when Americans are traveling less and the lodging industry is making big changes, let’s take a look back at the story of Kemmons Wilson, whose Holiday Inns revolutionized roadside lodging in the mid-20th century.
- Tourist Cabin from Irish Hills Area of Michigan, on Exhibit in Henry Ford Museum (detail), September 2007 - Tourist cabins grew in popularity in the 1930s. They provided motorists with convenient, economical roadside lodging. This circa 1935 cabin, once part of a cluster along U.S. Highway 12 in Michigan's Irish Hills, was acquired by The Henry Ford in 1986. This photograph of its interior was taken in 2007.
- September 01, 2007
- Collections - Artifact
Tourist Cabin from Irish Hills Area of Michigan, on Exhibit in Henry Ford Museum (detail), September 2007
Tourist cabins grew in popularity in the 1930s. They provided motorists with convenient, economical roadside lodging. This circa 1935 cabin, once part of a cluster along U.S. Highway 12 in Michigan's Irish Hills, was acquired by The Henry Ford in 1986. This photograph of its interior was taken in 2007.
- Postcard, "Deluxe Cabins, Armstrong, Iowa," circa 1950 - Founded in 1902, the American Automobile Association (AAA) lobbied for motorist-friendly legislation, promoted road and highway improvements, and encouraged automobile travel and tourism. AAA also inspected and endorsed roadside hotels, motels, and tourist cabins. For motorists in search of lodging, an endorsement from AAA was a mark of assurance promising a clean, comfortable room.
- circa 1950
- Collections - Artifact
Postcard, "Deluxe Cabins, Armstrong, Iowa," circa 1950
Founded in 1902, the American Automobile Association (AAA) lobbied for motorist-friendly legislation, promoted road and highway improvements, and encouraged automobile travel and tourism. AAA also inspected and endorsed roadside hotels, motels, and tourist cabins. For motorists in search of lodging, an endorsement from AAA was a mark of assurance promising a clean, comfortable room.