The SCA Celebrates the American Roadside

I discovered the Society for Commercial Archeology in the bibliography of the Tim Hollis book “Dixie Before Disney.” On a whim, I attended the organization’s conference in 2002, traveling solo to Reno, Nevada. I was immediately welcomed into a group of like-minded individuals who loved the architecture, signage, and culture of the American roadside. We went on bus tours to see iconic architecture, stopped to take pictures of neon signs, and dove into historical scholarship at the paper session.  It was truly a life changing experience.

After falling in love with the group, I volunteered to create artwork for 2008’s “Southwest Detours” conference held in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I designed the logo used for all conference materials, tour guides for the bus trip, and I even worked on a video to promote the organization as we traveled along the “Mother Road”–  Route 66. Since then I’ve completed artwork for several other conferences and tours as well as designed collateral for the organization itself. Recently my wife and I attended the “Wacky Wisconsin” Conference, ogling amazing Frank Lloyd Wright architecture, traveling on the same roads used by early motorists, and staying in the kitschy Wisconsin Dells.

One of the biggest challenges of my career was organizing a SCA conference in Florida. “Fun in the Sunshine City” was the result, the 2014 gathering attended by about 70 roadside aficionados. It took more than a year to put together and I couldn’t have done it without the help of the preservation community of the St. Petersburg. Highlights of the tour included an opening event at the St. Pete Shuffleboard Club, bus tours to Sarasota and Weeki Wachee, and a closing dinner at the famed Columbia Restaurant in Ybor City. 

I’ve also delivered papers at three conferences, including my very first presentation called “Hillbilly Iconography on the American Roadside” at 2010’s Odyssey in the Ozarks event in Fayetteville, Arkansas. My association with this club that is comprised entirely of volunteers has been rewarding and fun. Its influence in my life has been profound. It has even changed my driving habits. I try to take the “blue roads” whenever possible. As one gentleman said to me in New Mexico, “friends don’t let friends take the interstate.”