As the last vestiges of the old motels disappear, we set out (with a little help from our friends) to collect old postcards showing these important overnight rest stops in their heyday. As automobile sales increased and “touring” became a popular pastime, travelers would pack up tents, cots, linens, cooking kits, and other necessities and head cross county. Tourist camps started as just that—places to pitch a tent—and soon grew into collections of cottages, and then later into motels featuring fancy amenities like pools and outdoor patios.
All States Village, for example, started as a camp in 1928 and grew to nearly 50 cabins by the 1950s. Signs along Highway 40 advertised the cottages with jaunty little poems like this gem:
A legitimate business
Is our dower
No cabins rented
By the hour
