Our book review of Icons of the Highway: A Celebration of Small-town America in Hardback by Tony Worobiec and Eva Worobiec
Title: Icons of the Highway: A Celebration of Small-town America
Author: Tony Worobiec and Eva Worobiec
ISBN: 1904332781
Publisher: AAPPL Artists & Photographers Press Limited
Edition: Hardback
RRP: £19.99
Dimensions: 128 pages, 28.2 x 24.4 x 2.4 cm
The highways of Middle America are steeped in iconography of yesteryear. Most of the infrastructure surrounding these fabled vehicular arteries dates from a post-WW2 US which emerged from the conflict in relative stability it had a burgeoning industrial sector that was soon converted from producing military hardware to motor vehicles, and a population bolstered from defeating Nazi Germany. Such fertile ground for growth spawned a good deal of small town development. Families would jump in their shiny new cars for a night at the theatre, or spend the weekend on the road hopping between the new home-from-home motels lining the roads. However, the recent emergence of the Interstate system has meant that whole swathes of this historical network are becoming abandoned. This loss is noted by Tony and Eva Worobiec a couple who set about documentating this side of America in Icons of the Highway
The pages are littered with images symbolic of yore neon-clad diners, theatres and liquor stores are still resplendent, though harrowingly devoid of life and activity. And the accompanying maps will allow you to visit them, possibly helping to preserve them for a while longer. A haunting yet important depiction of an America itd be a tragedy to lose
What Digital Camera Rating: 92%