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American Signs: Form and Meaning on Route 66
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American Signs: Form and Meaning on Route 66 Paperback - 2002

by Lisa Mahar-Keplinger


From the publisher

The roadside sign has become an American icon: a glowing neon symbol of the golden age of the open road. Yet signs are complex pieces of design, serving not only as physical markers but also as cultural, political, and economic ones. In American Signs, Lisa Mahar traces the evolution of motel signs on Route 66 in a distinctive visual approach that combines text, images, and graphics. American Signs reveals the rich vernacular traditions of motel sign-making in five eras, spanning from the late 1930s through the 1970s. The motel signs of the early 1940s, for instance, reflect vernacular traditions dating back at least a century, while examples from the later years of the decade reveal a culture newly obsessed with themes. America's fascination with newness and technological progress is manifested in 1950s motel signs. Finally, in the 1960s, a turn toward simplicity and the use of new, modular technologies allowed motel signs to address the needs of a mass society and the beginnings of a national, rather than regional, aesthetic for motel signs.

Details

  • Title American Signs: Form and Meaning on Route 66
  • Author Lisa Mahar-Keplinger
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition First Edition
  • Pages 272
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Monacelli Press, New York
  • Date October 14, 2002
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9781580931199 / 1580931197
  • Weight 1.92 lbs (0.87 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.1 x 7.12 x 0.73 in (23.11 x 18.08 x 1.85 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Vernacular architecture - United States, Signs and signboards - United States
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2002026332
  • Dewey Decimal Code 388.109

About the author

Lisa Mahar-Keplinger is a cofounder and partner in the New York architecture and design firm MAP. Her first book, Grain Elevators, won the AIA International Book Award. Mahar is the recipient of the Design Arts Awards from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York State Council on the Arts and is a winner of the ID Magazine Graphic Design Honor Award.
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American Signs : Form and Meaning on Rte. 66

American Signs : Form and Meaning on Rte. 66

by Lisa Mahar-Keplinger

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American Signs : Form and Meaning on Rte. 66

American Signs : Form and Meaning on Rte. 66

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American Signs : Form and Meaning on Rte. 66

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American Signs: Form and Meaning on Rte. 66

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NY: Monacelli Press,, 2002. 1st. Softcover. Very Good/None. Softcover, 272 pages, illustrated in color and b&w. The roadside sign has become an American icon: a glowing neon symbol of the golden age of the open road. Yet signs are complex pieces of design, serving not only as physical markers but also as cultural, political, and economic ones. In American Signs, Lisa Mahar traces the evolution of motel signs on Route 66 in a distinctive visual approach that combines text, images, and graphics. American Signs reveals the rich vernacular traditions of motel sign-making in five eras, spanning from the late 1930s through the 1970s. The motel signs of the early 1940s, for instance, reflect vernacular traditions dating back at least a century, while examples from the later years of the decade reveal a culture newly obsessed with themes. America's fascination with newness and technological progress is manifested in 1950s motel signs. Finally, in the 1960s, a turn toward simplicity and the use of new,… Read More
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