John Margolies was an architectural critic, photographer, and author who was noted for celebrating vernacular and novelty architecture in the United States, particularly those designed as roadside attractions.
Starting from the mid-1970s, he began to photograph sites during long road trips, since he was concerned these sites would be displaced by the growing modernist trend. He was credited with shaping postmodern architecture and recognizing buildings that would be added to the National Register of Historic Places through his documentary work.
Starting in 2007, The Library of Congress began to acquire his photographs, and created the public domain John Margolies Roadside America Photograph Archive in 2016, consisting of 11,710 scans of color slides taken by Margolies.
These amazing pics are part of his work that John Margolies photographed billboards of the U.S in the late 1970s and 1980s.
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| Crystal Cave billboard, Route 65, Springfield, Missouri, 1979 |
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| Marineland billboard, Florida, 1979 |
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| Wigwam Village Number 2 billboard, Route 31W, Cave City, Kentucky, 1979 |
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| Alamo Plaza Hotel Courts billboard (wreck), Route 17, Georgia, 1979 |
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| Call of the Wild Museum billboard, Route 60, Van Buren, Missouri, 1979 |
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| Chico's billboard, Route 17, Georgia, 1979 |
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| Coleman Rock Shop billboard, Route 7, Mountain Valley, Arkansas, 1979 |
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| Colonial Gas sign-billboard, Route 40, St. Marys, Georgia, 1979 |
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| Exotic Animal Parade billboard, Route 65, Near Ozark, Ozark, Missouri, 1979 |
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| Hillbilly Junction billboard, Route 60, Willow Springs, Missouri, 1979 |
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| Stuckey's sign, Route 17, Georgia, 1979 |
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| Barn billboard, for Jesse James Hideout in Missouri, Clyde, Ohio, 1980 |
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| Bullshoals Caverns billboard, Route 178, Bull Shoals, Arkansas, 1980 |
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| Dogpatch USA billboard, Route 62, east of Harrison, Arkansas, 1980 |
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| Everglades Safari billboard, Route 41, Dade County, Florida, 1980 |
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| Little America billboard, I-80, east of Rock Springs, Rock Springs, Wyoming, 1980 |
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| Mountain Village billboard, Route 178, Bull Shoals, Arkansas, 1980 |
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| Rawhide City billboard, I-94, Mandan, North Dakota, 1980 |
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| Trout Haven billboard, Route 385, Black Hills, South Dakota, 1980 |
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| Wall Drug billboard, I-90, South Dakota, 1980 |
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| Wall Drug billboard, I-90, South Dakota, 1980 |
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| Wall Drug billboard, I-90, South Dakota, 1980 |
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| Wall Drug billboard, I-90, South Dakota, 1980 |
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| Wax Museum billboard, Route 16, near Keystone, South Dakota, 1980 |
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| Wonderland Cave billboard, Route 385, Black Hills, South Dakota, 1980 |
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| Cleveland Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry billboard, Route 10, after Huntington, Utah, 1981 |
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| Crazy Ann's Fireworks sign, Route 441, Vonore, Tennessee, 1984 |
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| South of the Border billboard, near Dillon, South Carolina, 1986 |
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| South of the border, 13 mile billboard near Dillon, South Carolina, 1986 |
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| Wall Drug final billboard, Wall, South Dakota, 1987 |
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| Dinosaur Gardens, Route 23, Ossineke, Michigan, 1988. |
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| Dinosaur Gardens, Route 23, Ossineke, Michigan, 1988 |
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| Paul Bunyan's Lookout sign, Route 23, Spruce, Michigan, 1988 |
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| Storybook Gardens billboard, Lake Delton, WIsconsin, 1988 |
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| Gettysburg Game Farm billboard, Route 30, 5 miles from Fairfield, Fairfield, Pennsylvania, 1989 |
(Photo © John Margolies)