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the outcome of the creation of the United States highway system which predated the Interstate highway system and allowed easy cross-country travel.
Unlike their predecessors, auto camps and tourist courts, motels quickly adopted a homogenized appearance. Typically one would find an 'I' or 'L' or 'U' shaped structure that included rooms, an attached manager's office, and perhaps a small diner. Even so, postwar motels often featured eye-catching neon signs which employed pop culture themes that ranged from Western imagery of cowboys and indians to contemporary images of spaceships and atomic symbols.
The modern motel began in the 1920s as mom-and-pop motor courts on the outskirts of a town. They attracted the first road warrior s as they crossed the U. S. in their new automobiles. They usually had a grouping of small cabins and their anonymity made them ideal trysting places (or the "hot trade" in industry lingo). Even the famous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde were frequent guests, using motels as hideout s. The motels' potential for breeding lust and larceny alarmed then FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, who attacked motels and auto camps in an article he penned called "Camps of Crime", which ran in the February 1940 issue of American Magazine .
Motels differed from hotels in their emphasis on largely anonymous interactions between owners and occupants, their location along highways (as opposed to urbanUrban is in or having to do with cities, as distinct from rural areas. In terms of music, urban music and urban radio are synonymous with the terms rap or hip hop and Rhythm and blues, which typically originates in urban areas. In these contexts the term cores), and their orientation to the outside (in contrast to hotels whose doors typically face a hallway).
With the 1950sCenturies: 19th century 20th century 21st century Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Years: 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 Events and trends Technology United States tests the first fusion bomb. introduction of Kemmons WilsonKemmons Wilson ( January 5, 1913 February 12, 2003) was the founder of the Holiday Inn chain of hotels. He was born Charles Kemmons Wilson in Osceola, Arkansas, a son of Kemmons and Ruby "Doll" Wilson. His father was an insurance salesman who died when Ke's Holiday InnThis article is about the hotel chain. For the film, please see Holiday Inn (film). Holiday Inn is a brand name applied to hotels within the InterContinental Hotels Group. The original Holiday Inn chain of hotels was founded in 1952 in Memphis, Tennessee, the 'mom and pop' motels of that era went into decline. Eventually, the emergence of the interstate highway system, along with other factors, led to a blurring of the motel and the hotel. Today, family owned motels with as few as five rooms may still be found along older highways, but their lifespans appear to be short. The quality and standards of every independent motel differ so it is always wise to cruise around for good motel before settling in a room.
In seedy areas, motels also tend to be located near strip clubs, for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity. Motels are often places of prostitution and drug crime. Motels are also often inhabited by down-and-out and low-income people as well.
The largest and the more well-known budget motel chain is Motel 6Motel 6 is a large budget motel chain in the United States and southern Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1962 in Santa Barbara, California, when all rooms cost $6 a night—hence the company name. Rooms now cost around $30 to $60 a night; prices are typic. It has numerous locations throughout the United States and southern Ontario, Canada.
In the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in, many, but certainly not all, motels and other lodging establishments (especially small and medium-sized ones) nowadays are owned and operated by immigrants from India - particularly Gujaratis, many of whom are surnamed Patel, which as a result has become a slang synonym of sorts for "motel" in some localities. According to an article in USA Today, more than 17,000 motels and hotels in the U.S. are owned by Asian Indian entrepreneurs.
Some other well-known motel chains include:
See also: List of types of lodging