Motel Forecourt with Poinsettias, Florida, 1950s

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Motel Forecourt with Poinsettias, Florida, 1950s — Archive & Atlas

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Motel Forecourt with Poinsettias, Florida, 1950s — Archive & Atlas

Unattributed 1950–1959

AA-2026-7CCA58

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A blue convertible sits parked in front of a modest Florida motel, its hood up in the informal way of the era—ownership being a casual relationship with one's car, not yet the anxious husbandry it would become. Behind it, someone has planted a bed of poinsettias directly in front of the building's entrance, bright red and improbable in the full sun of what appears to be late afternoon, a gesture that speaks to the motel operator's faith that flowers and fresh paint could convince a stranger that this was a place worth stopping in. The structure itself is small and practical, with a blue trim that matches the car by accident or design, the kind of roadside establishment built on the assumption that Americans would drive forever and always need somewhere to sleep. Palm trees and pines frame the lot with the permanent indifference of Florida landscape. The whole scene is suffused with the particular optimism of the 1950s motel business—the belief that a clean room, a bright color, and some flowers could anchor a traveller's evening in an otherwise forgettable stretch of highway.

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