The Great American Retro Road Trip: A Celebration of Roadside Americana

by Rolando Pujol

Overview

Celebrate the nostalgic pleasures of America's vintage signs, quirky roadside attractions, and offbeat fast food relics in this irresistible retro road trip across the country.

The Great American Retro Road Trip is a coast-to-coast journey chronicling retro roadside America. Discover classic giant roadside attractions, from The Coffee Pot and The Big Duck to the World’s Largest Paint Can and the Haines Shoe House. Or iconic signage, like the dazzling Yoken’s neon sign, and the classic Moon Motel sign. Still-standing vintage locations of America’s favorite chain restaurants, from Pizza Hut to McDonald’s to Taco Bell. Through author Rolando Pujol’s anecdotes and clever narrative, readers will come away with a sweeping sense of roadside charm that still exists, as well as a desire to see it all for themselves. 

These lingering traces of America’s past are an archive of disappearing roadside signage and architecture, and they tell a story of American ingenuity, creativity, and community. Whether you pick up this book for the nostalgia-inducing photos, the heartwarming stories, or as a reference for planning your own trip, you’ll be encouraged to, as Pujol says, “Let your curiosity guide you.”  

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781648293733
Publisher:	Workman Publishing Company
Publication date:	06/24/2025
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	127 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Rolando Pujol has made a name for himself as a journalist in the newsrooms of several newspapers and television stations in New York City over three decades. 

Fueled by a passion for storytelling and a love of the American roadside, Rolando's adventurous spirit often takes him far from the traffic-choked streets of Manhattan to the bucolic roads of the Heartland. This is all thanks to his long-term project, The Retrologist, where he shares captivating stories and photos from the American roadside. His love of small towns and their history was formed growing up in Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown, suburbs of New York City rendered magical by the tales of Washington Irving.  

Pujol created and is at the helm of The Retrologist Instagram account  (@rolandpujol) and his The Retrologist Substack newsletter. When he’s not on the road, Pujol is the executive producer of digital content, innovation, and strategy at WABC-TV Channel 7, the flagship station of the ABC television network. His television work has earned him several honors, including Emmys, and awards like the Edward R. Murrow, the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi, and the Deadline Club. He lives in New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. New England (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut)
2. Northeast (Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey)
3. Mid-Atlantic (Delaware, Maryland, northern Virginia)
4. Southeast (North Carolina, South Carolina, southern Virginia, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, parts of West Virginia)
5. Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, parts of Kentucky and West Virginia)
6. South Central (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas)
7. Desert Southwest (Arizona, New Mexico, parts of Nevada)
8. Great Plains (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri)
9. Mountain West (Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, parts of Nevada)
10. Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington)
11. California

Editorial Reviews

This salute to 20th-century America might propel your next road trip.”—AFAR

"A hopeful look at a version of America that existed once and can perhaps exist again…Pujol is a warm and witty tour guide, and there’s enough room in his car for everyone.”  
 —Publishers Weekly

“Rolando Pujol has assembled roadside attractions from coast to coast into a remarkably thorough examination of American novelty, consumer-driven innovation and architectural imagination… an offbeat, encyclopedic travelogue that celebrates how Americans add color and flavor to our lives.”—BookPage (starred review)

“This book is a love note to the unique charms of the American landscape painted in neon signs, Muffler Men, and roadside motels. It’ll make you long to hit the open road.”
 —Dylan Thuras, co-founder of Atlas Obscura

“Well, my wish came true! Rolando has finally compiled all the nostalgic, retro, quirky, and curious places I hope to see, photograph & experience into one treasure trove of a beautiful book. I've been a longtime fan of Rolando's work and am so excited to use this to plan our next road trip adventure.”—Wally Koval, founder of Accidentally Wes Anderson

“The Great American Retro Road Trip is a joyful reminder that America is so wonderfully weird and quirky, charming and strange, bizarre and magical. Rolando Pujol highlights places that aren’t simply stops on a map; they’re windows into the soul of America, showcasing the creativity and humor of everyday people. The stories and photos make a strong case for skipping the airport for an extra-special experience on the road for your next adventure!”
 —Margaret Bienert, co-author of Hotel Kitsch and co-creator of A Pretty Cool Hotel Tour

“I squeal with delight and excitement as I turn these pages full of color and fun that inspire me to hit the road for a creamy soft serve or savory fried treat eaten in the glow of a neon sign. These are the places that memories are made of, and Rolando’s depth of knowledge and enthusiasm for the quickly vanishing cool vintage places across the U.S. make this book a must-have on any road trip, whether driving in your home state or planning a classic cross-country jaunt.”
 —Beth Lennon, aka Mod Betty, founder of Retro Roadmap

“Put a crown on Rolando Pujol’s head, for this well-traveled guidebook establishes him as the king of the great American roadtrippers, sharing the stories and glories of precious, time-honored roadside landmarks, electrifying signage, and classic mom-and-pop shops from America’s golden era of car culture and mass consumerism.”
 —Charles Phoenix, pop culture humorist and historian

“With his journalistic sensibility, uncanny instinct for seeking out sights worth seeing, and brilliantly easy way with words, Rolando Pujol has taken on a subject as vast as the country itself and delivered a new book that brings fresh perspective to the decades-old study of the American commercial landscape, and that is as enjoyable to read as it is an absolute visual bombshell to look at.”
 —Thomas Rinaldi, author of New York Neon

"I’ll admit it—I’m jealous I didn’t write this book! The Great American Retro Road Trip is brilliantly laid out, with fun categories like roadside quirks, eats and sweet stops. Rolando Pujol has done all the work so we can sit back, enjoy the ride, and use it as the perfect guide for our next adventure. I know I will."—Sef Gonzalez, The BEAST at Burger Beast

"Rolando Pujol is on a mission to save roadside Americana, or at least document as many funky, fabulous midcentury sites and signs as he can while we still have them. Rolando serves up a loving look at mom-and-pop places as well as chains that once were proud to sport the coolest look on Main Street. He provides history and insights to his photos too, making this a fun read and terrific inspiration for your next road trip."

—Brian Butko, author of Roadside Attractions, Roadside Giants, and Greetings from the Lincoln Highway, Director of Publications at the Heinz History Center in Pittsburgh.

From the Publisher