In Praise of Roadside Attractions

From The Paris Review:

“A good roadside attraction would get the car traveler excited miles before they arrived. Back then, billboards were cheap and plentiful, and car travelers would start to see seductive come-ons to SEE LIVING MERMAIDS!, COME FACE TO FACE WITH A REAL SASQUATCH, or BEHOLD JAYNE MANSFIELD’S ACTUAL DEATH CAR miles before the actual site. At odds with the often cinematic, flashy billboards, the attractions themselves were mostly humble hand-built structures located in the middle of nowhere.”