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The modern motel began in the 1920s as mom-and-pop motor courts on the outskirts of a town.
They attracted the first road warriors 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 hideouts. 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.
With the 1952 introduction of Kemmons Wilson's Holiday Inn, 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.
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