Groovy Motel Trivia: A Centennial Roadside Roam
1. Intriguing insights into motels: From grisly crimes and cinematic portrayals to the allure of Magic Fingers massagers
Get ready for some fascinating facts and cool stops on your journey through motel history! Dive into the world that sprang up in the 1920s, a world that's seen life, death, crime, design, and plenty of kinky fun (We're looking at you, Magic Fingers!).
For your consideration, five dazzling pieces of Century Motel history:
- Magic Fingers’ Last Stand
From the late 50s to the 80s, thousands of motels boasted their Magic Fingers - a naughty little electric device under your mattress offering a 15-minute vibratory massage for 25 cents. Yes, generations of artists, including Kurt Vonnegut and Frank Zappa, have credited these bedroom ticklers with their creative juices. Today, only a select few remain, including Morro Bay's Sundown Inn. Ann Lin, co-owner, reports that it's still going strong, and at the original price to boot!
- Time for a Drive
Heading out on a road trip? LA Times now offers the "Motel California" special section - your ticket to some seriously retro roadside digs!
- Motels versus Patels
Many a motel and hotel is a family affair. Whether it's the original owner's kin or a Patel tribe from India's Gujarat state, family is the backbone of this industry. A 2021 survey by the Asian American Hotel Owners Assn. found that a staggering 60% of American hotels are, in fact, owned by Asian Americans. Motels in small-town America are said to be up to 90% Patel-owned, though exactly when and why is a bit hazy.
- Motels on the Media Map
From Humbert Humbert's seedy sojourns in Nabokov's "Lolita" to Norman Bates' murderous machinations in "Psycho" (1960), there's no escaping the motel in American pop culture. Frank Zappa's documentary on rock band squalor, "200 Motels" (1971), and the screwball series "Schitt's Creek" (2015-2020) both painted quirky motel life.
- The Lorraine's Twist(ed) Tale
The Lorraine Motel in Memphis is infamous for the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. but, before and after that tragic day, it was a welcoming retreat for numerous African American artists. From Count Basie and Cab Calloway to Aretha Franklin and the Staples Singers, music royalty flocked to its rooms. Today, the motel lives on as the National Civil Rights Museum, a poignant reminder of a pivotal chapter in American history.
Whetted your appetite? Dig deeper with:
- Bye, Bye Birdies: A 2,500-mile expedition for California's finest motels.
- Nostalgia on a Match: 10 vintage motel matchbooks that'll have you feeling all warm and fuzzy.
- Retro-Motel Romantics: One passionate guy's mission to make motels cool again - and he's pretty darn convincing!
- Beyond pop culture references, the 'Lolita' by Nabokov and 'Psycho' (1960) highlight the significant role of motels in American literature and film.
- As the home-and-garden section of the LA Times, the "Motel California" special section is a valuable resource for discovering unique and retro roadside motels during travel.
- Though originating from diverse backgrounds, family is a crucial part of the motel business, with many motels and hotels in small-town America being up to 90% Patel-owned, as reported in a 2021 survey by the Asian American Hotel Owners Association.
- The Sundown Inn in Morro Bay, California, is one of the few remaining places where the Magic Fingers, a device offering a vibratory massage in bedrooms for 25 cents, still functions as it did in the late 1950s to the 1980s.
- In entertainment, Frank Zappa's music documentary '200 Motels' (1971) and the television series 'Schitt's Creek' (2015-2020) bring quirky motel life into the limelight, alongside novelists like Kurt Vonnegut and Frank Zappa, who attribute part of their creative endeavors to the Magic Fingers.
