Almost every American has some memory or has heard stories of the boom of family summer vacations that occurred from the late-1940’s and continued through the 1970’s. George E. Longenecker from Vermont Technical College reviews Susan Sessions Rugh’s fascinating historical study, Are We There Yet? The Golden Age of American Family Vacations, in the Journal of Popular Culture. Dr. Rugh is a professor of History, specializing in travel, rural America, and women’s studies, at Bringham Young University. Both authors’ works really appeal to Americans that have been raised partaking in the actual family vacation experience or in the nostalgia of it. The reading is easy enough material that just about everyone has some reference to, so the reader does not need to be a history buff to enjoy it. Both works share a bit of the authors’ own experiences to create an aura of nostalgia, so the imagery may be lost a little bit on a reader that is not from America, or does not have some reference to a family vacation.
In his article, Professor Longenecker does a good job of summarizing the main points and portraying the reminiscent tone from Dr. Rugh’s book. It begins by looking a bit deeper into the tourism industry, and why Americans were so interested in travel during the post-World War II era. Longenecker quotes a key finding of Dr. Rugh’s, “that Americans justified taking a family vacation out of their commitment to the idea that travel together would strengthen family bonds and that travel provided a way to educate children as citizens’’ (Longnecker, 2009). So the feeling was that a vacation was not just taken as a relaxing way to waste time, but as a family bonding activity that would also cultivate a love of America.
While the white population was developing civic pride, though, the book detours to the grim subject of racism during this same time. As was the prevalent environment of the era, the analysis comments how racial segregation impacted tourism for African Americans. The travel experience seemed to amplify their situation. While away from a home environment where they at least had some protection, African Americans were subjected to constant reminders of inferiority and outward racial hatred.
The history of tourism also shows that baby boomers had two very different options when it came to their road trip: go west or go east? Professor Longenecker’s words help to portray Rugh’s sense of imagery, while also being concise with his wording. When speaking about the adventure of Western tourism, he states “Western stars, including Hopalong Cassidy, jumped on the westward bandwagon, but none were as successful as Walt Disney” (Longnecker, 2009). The language here already has the reader imagining the Wild West and the journeys that were partaken there. Great expanses like Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Disneyland, and Hollywood were waiting in the west, while the east gave an equally exciting but different adventure. With a wealth of historical landmarks and the picturesque Catskill Mountains with relaxing resorts, either direction would give a family a successful vacation.
After reading of the great American family vacation destinations of yesteryear, the next natural question seems to ask: why did the era of family road trips end? Although Rugh’s history doesn’t delve too much into this because it tries to capture a succinct snapshot of time, the reader can naturally assess the reason for the shift. The American family’s composition started to change in the seventies. As baby boomers grew up and started to have families of their own, the scenario of a traditional marriage was no longer the norm. It was now standard for women to have careers as well, so two busy work schedules did not allow for lengthy vacations anymore. Some gains were also made in the 1970’s in regards to technology. Televisions, computers, and other modes of communication have allowed us to learn about far-off sights from the comfort of our own home, rather than having to drive to all of the landmarks. Professor Longenecker accurately describes the book as “bittersweet”, perhaps because the family road travel era had to end at some point. America in the 1970’s was an entirely different entity than the post-World War II era, and the industry of tourism had to change as well.
As a whole, I found Professor George E. Longenecker’s review of Are We there Yet? The Golden Age of American Family Vacations very insightful. He was able to maintain the core points and soul of Dr. Susan Rugh’s book, to interest his readers in the topic of tourism and travel in the post-World War II era. His assessment did exactly what it set out to do, which was to make us relish the time of great family road trips, and ponder how we can resurrect that sense of pride and adventure for our families today.
References
Longenecker, G. (2009). Are We There Yet? The Golden Age of American Family Vacations. The Journal of Popular Culture, 42(4), 794-796. Retrieved March 9, 2011, from the OhioLINK database
Susan Sessions Rugh. (n.d.). BYU History Department. Retrieved March 17, 2011, from http://history.byu.edu/Pages/Faculty/Rugh.aspx
