The Retrologist by Rolando Pujol

1 week ago | rolandopujol.substack.com | Rolando Pujol

We’re just days away from the release of my new (and first!) book, “The Great American Retro Road Trip.”That’s the happy news. The sad news is that another place that I featured in the book has closed, one of a growing number to vanish even before “The Great American Retro Road Trip” officially hits stores on June 24. On June 15, the Arby’s on Concord Pike in Wilmington, Delaware, closed for business.

1 month ago | rolandopujol.substack.com | Rolando Pujol

Hello fellow retro road trippers!My new book, “The Great American Retro Road Trip,” is almost here and I have an exciting update to share with you all! Anyone who preorders the book (or anyone who has ALREADY preordered) can now receive a set of six irresistibly retro 5” x 7” postcards featuring some of my favorite photos from the book! The Retrologist by Rolando Pujol is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

1 month ago | rolandopujol.substack.com | Rolando Pujol

If there’s one place I tell people to visit in New Jersey if they have more than a day to poke around, it’s Wildwood. Though their lot is diminishing, the collection of doo-wop motels and accompanying signage remains impressive. Yet somehow, we keep losing these gems — big, shiny ones I thought were as safe and revered as the Hope Diamond.

1 month ago | rolandopujol.substack.com | Rolando Pujol

The Retrologist newsletter often imparts sad news -- heartbreaking closures of places we know and love, treasured signs felled by man or nature. It is an occupational hazard on this particular news beat. But here’s something different to begin my latest dispatch — a tale that, rather than wreck the heart, actually restores it. A woman who grew up in Little Falls, New Jersey, is trying to save her long-shuttered hometown diner.

2 months ago | rolandopujol.substack.com | Rolando Pujol

When my pal Yanis Carreto (@hopelessnostalgic on Instagram) and I took a drive through southern New Jersey last Saturday, we came across so much interesting roadside history. (Check out our adventure in my Substack chat for my patrons, and Yanis’ photos and a condensed version of this writeup on Instagram.)This particular site, a McDonald’s in Mount Ephraim, New Jersey, has more layers – some joyful, some tragic – than meet the eye.