Editing Motel (section)

===Early motels===
[[Image:MotelInnObispo.jpg|thumb|right|[[Arthur Heineman]]'s [[Motel Inn of San Luis Obispo]]]]
[[File:Dutchmaid Motel, In the heart of the Penna. Dutch country, 10 miles north of Lancaster on U.S. 222 at Ephrata, Penna. 5 miles south of Reading Interchange of Pennsylvania Turnpike (90170).jpg|thumb|Dutchmaid Motel, 10 miles north of Lancaster, Pennsylvania]]
The term "motel" originated from a lodging establishment called "[[Motel Inn|Milestone Mo-Tel]]" in [[San Luis Obispo]], California, which was constructed in 1925 by [[Arthur Heineman]]. In conceiving of a name for his hotel, Heineman combined the two words ''motor hotel'' into one word as ''mo-tel'', after he found that he could not fit the words "Milestone Motor Hotel" on the rooftop.<ref name="Seattle Times">{{cite news |url=http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=1697701&date=19930425| title=The World's First Motel Rests Upon Its Memories |author=Kristin Jackson |date=April 25, 1993 |newspaper=[[The Seattle Times]] |access-date=April 2, 2008}}</ref>  Therefore, the word "motel" and literally the first motel was born. Many other similar businesses followed in its footsteps and started building their own auto camps, as well as calling themselves "motels". Later, as a result of failing to obtain a [[registered trademark]] for the word "Mo-Tel" or "motel", Milestone Mo-Tel was  renamed simply as "[[Motel Inn]]".

[[File:Gateway Motel, Merced, California LCCN2017710022.tif|thumb|Gateway Motel, Merced, California, photographed by [[John Margolies]], 1987]]
Combining the individual cabins of the tourist court under a single roof yielded the motor court or motor hotel. A handful of motor courts were beginning to call themselves motels, a term coined in 1926. Many of these early motels are still popular and are in operation, as in the case of the 3V Tourist Court<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.themagnoliacafe.net/magnolia3vtouristcourts.html|title=3V Tourist Court}}</ref> in [[St. Francisville, Louisiana]], built in 1938.

During the Great Depression, those still traveling (including business travelers and traveling salespeople) were under pressure to manage travel costs by driving instead of taking trains and staying in the new roadside motels and courts instead of more costly established downtown hotels where [[bellhop|bell captains]], [[doorman (profession)|porters]], and other personnel would all expect a tip for service.

In the 1940s, most construction ground to a near-halt as workers, fuel, rubber, and transport were pulled away from civilian use for the war effort. What little construction did take place was typically near military bases where every habitable cabin was pressed into service to house soldiers and their families.

The post-war 1950s ushered in a building boom on a massive scale. By 1947, approximately 22,000 motor courts were in operation in the U.S. alone; a typical 50-room motel in that era cost $3000 per room in initial construction costs, compared to $12,000 per room for metropolitan city hotel construction.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nQwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT135 | title=Coin-ops find motor courts increasingly fertile field |magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |date=March 31, 1947 |page=136}}</ref> By 1950 there were 50,000 motels serving half of the 22 million U.S. vacationers; a year later motels surpassed hotels in consumer demand.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/homeawayfromhome00marg |title=Home Away From Home: Motels in America |author=John Margolies |author-link=John Margolies |publisher=Bulfinch Press, Little Brown and Co. |isbn=0821221620 |date=November 1995 |url-access=registration }}</ref>  The industry peaked in 1964 with 61,000 properties and fell to 16,000 properties by 2012.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wood|first1=Andrew|title=The Rise and Fall of the Great American Motel|url=https://theconversation.com/the-twilight-of-the-mom-and-pop-motel-64212|access-date=July 6, 2017|work=[[The Conversation (website)|The Conversation]]|date=September 14, 2016}}</ref>

Many motels began advertising on colorful neon signs that they had "air cooling" (an early term for "air conditioning") during the hot summers or were "heated by steam" during the cold winters. A handful used [[novelty architecture]] such as [[Wigwam Motel|wigwams or teepees]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://travel.usatoday.com/destinations/10great/story/2012-06-28/10-great-places-to-stay-at-a-vintage-motel/55902438/1 |title=10 great places to stay at a vintage motel |author1=Doug Kirby|author2=Larry Bleiberg |newspaper=[[USA Today]] |date=June 28, 2012 }}</ref>