Interior Design Blog

Taken from the Worobiecs' book Ghosts in the Wilderness: Abandoned America, these photographs are a window into the American dream of the Fifties and Sixties when leisure time increased, the US automotive industry was at its peak and many American's begin to travel their county for the first time, savouring the air of post-war prosperity. Breakfast, Salina, Kansas; photographed by Tony Worobiec

This land of neon lights and gleaming aluminium was full of possibilities but as the exhibition's curator Roger Watson says, '[this is] a story of a dream that never quite materialised, where the past was for squares and the jet propelled future was everything.' Mint Bar, Sheridan, Wyoming; photographed by Tony Worobiec

He continues, 'These photographs show the survivors of a time that the truly nostalgic fondly remember and the rest of us can't believe ever existed at all.'

The dream may have floundered, but the influence of this iconic style has been far-reaching. Ab Rogers' recent scheme for the flagship branch of the revamped Little Chef, for example, drew heavily on 'the history of roadside dining' giving American diner style a contemporary twist. Ab Rogers' revamped Little chef in Popham near Basingstoke

Icons of the Highway is at the Fox Talbot Museum until 27 June 2010.