The 1920s

We've come a long way since our debut issue in April 1925. Although there were random samples of traditional travel journalism in the black-and-white 1920s, for the most part, Arizona Highways was a trade journal aimed at road engineers and intrepid travelers trying to get from Point A to Point B. As founding editor Vincent J. Keating wrote in our premiere issue: “The inauguration of Arizona Highways is the first big step forward to tell the people of Arizona and other states of the work being done by the Arizona Highway Department.”Along with mileage charts, maps and reports on road conditions, the pages included ads for road graders, asphalt paint and corrugated culverts, among other things. In addition, there were editorials with headlines such as Why We Should Have Surfaced Roads (at the time of our first issue, only 2,000 of Arizona's 22,355 miles were paved). In 1929, another editorial urged automakers “to eliminate car horns,” arguing that “they only aided speeding lawbreakers.” Frankly, the early years weren't very interesting by today's standards, but those limited travelogues one each month featuring “one of the 18 main routes in the state” did offer an intriguing perspective on the places we still feature today, including the Coronado Trail, the Grand Canyon and the Hopi mesas. The first issue, by the way, was 28 pages, including ads, and the newsstand price was 10 cents. Only 1,000 copies were printed, meaning only a handful of readers saw the magazine's first typo we spelled “highways” with two I's.

1926 WHERE THE SAHUARO GROWS

This photograph accompanied an article by district engineer W.R. Hutchins titled Through the Land of Opportunity. The three-page feature (authored in a voice not surprising for a district engineer) explored Southern Arizona's population boom.

THE HIGHWAY ENGINEER'S CREED

I BELIEVE that transportation is the keystone of the structure of civilization which is built of school, and church, and court, and market place upon the twin foundations of the home and productive industry.

I BELIEVE that highway transportation is a necessary and integral part of this connecting stone in civilization's arch and is coequal with other forms of transportation in sustaining the body of the structure.

I BELIEVE that my mission, as a highway engineer, is to assist in shaping and improving the highways of my country, in harmony with those who provide the vehicles which are their necessary complement, to the end that, jointed with other means of transportation, they may meet the need of our people for easy, quick, and untrammelled transportation.

THE WORLD'S ROAD BUILDER

When you're publishing a trade journal for highway engineers, it makes sense to remind them of their creed, and that's what we did on every back cover in 1926. Note the assertion that "transportation is the keystone of the structure of civilization."

"Caterpillar" Tractors carve out roads where roads have never been ... they maintain those roads for safe and speedy travel. They have the power for stiff grades and heavy loads; the traction to go well-nigh anywhere... anywhere!

Today, a Caterpillar bulldozer will cost you a pretty penny, but back when we ran this ad in December 1926, prices ranged from $1,850 for a 2-ton model to $5,000 for a "Sixty." This full-page ad, which appeared several times in 1926, was typical of the sponsorships found in the magazine in the 1920s and 1930s.

The Ten Commandments of Motordom

Thou shalt not envy thy neighbor's car, lest thine own become offended and stall with thee upon the highway.

Thou shalt not use profane language when changing tires, lest thy wife reprove thee and speak not unto thee for many days.

Thou shalt not argue with an officer, but answer him aye and nay, lest evil befall thee and cause thee the loss of many shekel.

Thou shalt not race a train to a crossing, lest thy spirit leave thee and thy body be taken to a morgue.

Thou shalt not hog the road, lest he that is of quick temper hend the fenders of thy car and blacken thine eyes, and make thee the laughing stock of thy neighbor.

Thou shalt not speed, neither shalt thou run thy car with its cut out open, lest the minions of the law overtake thee and put thee within a calaboose, and feed thee upon bread and water for the remaining days of thy life.

Thou shalt not signal right and turn to the left, lest pain and suffering befall thee and thy body become a carving block for the physicians.

Thou shalt not draw up to a curb and toot thy horn unseemingly, neither for thy wife or thy neighbor's wife, nor for his daughter or the handmaiden that dwelleth within his gates, lest they that loveth peace and quiet fall upon thee and slay thee.

Keep thine eyes on the curves of the road, and not upon the curves of the flapper who is beside thee or who walketh upon the highway, lest a tree or a pole arise and smite thee and utterly destroy thee and thy car forever.

Honour thy car and its engine and give unto them the care and attention that they need, that thy days in the land of motoring may be many and full of happiness.

If you were to follow The Ten Commandments of Motordom, as authored by Ira L. Wood in our March 1927 issue, you'd know not to envy thy neighbor's car, race a train to a crossing, or signal right and turn to the left. The piece was one of the earliest bits of humor that appeared in the magazine, a tradition that continued into the 2000s.

There can be no compromise with safety. At least, that's what the fine people of Page Hi-Way Guard asserted in the November 1927 issue of the magazine. The ad, which featured this spot illustration, praised the guard as follows: "Its distinctive square link mesh elongates when struck and acts as a great yielding cushion."

THE TOLL BRIDGE MENACE Free Highway Transportation Endangered by Toll Bridge Privileges Granted at Strategic Points

OVERED wagons and covered bridges belonged to the same era, but a purring auto and a toll bridge do not. Bridges are a necessity. Privately owned bridges, located at strategic points, carrying 30-year franchises, are a private snap. Our much vaunted cry that the highways of the Nation are open and free to everyone is in danger.

made evident opportunities for bridge construction heretofore unnoticed. Parties, either in the capacity of con sulting engineers, or bond brokers, have been traveling over the country hunting strategic points where bridges should be constructed and either appearing be fore the Congress for franchises with out local pressure or, as in other cases, Coast the highway department recently expressed a desire to purchase for the public a certain toll bridge. The own ers wanted $85.000 and admitted a net profit last year of 33 per cent on that valuation. The State closed the deal for $55,000 only because it was in a po sition to make another interstate road connection with the adjoining State on the interstate system and eliminate this In June 1927, this two-page argument against proposed toll bridges was excerpted from the April 1927 issue of American Highways, a publication that no longer exists. In it, the unknown author asserts that "if the public wants bridges faster than a tax levy will construct them, the only other recourse is a bond issue." There are no toll roads or bridges in Arizona today.

Get Acquainted With Arizona 1929

Charts and graphs appeared throughout the magazine in 1929. This one featured Distances As Shown Over Arizona Highways. The chart included mileages computed over the "shortest and most feasible routes between points indicated."

When the weather indoors and out slows the energy, and summer, they say, is really here, then you'll be glad that you came to Westward Ho! Every room and public gathering place is cool, because the latest dry-air cooling system has been installed to make it so. This summer, Phoenix and its visitors will dine and dance to the se ductive swing of Lyol Thayer's West ward Ho Orchestra-the famous enter taining ball room and radio artists from the Northwest. Plan to spend a week end soon at the Westward Hothe "cool spot" of Phoenix. Today, the Westward Ho, a high-rise building in downtown Phoenix, offers low-income housing. But during the 1920s, it was a prime vacation destina-tion, with 350 rooms, rates as low as $3 per night and a ballroom. This advertisement was one of several that appeared in the back of our May 1929 issue.

This photograph accompanied a feature in the May 1929 issue of the magazine that discussed the construction and pending dedication of Navajo Bridge, "the only crossing by either highway or railroad between the town of Topoc, Arizona, and the junction of the Green and Grand rivers in Utah." The photograph shows a blast that occurred during the construction of the bridge.