Human beings love focal points. Googie architecture emerged in the late 1940s as a way to get cars' attention and get them to stop on the roadways.

A significant aspect of Googie architecture is the incorporation of a building's branding into its structure.

Googie architecture - the mid-century, space-age roadside style. The building at Lincoln & Olympic opened in 1959 as the penguin coffee shop, designed by the Santa Monica firm Armet & Davis, and was later restored and reopened as Mel’s drive-in.

Mel’s is the last Googie stop on Route 66.

"The restless human mind loves to have a goal in view, to savor the approach, to enjoy the reward of reaching the destination, and to then get on with the next thing. People love breaking up their journey into smaller increments. That is why the interstate highways are such terrible bores, and why people who have time often prefer to take the back roads through smaller towns.

There was nothing like it before in history: a machine that promised liberation from the daily bondage of place."

The Geography of Nowhere by James Howard Kunstler