ABSTRACT
The years following the Second World War were transitional in the development of the long-distance bus industry in the USA. Visual records can offer additional insights into historical developments above and beyond written and-spoken evidence. The pictorial record of the bus industry in the late 1940s provided by photographs suggests themes which are worth exploring in ascertaining its contemporary and future well-being. Written evidence about the intercity bus industry in the late 1940s has offered many suggestions about its operations and about its travelling and working conditions, few of which are flattering. It is commonly characterized as a system which was in need of modernizing; crowding, old coaches, poorly-equipped terminals and inadequate public relations all remained primarily as a wartime legacy. Some photographs positively demonstrated a well-organized business operation and suggested a buoyant technology fully geared up for future growth.
