The Fictional Places We’d Love to Call Home

Gasoline Alley 

Frank King

In 1919 cartoonist Frank King began what is now America’s second-longest running strip, Gasoline Alley. Though it began as a place where men gathered to talk about their cars, the Alley (which features characters that age in real time) has become America’s neighborhood. Multiple generations of characters have born, lived and died there. There is something about King’s gentle wit, attention to the subtle details that make up daily life and genuine humanity about the Alley that always leaves me with a warm feeling of belonging when I read the strip. I’d gladly park my jalopy in the Alley and never ever leave.

~Rob Vollmar