The heart of Victorville, Calif. included one of the finest tourist accomodations along Route 66. The Green Spot Motel and Cafe was operated by Mr. H.E. Roy. Here are a couple artifacts from the place - a business card and postcard - both from the 1940s.
Sure you could get lucky and spot some real wildlife loitering along the highway. But there were several places to stop that could guarantee an exciting encounter with mammals, birds and reptiles, even though it was staged. Gay’s Lion Farm in El Monte, Calif. offered guests a chance to see dozens of African lions. Mr. [...]
One of the great things about old road maps are the depictions of the service station attendants. They gleefully hand out the latest map or wave goodbye. Smiles and impeccable dress are a must. It doesn’t matter that these guys have been changing tires and oil all day. Here are two examples of how oil [...]
Pawing through the road map collection here at Historic Highways, I came upon this little beauty from the 1940s. Good ol’ Sears (which had more than 600 stores at the time) handed out maps for many years. In fact, many of the stores had attached service stations that offered not only gasoline, but complete auto [...]
Ahhh, a nifty view, from the mid-1950s, of the busy little village of Big Bear Lake, Calif. Located at an elevation of 6,750 feet in the San Bernardino mountains. These photos show a diversity of stores, gas stations and motels that would cater to the needs of tourists. Only about 100 miles northeast of [...]
