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.
This 1940s road map was handed out by the Mobilinn Cafe and Curios located at the intersection of highways U.S. 60, 66 and 87 in Amarillo, Texas. Mobil Oil’s Flying Red Horse was a common sight along the highways of old.
These colorful brochures and maps were handed out to lake-goers in the late 1940s. This huge lake — 1,300 miles of shoreline — provides recreation and hydroelectric power for the region. Flirtatious bathers look out while playing in the water. The inside of the brochure are packed with ads for lake services and tourist stops. [...]
Shamrock, Tex. is located on the eastern side of the Texas panhandle. This flat landscape is punctuated by several towns that catered to Route 66 travelers. Shamrock offered the gamut of roadside services. Gas stations were sprinkled along the highway through town, including the well-known Tower Conoco. This Art Deco masterpiece sits at the corner [...]
The tha-thump - tha-thump of the concrete seams on your tires would be clear on this section of Route 66. This 1950s photo shows the highway heading west toward the town of Williams, Ariz. Williams is a good stop along the Mother Road, offering lots to see and do, including the nearby Grand Canyon. Oh, [...]
Most everyone can remember the magnificent signs that signaled a Holiday Inn. These signs are extinct now. But postcards, brochures and matchbooks carried the symbol for decades. This postcard, from the early 1960s, is from the Holiday Inn in Clinton, Okla. The motel was located along U.S. 66 and offered all the amenities found in [...]
In 1939, the Highway Travel Service produced this neat map to guide motorists to the 1939 World’s Fair in New York. The map focuses mainly on U.S. 66 - The Will Rogers Highway - and all the great stops along the way.
Using maps and lists, a Fair-bound traveler could plot out places to eat, stay [...]
Matchbooks were an easy and cheap way to advertise a business. For very little expense, a motel or cafe could buy thousands of these little billboards, which doubled as useful souvenirs for smokers and everyone else. Here are a couple from the Mother Road. McLean, Texas is still a great stop on U.S. 66. This [...]
Franchise motels, like Holiday Inn and TraveLodge, began to appear along Route 66 in the late 1950s. TraveLodge was started in California and crept eastward. Mrs. Ruth J. Brockmiller, Helen J. Hougland and Alice G. White were in charge of this early TraveLodge motel in Kingman, Ariz. Sleepy Bear was (is) the mascot of this [...]
Here we are sitting at the intersection of Girard, Monte Vista and Central Avenue in the bustling city of Albuquerque. This crossroads on Route 66 has often been called “Badman’s Corners,” since every “badman” or wanted man has at one time or another passed this point. The detail of this photo has an interesting juxtaposition [...]
