Discover Oklahoma: Fest brings worldwide focus to Route 66 Fest brings worldwide focus to Route 66
By Max Nichols
Published: May 27, 2007
When I think of Route 66 before the interstate highways were built, I remember how friendly and helpful people were as much as I remember attractions for snakes, caves and even two-headed calves. Roadway courtesy was so common that truck drivers often stopped to help travelers change flat tires or fill their radiators.
Advertisement
That stuck in my mind, because a truck driver stopped to help my family when the radiator of our green 1939 Chevy boiled over on our trip west in 1947. He helped us get water from a nearby cattle tank, and he gave us a canvas bag full of water to hang on our front bumper for future problems. I can't imagine any stranger stopping to help us today.
"Drivers also waved, nodded, flashed lights and tipped hats to motorists going the opposite direction on the old two-lane roadway,” said Rodger Harris, who specializes in folklore for the Oklahoma Historical Society. "Truckers and bus drivers often flashed their taillights to signal it was OK to pass. Truckers also flashed headlights as a warning that a police car, highway patrolman or accident was ahead.”
The legends of Route 66, which extended from Chicago through Tulsa and Oklahoma City to California, will receive worldwide attention June 21-24 during the International Route 66 Festival at the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton. The festival will feature famous attractions and historic sites, but the stories of the millions of people who traveled Route 66 give it life.
"These stories have become part of the road's heritage,” said Bob Blackburn, executive director of the Oklahoma Historical Society. "With more than 300 miles of Route 66 preserved in Oklahoma, our state is a center for preserving that heritage. In addition to books such as ‘The Grapes of Wrath' by John Steinbeck, ‘Route 66: The Mother Road' by Mike Wallis and ‘Oklahoma Route 66' by Jim Ross, major collections are held by the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton and the U.S. Park Service repositories at the historical society in Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma State University-Tulsa.”
Route 66 is famous, of course, for historic sites such as the blue whale between Catoosa and Claremore, the Coleman Theater in Miami, OK, Ed Galloway's Totem Pole Park in Foyil, the round barn in Arcadia, milk bottle building in Oklahoma City, and Lucille Hammons' service station in Hydro. The National Register of Historic Places includes the Rivera Courts west of Miami, the Chelsea Motel in Chelsea and the now-demolished 66 Motel in Tulsa and the West Winds Motel in Erick.
The Trade Winds Motel in Clinton claims a special guest: Elvis Presley stayed there several times in the 1950s and 60s. Travelers today can stay in that room. Harris spins yarns such as visitors paying 10 cents to 50 cents at "snake pits” until "any tourist trap was referred to as a snake pit.” He also recalls Bill Boyd, who worked at a Sinclair service station in Tulsa.
"When a car passed over the air hose in the station's driveway, a bell would sound,” Harris said. "Attendants had 30 seconds to get to the driver-side window. ‘Fill 'er up' was a common request, since gas once sold for 20 cents a gallon. Bill said most folks wanted their tires, oil and water checked, and their windshields cleaned. Some stations even vacuumed or swept out the car and dusted the dashboard.”
Deadman's Corner between Afton and Vinita was the site of numerous wrecks, and Harris said word of mouth provided drivers with a reminder to approach carefully.
Harris also points to historic places such as the Kuku Burger in Miami as a modernistic burger stand, the round barn as a distinctive building, Hammons' service station as one of the oldest sites on Route 66, and Sayre's Beckham County Courthouse, which was featured as a background in "The Grapes of Wrath” movie.
We didn't have car air conditioning in 1947, but Harris said some travelers had an evaporative car cooler, which was attached to a window and used water, ice or water and ice. I remember seeing those on cars passing through Oklahoma City on Route 66.
Travelers often stopped at "soft ice cream” stores as well as burger joints. Soft ice cream melted quickly, so families often ate them outside of a car to avoid messes. Burgers were served with onions, mustard, mayonnaise and pickles, wrapped in wax paper and a brown paper bag, delivered by "car hop” attendants to the windows of parked cars. Some travelers believed the special flavor came from the wax paper and paper bag, Harris said. I also remember we bought soft drinks for 5 cents at vending machines.
And there is the story of how Beverly Osborne and his wife came up with Chicken in the Rough on Route 66. Beverly's Restaurant in Oklahoma City served Chicken in the Rough (fried chicken with a biscuit and honey) and franchised the specialty across the nation. Osborne once said it started when he and his wife were eating fried chicken while traveling west in a Ford Model T on Route 66.
"This is really chicken in the rough,” his wife said. It stuck.
There are numerous other stories, of course, handed down to the parents, children and grandchildren of today. For me, that 1947 trip on Route 66 remains one of the most vivid memories of my boyhood.
Max Nichols writes a monthly column for the Oklahoma Historical Society.
Buying a Car
Visit NewsOK's latest Know it and get tips on buying the perfect vehicle.
More Info
Mount St. Mary High School student Christian Dunsworth looks out a window of the round barn in Arcadia during a class visit to learn about Oklahoma history. By CHRIS LANDSBERGER, THE OKLAHOMAN
Prev
