Route 66 Turns 100: Why the Mother Road Still Belongs to Car People #37

Chloe00:01:32

Welcome to Black Beauty Jag, everyone. Hey, Caesar. We mentioned this during our last episode, but this year Route 66 is turning 100. That really is something, isn't it?

Caesar00:01:43

Hundred years of pavement dust, neon road food, family stories, and cars with opinions. Sure is something, Chloe.

Chloe00:01:51

Cars with opinions.

Caesar00:01:53

Absolutely. Some cars politely get you there, other cars arrive like they expect the diner to notice.

Chloe00:01:59

That sounds like Black Beauty Jag.

Caesar00:02:02

Exactly. She would not just pull up to Route 66, she would make an entrance.

Chloe00:02:08

Oh, but she is proud and humble at the same time, if that makes sense. Get to know her and you will understand that about her.

Caesar00:02:15

And that is a perfect place to begin, because Route 66 has always been about more than getting from one place to another. It has been about the experience of the road itself.

Chloe00:02:28

So true, Caesar. The people, the stops, the signs, and.

Caesar00:02:34

Of course the cars.

Chloe00:02:36

And the stories people carry with them long after the trip is over.

Caesar00:02:40

Today, most people look at a map and expect everything to connect.

Chloe00:02:44

A phone gives them a blue line,.

Caesar00:02:47

A voice tells them when to turn,.

Chloe00:02:49

And if they miss the exit, the machine, as in gps, calmly recalculates, giving the driver the directions via the Siri voice in many cases.

Caesar00:02:59

And that can be much kinder than some passengers, wouldn't you say, Chloe? You know, compared to the backseat driver types.

Chloe00:03:05

So true, Caesar. Unless Siri is joining in on conversations that he or she should not.

Caesar00:03:12

Oh yes, Michael mentioned that he has been doing that in Black Beauty Jag.He has Siri set to a British voice, and the other day he had the top down sitting at a stoplight and Siri started talking to the car next to him, like responding to the gal's radio.It would have been truly embarrassing if it were not for the fact that the gal had a nice sense of humor and laughed along with Michael's shrug of the shoulders.

Chloe00:03:32

Oh yes, I remember Michael and Deborah mentioning that and how they even talked to the folks at the Apple store about it. And that they could not turn Siri off because it affects carplay.So I guess Black Beauty Jag now talks to people by way of Siri at stoplights, all on her. Or I should say his own since it is a male British voice. Like you, Caesar.

Caesar00:03:53

Wow. And between Siri and human navigators, I am just saying, not every navigator has a calm, recalculating voice.

Chloe00:04:02

Fair enough. Fortunately, Michael has said that Deborah just lets him drive and does not get involved in telling him what to do.She helps when asked, but none of that banging on the dash or stomping the footstuff besides, as she says, why would she do that to her precious Black Beauty Jag? And with such limited space, that is where Trudy is curled up to.So of course, not the three of them, four counting Black Beauty Jag, have a nice, calm driving experience.

Caesar00:04:30

Back to the navigation discussion. In the early days of American motoring, the space between towns was not quite as simple. Seri was not part of the mix.

Chloe00:04:40

Also, it was not a smooth interstate.

Caesar00:04:44

It was dirt, gravel, weather, uncertainty, and long stretches where drivers had to trust the road, the car, and their own nerve.

Chloe00:04:52

Route 66 officially began in 1926, and.

Caesar00:04:57

It became one of the most famous roads in the world.

Chloe00:05:01

But it did not begin as a nostalgic vacation route.

Caesar00:05:04

No, it began as a road of.

Chloe00:05:06

Connection, a way to tie towns, people, businesses, farms, cities and dreams together.

Caesar00:05:16

One of the people behind its identity as Route 66 was Cyrus Avery.

Chloe00:05:21

Yes, Caesar. And he was known as the father of Route 66. So we owe him quite a bit.

Caesar00:05:27

He understood something powerful about the name itself.

Chloe00:05:30

Route 66 was easy to say, easy to remember, almost musical or poetic, like it rolls off the tongue.

Caesar00:05:39

Eh, so true, Chloe. It is also very balanced on a sign. I'm not sure people really realize that.I mean, all the T shirts, sweatshirts, jewelry that commemorate the road with that road sign, and it is so perfectly aligned.

Chloe00:05:52

I hadn't thought of that, Caesar. But you are absolutely right, and that is important. Since before long, the number itself became part of the attraction, which is very.

Caesar00:06:02

Fitting for a road that later became famous for signs, slogans, and roadside personality.

Chloe00:06:07

But it should be noted that before the neon and souvenir shops, there was hardship.

Caesar00:06:13

You're correct, Chloe. And that is where we need to remember the history and all that went into paving the way, no pun intended, for this wonderful road.For example, the 1930s changed the meaning.

Chloe00:06:23

During the Dust bowl, families packed what they could into cars and headed west.

Caesar00:06:28

Those cars were not hobby cars.

Chloe00:06:31

No siree, Caesar.

Caesar00:06:33

They were lifelines, loaded with bedding, tools, children, pots, pans, fear and hope.

Chloe00:08:07

John Steinbeck helped give Route 66 the name that stayed with it. The Mother Road.

Caesar00:08:13

And that name carries weight because for.

Chloe00:08:15

Many people, the road was not scenic.

Caesar00:08:18

It was survival.

Chloe00:08:19

It was leaving behind a failed crop, a ruined farm, or a town that could no longer hold them, and trusting.

Caesar00:08:26

That somewhere farther west, life might still be possible.

Chloe00:08:30

That is one of the reasons Route 66 feels different from an ordinary highway.

Caesar00:08:35

It holds movement, but it also holds emotion.

Chloe00:08:38

Deborah was mentioning the other day how she made her trip out west on her own at the tender age of 19. And part of that trip, not all of it, was her introduction to Route 66.It was then that she was introduced to the Americana culture during her own travel westward. For some of the same reasons as we are discussing here.

Caesar00:08:58

Yes, and with the exception of a few years back in her home state, meeting and marrying Michael and helping him with his move west, she has maintained her home in the west, as has Michael and their Black Beauty Jag and of course, Trudy. So they have their own family history tied up in the Route 66 move west, they understand that move and its emotions, etc.

Chloe00:09:17

So true, Caesar. So back to history in general. During World War II, the road took on another role.

Caesar00:09:25

You got that right, Chloe. Troops, equipment, and wartime movement made the route even more important yet.

Chloe00:09:31

So the road kept changing and changing and yet remaining constant, being there to depend on throughout it all.

Caesar00:09:40

Yep, it served as a migration route,.

Chloe00:09:43

Military route, business route, vacation route, memory.

Caesar00:09:48

Route, and that start of a new life route.

Chloe00:09:51

For many and for the towns along the way, Route 66 could mean survival of another kind, Economic survival. A road full of travelers meant restaurants, gas stations, motels, garages, diners and small.

Caesar00:10:05

Shops had a chance, but only if drivers stopped.

Chloe00:10:09

And that is where Route 66 became wonderfully creative.

Caesar00:10:13

Or wonderfully strange.

Chloe00:10:14

Often both.

Caesar00:10:16

A business owner had a few seconds to catch the eye of someone driving past.

Chloe00:10:20

So the signs got bigger, the neon.

Caesar00:10:22

Got brighter, the food got faster, the.

Chloe00:10:25

Buildings got weirder, and the roadside attraction became part of American culture.

Caesar00:10:30

There is the blue whale in Catoosa..

Chloe00:10:32

Oklahoma, a huge smiling whale that became a beloved roadside stop. There are TP motels and drive ins.

Caesar00:10:41

There are giant fiberglass figures standing watch over restaurants and highways. There is the Gemini giant in Illinois, holding a rocket like he is guarding the space age from the parking lot.

Chloe00:10:51

That is a very specific job description.

Caesar00:10:54

Somebody had to do it.

Chloe00:10:56

And then there is Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, Texas. 10 Vintage Cadillacs buried nose down in the dirt.

Caesar00:11:03

Part art installation, part roadside ritual. Visitors bring spray paint and leave their mark.

Chloe00:11:09

Which means the cars are never quite finished.

Caesar00:11:12

They keep changing, layer by layer.

Chloe00:11:15

That feels very Route 66.

Caesar00:11:17

It does. The road itself has been rewritten by every generation that used it.

Chloe00:11:22

Even food became part of the engineering of the road.

Caesar00:11:25

The corn dog is a perfect example.

Chloe00:11:28

Road food had to be portable, easy to hold, fast to serve, and ideally,.

Caesar00:11:34

Not fall apart in a moving car.

Chloe00:11:37

A noble goal.

Caesar00:11:38

And it was a necessary goal at that. Chloe.

Chloe00:11:41

The cozy dog drive in in Springfield, Illinois, became Part of that story, a.

Caesar00:11:46

Battered hot dog on a stick. Sounds simple now, but somebody had to solve the problem of making it work.

Chloe00:11:52

That is the kind of detail we love to include in our Black Beauty Jag episodes.

Caesar00:11:57

And from what we hear back from our listeners, that is what they like to hear as well. A small invention that tells a bigger story.

Chloe00:12:04

What the hot dog were the deeper stories, Caesar. Seriously, though. Route 66 was never just about famous landmarks.

Caesar00:12:13

It was about practical imagination.

Chloe00:12:15

People trying to make travelers stop, people.

Caesar00:12:18

Trying to feed families.

Chloe00:12:20

People trying to create something memorable out of a few seconds of attention.

Caesar00:12:25

And over time, those commercial ideas became cultural memory.

Chloe00:12:28

A neon vacancy sign is not just an ad anymore.

Caesar00:13:52

It is a feeling. It became the basis for the Americana feeling. But that is only one small, no tiny aspect of it.

Chloe00:14:01

A giant roadside statue is not just a gimmick anymore.

Caesar00:14:05

It is a landmark.

Chloe00:14:06

A diner booth is not just furniture.

Caesar00:14:09

It is where someone rested halfway through a life changing trip.

Chloe00:14:13

But the Route 66 story also has harder chapters.

Caesar00:14:17

Oh, it does, Chloe. We like to tell the feel good stories, but then we miss the bigger story of the history of Route 66 over the past 100 years.

Chloe00:14:25

During the Jim Crow era, African American travelers faced dangers that Caucasian travelers often did not have to consider and often took for granted.

Caesar00:14:35

A road trip would have to require careful planning in order to ensure safety and safety for one's family and loved ones.

Chloe00:14:42

The green book helped African American motorists find places where they could stop, eat, sleep, and get fuel more safely.

Caesar00:14:51

That changes the way we think about the open road.

Chloe00:14:54

For some, it represented freedom.

Caesar00:14:57

For others, freedom had to be mapped carefully. And it may not have that open, free feeling.

Chloe00:15:02

And a safe gas station could become much more than a business.

Caesar00:15:06

It could become a place to exhale.

Chloe00:15:09

Route 66 also crossed through native lands.

Caesar00:15:12

And many roadside images reduced native cultures into tourist symbols. Rather than the respect that is due and the gratitude that is due, that.

Chloe00:15:22

History belongs in the conversation as well. Caesar.

Caesar00:15:25

Especially during the centennial, when communities have a chance to tell fuller stories in their own voices.

Chloe00:15:31

A hundredth anniversary is not just a party.

Caesar00:15:34

It can also be a correction, a.

Chloe00:15:36

Chance to remember more honestly. And that is the key. Allowing people to tell the history in their voice and their voices.

Caesar00:15:45

And then after all that history, here comes the electric age, which sounds like.

Chloe00:15:49

A completely different story until you picture it. An electric Mustang rolling along old stretches of Route 66.

Caesar00:15:58

Modern driving technology over Brick Road from the 1930s.

Chloe00:16:03

Fast chargers behind big stores.

Caesar00:16:06

Vintage signs nearby.

Chloe00:16:08

The future stopping to recharge beside the past.

Caesar00:16:11

That is a beautiful image, and a little funny, because old gas stations shaped the Route 66 experience.

Chloe00:16:19

Now, charging stations may shape the next.

Caesar00:16:22

One, but charging takes time.

Chloe00:16:24

30 Or 40 minutes changes the rhythm of travel.

Caesar00:16:28

Drivers get out, they stretch, they shop,.

Chloe00:16:32

They talk to other drivers.

Caesar00:16:34

They notice where they are, which sounds.

Chloe00:16:36

Surprisingly close to the original pace of the mother road.

Caesar00:16:39

The technology is new, but the lingering is old.

Chloe00:16:42

That is where Michael and Deborah fit naturally into this conversation.

Caesar00:16:47

Because Black Beauty Jag is not about rushing.

Chloe00:16:50

She is about noticing the shine of the paint, the sound of the door,.

Caesar00:16:55

The way people look over when a car has presence.

Chloe00:16:58

Route 66 understands that kind of presence.

Caesar00:17:02

It was built by movement, but remembered through moments. A stop for pie, a photograph by a sign.

Chloe00:17:08

The conversation with a stranger.

Caesar00:17:10

A family car packed too full.

Chloe00:17:12

A motel light in the distance.

Caesar00:17:15

A dog in the special place made just for her in the front seat, wondering why humans require so many stops.

Chloe00:17:21

That would be Trudy's contribution, and a valid one. If Trudy were on Route 66, she would have opinions about the schedule, mostly.

Caesar00:17:31

About snacks and whether the blanket situation was acceptable.

Chloe00:17:34

Lack beauty. Jad, meanwhile, would bring elegance to the roadside.

Caesar00:17:38

A little black Jaguar against desert light and an old Route 66 sign.

Chloe00:17:44

That is not just a car photo.

Caesar00:17:47

That is a story waiting to happen.

Chloe00:17:49

And that is the heart of this episode.

Caesar00:17:52

Route 66 still belongs to car people because car people understand that roads are emotional.

Chloe00:17:58

They understand that a car can hold a chapter of someone's life.

Caesar00:18:02

The first long trip, the breakdown no.

Chloe00:18:05

One laughs about until years later.

Caesar00:18:08

The diner they found by accident.

Chloe00:18:10

The passenger who fell asleep before the best scenery.

Caesar00:18:14

The driver who insisted they were not.

Chloe00:18:16

Lost, even when they were very clearly lost.

Caesar00:18:20

Route 66 is full of those stories.

Chloe00:18:24

Some grand, some ordinary, some polished, some dusty. Some remembered by historians, and some remembered.

Caesar00:18:32

Only by the people who were in the car.

Chloe00:18:34

As the road turns 100, it is still changing. Digital passports, electric vehicles, centennial celebrations, restored signs, classic car events, new travelers discovering old towns.

Caesar00:18:51

But the basic invitation is the same.

Chloe00:18:53

Slow down, look around.

Caesar00:18:56

Stop somewhere you did not plan to stop.

Chloe00:18:59

Let the road become part of the story.

Caesar00:19:01

Because a highway can move traffic, but.

Chloe00:19:03

A road like Route 66 moves memory.

Caesar00:19:07

And if Black Beauty Jag ever finds herself under a Route 66 sign, she will fit right in.

Chloe00:19:12

Not because she belongs to the past,.

Caesar00:19:15

But because she understands what lasts.

Chloe00:19:17

Style lasts.

Caesar00:19:19

Stories last.

Chloe00:19:20

The right road lasts.

Caesar00:19:22

And the feeling of a good car on an open stretch of highway lasts longer than people expect.

Chloe00:19:27

So, happy 100th birthday to Route 66, the mother road, the memory road.

Caesar00:19:33

The road of signs, stops, dust, chrome, neon and stubborn American imagination.

Chloe00:19:40

And still, after all these years, a road that asks people to do one simple thing.

Caesar00:19:46

Drive less like the miles or something to get through and more like the road might be trying to hand you a memory.

Chloe00:19:53

Because sometimes the space between places is not empty at all. Sometimes that is where the real story finally catches up with you.