Posted on 04/01/2012 7:01:15 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Many Americans can’t remember a time before the interstate-highway system streamlined cross-country travel into more-or-less straight, convenient grooves across the United States.
And those are many of the same people who might have traveled the famous, winding Route 66 from the Midwest, across the Great Plains and deserts of the Southwest, and ultimately to California. They’re also the same generation who dreamed about the open road to the lyrics of the song, (Get Your Kicks on) Route 66, first recorded by Nat King Cole:
It winds from Chicago to LA,
More than two thousand miles all the way.
Get your kicks on Route 66.
And now, a bit of research partially funded by the American Express Foundation sheds new light not only on the historic importance of what’s known as America’s Mother Road but also on the economic contributions that travel on – and fascination with – Route 66 still make to the economies of the towns and cities along its route.
“This research really showed the potential that Route 66 offers to preserve our cultural heritage, and we look forward to seeing this research create new ways for historic places to drive economic prosperity,” Timothy J. McClimon, president of the foundation, said in a press release.
The song itself supplies the names of many of the places that still benefit from Americans’ nostalgic, vestigial curiosity about Route 66, which traversed parts of seven states:
Now you go through Saint Looey,
Joplin, Missouri,
And Oklahoma City is mighty pretty.
You see Amarillo,
Gallup, New Mexico,
Flagstaff, Arizona.
Don’t forget Winona,
Kingman, Barstow, San Bernardino.
Route 66 served as a major path for westward migration during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and afterward. In addition to the song penned in 1946 by Bobby Troup and performed the same year by
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
I thought that they were all at Graceland.
He was married to Julie London so he cannot be questioned. Jack Webb however can be :)
You never really see this incredible country properly from the big interstates. I love the older two lane highways they often follow , Indian trails, wagon trails and old stage lines. Route 66 does all that and you will fall even deeper in love with this country taking it and many other old roads. I still have it etched in my mind having a nice smoke under a full autumn moon outside a really funky diner in the middle of nowhere along Route 66. It is odd how little things stay with you sometimes it’s a diner other times it is coming around a corner and seeing country so pretty you almost have to stop and just stare.
Funny you should mention the Dutch.
Back in the 1980’s, I noticed that every state through which Route 66 passed had a club, or association, devoted to preserving and promoting what’s left of Route 66.
What surprised me is that a number of foreign countries have Route 66 associations, including The Netherlands, Germany, the U.K. and Japan. The lure of the open road appeals to many across America and around the world.
Moved on from that job, and now I NEVER take the Interstates...the two lane roads, small towns, scenery, etc. are just so much more fun & interesting. Small town cafes are the best too...I'm currently on a mission to find the best BLT.
It's at the Zia Diner, Santa Fe, NM.
: )
The drops are more easily seen from Flagstaff (7400 ft.) down to Kingman.
I’ve strode the headwaters of Route 66 many many times: Michigan & Adams in Chicago, about 100 paces from the front door of Orchestra Hall.
Bobby Troup’s song has been done to great effect by many groups. Of the ones I’ve heard, I think I like the 1960 reading by the Four Freshmen best. (That recording is not on YouTube, as far as I can tell.)
Bobby of course was the Doctor on the “Emergency!” TV series, performing with Julie London, his off-screen wife. Julie was formerly married to Jack Webb, who ironically was the producer of “Emergency!”
Having only briefly glimpsed Bobby’s character on that TV series, I didn’t have too clear an idea of his appearance, especially in his heyday as a song writer in the 40’s and 50’s.
Well, about twenty years ago I was watching an old Perry Mason episode, made ca. 1960. Some of the action was set in a ‘beatnik’ nightclub, where Perry had to visit a musician/poet. The guy was dressed a little like a beatnik and I think he was wearing a little goatee. I don’t recall why the thought occurred to me, but I said to myself, “I think that character is being played by Bobby Troup.” I made sure to catch the end credits, and sure enough, it was. He did change a lot in the 20 years or so between that Perry Mason episode and his gig on Emergency!.
CCH Pounder is the harried, overworked owner/manager of the cafe and gas station. Marianne Sägebrecht is the zaftig Bavarian tourist who gets stranded there, and attracts the interest of a former Hollywood scene painter played by Jack Palance.
Two summers ago the family paacked it all up and drove the RV to Chicago where the official start is right across the street from the Art Institute.
We drove Route 66 all the way to the end at the Pier in Santa Monica.
Loved every minute of it. Nostalgia and nice American people the whole way.
Course today the majority of folks doing the trip are foreigners.
Love that song!
Before she was married to Bobby Troup, Julie London was married (her first marriage) to Jack Webb, as per IMDB.
Bobby Troup and Julie London played a doctor and nurse on Emergency!, a Jack Webb production........
He also had a bit role in the original M*A*S*H movie.
“I live less than a mile off RT66”
Great. Then you may be the one to answer one of the burning questions of our time.
Is it “rout” or “root”
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