Ann Carden writes, "The Past Repeats Itself on Route 66"
By Ann R. Carden, associate professor of communication, SUNY Fredonia
  Ann Carden, who teaches public relations at SUNY Fredonia, writes about Route 66. |
It was the television backdrop for two guys named Tod and Buz traveling the road in a blue Convertible. With its neon signs, natural wonders, tourist traps and attention-getting architecture, Route 66 is the stuff of which legends are made.
The mere mention of “Route 66” conjures up an image of freedom on the open road and a time when things were simpler. You won’t find Route 66 on a regular road map today. But it’s there. It’s the service road that runs beside the interstate, the motels and diners that still dot the path, the people who call it home, and the cracked asphalt that winds through the countryside often coming to a dead end.
Construction begins
The construction of Route 66 began in 1926, the result of the Federal Highway Act of 1921, which created a national highway system. It took 11 years to completely pave the 2,448 miles spanning from Chicago to Los Angeles. As the nation’s first all-weather highway, Route 66 was a novelty; anything that happened on the road appeared in newspapers and newsreels throughout the country.
Publicity stunts and gimmicks were a way of life on Route 66 from the very beginning. One of the first events to attract national attention was the International Transcontinental Foot Race held in 1928. A year earlier, the National U.S. 66 Highway Association had been formed to promote the road in all eight states through which the road ran. One of the group’s first ideas was a foot race that would trek from Los Angeles to New York City via Route 66; the winner would take home $25,000. Three hundred runners started the race, which reporters nicknamed the “Bunion Derby,” and for 87 days, it captured the attention of Americans and the media. By the end, “Route 66” had become a household name.
Love affair with the automobile
Meanwhile, America’s love affair with the automobile had become deeply entrenched and new highways like Route 66 gave motorists the opportunity for escapism, exploration and adventure. Gas stations opened for business along the road to accommodate the new travelers. When an estimated 210,000 people took to Route 66 during the Dust Bowl, the gas stations expanded their business to include sandwiches, cigarettes and other small items. Later they would compete against each other by showcasing attendants in neatly pressed uniforms and advertising “registered restrooms” that were guaranteed to be clean and modern.
As the traffic on the road continued to increase throughout the ‘30s and ‘40s, so did the number of eating establishments, and campgrounds gave way to cabins and, eventually, hundreds of motels. It was during this time that John Steinbeck dubbed Route 66 “the Mother Road” in “The Grapes of Wrath.”
By the end of World War II, many soldiers who had traveled the road to and from their California bases returned to Route 66, this time taking their young families.
Route 66 blossomed, with every business trying to outdo another in order to attract motorists and their wallets. Flashing neon signs were erected for as far as the eye could see, larger than life dinosaurs welcomed visitors, and concrete motels shaped like teepees offered a unique sleeping experience. Programmatic architecture – buildings shaped like the services they provided – was especially popular; motorists could seek refreshment at an orange-shaped juice stand, a sombrero-shaped Mexican restaurant or a pig-shaped barbeque place. Trading posts in the western states took on Native American motifs and resembled Indian pueblos and forts where tourists could watch native craftsmen at work or witness ceremonial dances.
In the ‘50s and ‘60s, Route 66 was the nation’s most popular road. It wasn’t the way to get to a destination – it was the destination. Whether motorists were looking for natural wonders like the Painted Desert, Meramac Caverns, or Meteor Crater, or manmade wonders like Totem Pole Park or Reptile Gardens, they could be found along Route 66. Ironically, however, it was also starting to die.
Preserving Route 66 after rise of Interstates
With the passage of 1956 the Federal Aid Highway Act, which created the nation’s interstate system, parts of Route 66 began to wither. The American lifestyle was changing; the gimmicks of Route 66 couldn’t compete with the new amusement parks in California, the advent of shopping malls and fast food, and higher speed limits.
The interstate allowed drivers to get to their destinations faster and service centers made it unnecessary to get off the ramp for food and gas.
The National U.S. 66 Highway Association had disbanded years earlier, but a new association had taken its place to serve as a watchdog for the interests of Route 66 businesses and advocate for the future of the road. Its attempts at making the route four lanes, keeping accessibility to and from the interstate, and preserving the “66” designation all failed. Many of the motels, restaurants, gas stations and tourist attractions that had lined Route 66 closed their doors. The road suffered further damage with the passage of the 1965 Highway Beautification Act, which forced the removal of hundreds of billboards and signs that had lured motorists to Route 66 stops for decades.
Route 66 was officially decommissioned in 1984, wiping away all traces of what was once promoted as The Main Street of America on maps and road signage. When the last stretch of Route 66 was bypassed in Williams, Ariz., it made national news. It took nearly 30 years and five interstates to replace the Mother Road.
Yet there was something about Route 66 that had planted itself firmly into American culture and attracted global fascination. The shield-shaped highway sign with the double sixes was one of the most recognized icons in the world during the ‘70s and ‘80s. In Europe, reruns of the television show “route 66” were so popular that foreign tourists began to flock to America to see the real thing. More and more people began to romanticize about this road that had cut not only through the American landscape, but the international mindscape as well. Route 66 was about to be reborn.
Between 1990 and 1995, it is estimated that touring on Route 66 increased from 100 vehicles a year to more than 10,000. Heritage tourism was becoming a multibillion dollar business in America and Route 66 businesses were in a good position to benefit from thousands of foreign visitors coming to experience the most legendary road in the world. Preservation groups were formed in each of the eight states through which Route 66 once ran. Route 66 communities began grassroots efforts to restore and protect landmarks, and efforts were started to put many sites on the National Registry of Historic Places and to make the road itself a designated scenic highway. Businesses began offering their support; Hampton® hotels’ Save-A-Landmark program adopted Route 66 and began restoring endangered sites. The National Historic Route 66 Federation was established with three goals in mind: 1) to develop a viable nationwide nonprofit; 2) involve the government in planning; and, 3) stimulate local economies by promoting tourism.
An endangered cultural treasure
All of these efforts received a boost with the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Act of 1999, which authorized a 10-year, $10 million funding project to be administered by the National Park Service. While these efforts have not been able to preserve the road itself, they have saved many landmark signs and buildings. Many others, however, are quickly dilapidating. Abandoned tourist stops are crumbling and motels are being torn down at a rapid pace to make way for parking lots and new construction. Like silent sentinals, darkened neon signs are often all that remain of the space where a booming business once stood.
Route 66 was recently profiled in Smithsonian magazine as one of the ten most endangered cultural treasures in the world. It was included in the World Monuments Fund 2008 Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites, and Route 66 motels were named to America’s Eleven Most Endangered Places list by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2007. Meanwhile, the National Park Service funding ends later this year, at which time a non-federal entity is supposed to be appointed to continue the program’s purpose.
The future of Route 66 is in question, but it has faced hard battles before. It struggled to be born when politics and funding problems delayed paving the entire road for more than a decade, but it finally happened. It struggled when motorists began clogging its two-lane arteries, but it responded by building new sections and opening more businesses to attract their dollars. It struggled to stay alive when it was bypassed by interstates, but even after it was decommissioned, the world continued to come. Those who have experienced the beauty, the freedom, the adventure and the spirit of Route 66 can only hope the past will repeat itself.
