"Route 66: The Mother Road" author Michael Wallis emailed this essay, titled "The Club," on Monday night, just days after the remaining walls of the historic but long-closed Club Cafe in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, were torn down. I commend this to your attention. Below is the essay in its entirety. --- It was a … Continue reading “The Club”
Category: History
Last of the Club Cafe building comes down
The remains of the storied but long-closed Club Cafe restaurant in Santa Rosa, New Mexico, were torn down Friday, according to reporting by the Guadalupe County Communicator. The newspaper's publisher, M.E. Sprengelmeyer, posted the above photograph on Facebook about midday Friday. We'd cruised by the site a few days before. All the debris was cleared … Continue reading Last of the Club Cafe building comes down
Ten years
On Oct. 10, 2005, in just the second day of Route 66 News' existence, I hit the "publish" button on a post titled "Has it been 10 years already?" The post was about the anniversary of the California Route 66 Museum in Victorville. Today, that title could apply again, for it is the 10th anniversary of Route … Continue reading Ten years
Former president of Frankoma Pottery dies
Joniese Frank, the daughter of Frankoma Pottery's founder and president and CEO of the company along Route 66 in Sapulpa, Oklahoma, for almost 20 years, died at age 77 on Wednesday, according to the Tulsa World. John Frank established Frankoma Pottery in 1933 in Norman, Oklahoma, before moving it to Sapulpa. She took over as … Continue reading Former president of Frankoma Pottery dies
Book review: “The Trip”
A trip on Route 66 often changes the life of the person taking that journey. Andy Warhol's trip from New York City to Los Angeles in 1963 -- much of it on 66 -- probably didn't change his career, but it accelerated it into him becoming a Pop Art icon. Deborah Davis makes the case about … Continue reading Book review: “The Trip”
Book review: “Waldmire”
It seems a bit odd to call William Crook Jr.'s publication about his memories of the life of Bob Waldmire a book, as it's a slim 28 pages and staple-bound. Regardless, "Waldmire" (subtitled "An Artist's Life on Route 66") contains details about the hippie, environmentalist and Route 66 artist that might have escaped those who even … Continue reading Book review: “Waldmire”
More 1993 footage from Route 66
Anthony Reichardt has posted more videos from a 1993 journey he took on Route 66 in a 1959 Cadillac. The first is a visit with the legendary Lucille Hamons at Lucille's near Hydro, Oklahoma, a few years before her death in 2000 and subsequent closure of the gas station. The station, built in 1929, remains … Continue reading More 1993 footage from Route 66
Booklet published on life of Route 66 artist Bob Waldmire
A friend of the late Route 66 artist Bob Waldmire has published a 28-page booklet, "Waldmire: An Artist's Life On Route 66." Springfield, Illinois, artist Bill Crook met Waldmire during the 1970s and wrote the book, according to the Springfield State Journal-Register. "Waldmire" includes reproductions of some of Waldmire's art, some of Crook's art, including … Continue reading Booklet published on life of Route 66 artist Bob Waldmire
More 1993 videos of a Route 66 trip
Anthony Reichardt of Santa Ana, California, has uploaded four more videos from 1993, when he and a friend drove a 1959 Cadillac down old Route 66. The first is Thelma White, longtime proprietor of Whitehall Mercantile in Halltown, Missouri. She also was a co-founder of the Route 66 Association of Missouri. She died in 2010, but … Continue reading More 1993 videos of a Route 66 trip
Cross-country driving a century ago
You have people who try to trace the paths of history. Then you have people who really try to re-create the entire experience from many decades ago. These images came a few days ago courtesy of Jim Hinckley of Kingman, Arizona, who explained in an email: In 1915, then 21-year old Edsel Ford and some … Continue reading Cross-country driving a century ago