Complete Route 66 Lost and Found [Englisch] [Gebundene Ausgabe]

Well, I have to admit that I have a soft spot in my heart for old Route 66. When I was growing up, back when the earth was young, my family took vacations. Our vacations consisted of our father seeing just how many miles he could drive on each of the days of our trip. As we lived in the Midwest, Route 66 was a major part of our "vacation" experience. With the exception of extreme Southern California, I have at one time or another traveled ever mile of this highway of highways. At present, living here in Missouri, I travel sections of this once great road at least once a week. Many of the old buildings are still standing and the old route is still marked by special signs.

This particular work by Russell A. Olsen is certainly a trip down memory lane for many of us, and should be a glimpse into the forgotten past by the younger generation. The author as used the "then and now" format and used it quite effectively. Each page, or I should say double page, features a business (and yes, this particular work does address businesses; gas stations, motels, and restraints for the most part), showing the business as it was in its hay day, and then a picture of what exists today. These photographs are both in black and white and some in color. It is interesting to note that some of these old places are still doing quite well even to this day. I often stop at several of the old eating establishments and do on a regular basis. Of course others, most in fact, are long gone.

It is rather amazing that some of the buildings are still standing and are completely recognizable for what they were. On the other hand, there are times when we see a photograph of "then" showing a neat café or restraint and when we see a "now" photograph... alas, only a barren field or pile of rubble. Each set of photographs is accompanied by several paragraphs telling us of the business, its history, ownership, impact upon the local area and eventual fate. The photographs date back to the 1920s with the majority being 1930s and 1940s. The quality of each photograph is quite good, with some being more detailed than others, but all quite nicely done. Meticulous care has been taken with the "now" photographs in presenting them at the same angle as the "then" photograph and it would appear that the same time of day was even used. Of course this was not always possible, but the author has certainly given it a good try.

I cannot say that things were better way back then. Let's face it, staying over night in a small, and I mean really small, single room motel in Kansas in the middle of August with no air conditioning and a very slow working fan, was not the most comfortable night ever spent. Some of the eating establishments were absolutely great, but on the other hand, many of them were playing roulette with botulism and vying for your vitals with the local roaches. Of course, some of the littlest and dirtiest places had the best tasting food around.

I am giving this one five stars rather than four simply because it addressed a nostalgic spot. I would have enjoyed more narrative, more history, but I suppose this book accomplishes what it was meant for. This is one that you might want to check out from the library.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

Dubbed the "Mother Road" by John Steinbeck in The Grapes of Wrath, US Highway 66 stretches from Chicago to Los Angeles, passing through eight states. Russell Olsen, a longtime Route 66 enthusiast, has collected a fascinating now-and-then in this volume, combining photos from vintage postcards with his own current photographs of the same locations.

The book focuses on the businesses that grew up along Route 66, and Olsen has meticulously researched the stories of the triumphs and failures of generations of roadside businessmen and businesswomen served the millions of travelers passing along the road.

The stories are rich with nostalgic detail, and the endings are as varied as the landscape. Some of the businesses continue to thrive. Many more are long gone, often lost when the interstate highways bypassed entire towns in the 1960s and 1970s. Some have fallen into decay, and of others, hardly a trace remains.

The old photos that Olsen has collected show vintage Texaco gas stations, Indian souvenir shops, and motor-court hotels, originally built in the old style with carports or garages for each hotel unit. There are neon signs, classic cars, camping cabins, whiskey bars, and hamburger stands.

During my recent road trip out to Arizona, we traveled along much of what was once Route 66 (the highway was officially decomissioned and it is no longer possible to actually drive the old route; only fragments remain scattered across eight states). I became interested in the roadside curiosities like the concrete and fiberglass dinosaurs and the Wigwam Motel in Holbrook, and this book proved to be a great source for learning some of the stories behind the relics and ruins.

This book is actually a combined volume of two previously released books on Route 66, so the format is slightly odd. It is divided up by state, moving east to west along the route. However, halfway through, the book resets back in Chicago and the tour begins anew, with different locations featured. I think the book might have been a smoother read if it was edited together into a more cohesive format, but the author and editors might have preferred to let each of the previous volumes stand as a unit.

The old photos are fun, and the recent photos provide some interesting contrast. As the author points out, it was not always possible to photograph the exact same location at the same angle, but you still get an excellent idea of how the landscape has changed with time.

The stories are presented in wonderful detail, and there are plenty of glimpses of tragedies and intrigues, and of movie stars and celebrities who passed through this town or that while traveling the Mother Road.

One of my favorite tales involved Kay Aldridge, who played the lead in Republic's classic Perils of Nyoka serial in the 1940s, and went on to purchase the Green Spot Motel in Victorville CA in the early 80s. She sold it to a couple who came to a bad end, the wife sent to jail for the murder of her husband in the mid-nineties, a few months after Aldridge passed away. A plaque on the entrance arch reads "Nyoka's Hideaway", and the motel is still in business for weekly and monthly rentals under a new owner.

If you have an interest in Route 66 nostalgia, this book is a great starting point for your own explorations. You will even find some recommendations for lodging and restaurants that are still open for business. It's still possible to "get your kicks" along Route 66, and this book will teach you some history while you're at it.

"Well if you ever plan to motor west,
Just take my way, that's the highway that's the best.
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six.

Well it winds from Chicago to LA
More than two-thousand miles all the way.
Get your kicks on Route sixty-six."

- lyrics from "Get Your Kicks on Route 66" by Bobby Troup

THE COMPLETE ROUTE 66 LOST & FOUND is two publications under one cover: Route 66 Lost & Found: Ruins and Relics Revisited and Route 66 Lost & Found: Ruins and Relics Revisited, Volume 2, both by Russell Olsen.

This volume, a coffee-table book by any standard, will be appreciated by members of perhaps only two audiences, those that revere the memory of the old U.S. Route 66 and those, like myself, that are dumbly fascinated by "then and now" photo pairs.

Each component book of the whole follows the same format. Moving west from Chicago, Illinois, the eastern terminus of Route 66, to Los Angeles, California, the western terminus, the photo pairs, mostly black and white images, are presented state by state. By state, the number of pairs (volume 1 + volume 2) are: Illinois (10 + 10), Missouri (14 + 11), Kansas (3 + 3), Oklahoma (9 + 10), Texas (6 + 6), New Mexico (11 + 11), Arizona (15 + 12), and California (8 + 11). Each featured site, whether it's a motel, café, town main street, gas station, bridge, trading post, etc., is pinpointed on a local sectional map of the old highway's route. The Afterword to the whole contains an update and additional photos of 5 sites.

There is no book without the pictures. However, there is also a textual constituent. The Introduction to the volume 1 publication describes the genesis of the entire Chicago - Los Angeles route. Also in this first volume, at the beginning of each state's section, is a one-page summary of the road's evolution within that state. Then, for each of the 150 "then and now" photo pairs in THE COMPLETE ROUTE 66 LOST & FOUND, there's a roughly half-page info summary. For example, for a motel, there's likely to be described the establishment's original builder/owner, the number of rooms, perhaps the major amenities offered, the subsequent owners, the fate of the site after Route 66 was bypassed by an interstate highway, and the building's current status. For instance:

"Since the early 1940s, the Blue Swallow (Court in Tucumcari, NM) has been a favorite haven among weary travelers. W.A. Huggins began construction on the truly classic motor court in 1939 and opened for business in 1941. The archetypal 1930s design features 13 units laid out in an L-shape with individual garages for each unit. The office sits prominently in the center. Ownership changed hands a few times over the years until 1958 when Floyd Redman purchased the property and gave it to his fiancée as an engagement gift. Lillian Redman owned and operated the motel for almost 40 years until age and the high cost of upkeep took their toll. Slowly, the motel was headed downhill from lack of maintenance and Redman was forced to put it up for sale."

It should be noted that the text's font is awkwardly small and somewhat akin in point size to the barely decipherable disclaimers seen on product labels. Any smaller and I would have needed a magnifying glass.

For those that venerate the remembrance of "The Mother Road", the written element will necessarily be considered both welcome and indispensable. For others who otherwise just enjoy perusing the photos, the dry and matter-of-fact text might be considered a soporific. (Hey, just like this review!) In any case, THE COMPLETE ROUTE 66 LOST & FOUND represents a work (or two works) of love by the author, and honor is due.

So, did Tod Stiles (Martin Milner) and Buz Murdock (George Maharis), the lead characters in the 1960-64 American TV series Route 66 - The Ultimate DVD Collection, ever pass this way in their Corvette convertible? Um, apparently not. Though the weekly episodes were filmed all over the country, virtually all shooting locations were distant from the namesake highway. That's Hollywood!