My Route 66 website does not commemorate the history, document the importance, or share stories of my favorite American highway. There are some fine books and even some websites that do that quite well. Nor am I a photographer who has a portfolio of beautiful roadside images to present. The main purpose of this website is to fill some informational gaps that exist when it comes to some Route 66 topics about which I and at least a few others have some interest. Much of this information is not available among the many other websites dedicated to Route 66. This website was built as a resource for Route 66 history adherents particularly those with an interest in paper memorabilia. Some of the content of these web pages is a bit nerdy but if you can get past that I think that you will enjoy your visit here. Despite the intentional retro black-and-white look of this main web page, be patient as color does follow!
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I have several Route 66 subjects linked through the navigation buttons on the left. The first link leads to a picture presentation and accompanying narrative featuring over 200 real photo postcard images from the stretch of Route 66 between Los Angeles and Albuquerque with which I am sufficiently familiar. The images represent just a portion of the many real photo postcards that have been printed from this region. I am not aware of another website that presents as many real photo postcard images from the western third of Route 66 together with some historical commentary. The second link presents images of my fifty favorite photochrome postcards from Route 66. The third link leads to an index that includes substantially all of the Route 66 linen-era postcards that exist. This index has evolved through the efforts of several long-time postcard collectors who have made the principal contributions to its content. Few new postcards are being added each year but none of us would ever suggest that there are no other linen postcards that have yet to be discovered or included so I welcome anyone's information on this topic. I believe that these web pages are the most comprehensive and analytical listing of publisher data for Route 66 linen postcards anywhere on the internet. However, I do include an important link to what I consider the best and most thorough website for actual picture images of Route 66 postcards. The fourth link discusses the history of the folded paper matchbook and matchcover collecting as a once-popular hobby. I also display over 200 colorful and interesting matchcover images from businesses, famous and not-so-famous, that were located on Route 66 during its heyday. The fifth link principally displays a small selection of old business cards from Route 66. The sixth link leads to a discussion of the Whiting Brothers gasoline stations and motels which, while far from being exclusive to Route 66, were associated with the western half of the highway during its halcyon years. I believe that these web pages are the most detailed telling of the Whiting Brothers Route 66 story on the web today. These pages provide some of the business history, identify and account for many of the gasoline stations, describe and present pictures of all of the motels, and display some interesting collectibles. The seventh link leads to some comments about my favorite Route 66 books. The layout of these web pages is optimized for computers. Browsers
used for phones and tablets sometimes render these web pages strangely. |
