Vintage gas station is the real thing October 20, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Businesses, Gas stations, Preservation.2 comments
This isn’t on Route 66, but it’s so cool and unique that it’s noteworthy.
The town of La Grande, Ore., contains a 1959 Texaco gas station that actually works for its intended purpose. There are plenty of well-preserved vintage gas stations around the country, but this is the only one that I’m aware of that actually uses the old equipment and offers full-service.
From the La Grande Observer:
The new “filling’’ station is becoming a haven for nostalgia lovers. Its features include:
• Attendants wearing 1950s and 1960s vintage Texaco uniforms. The men and women automatically wash the windshield of each vehicle with paper towels, not squeegees, and ask customers if they want their oil checked. Once under the hood attendants examine windshield wiper fluid levels and more.
• Vintage-style pumps providing Fire Chief (regular) and Sky Chief (supreme) gasoline, names no longer used at regular Texaco stations. The fuel sold at The Gas Station is Texaco-brand fuel; it is not generic.
The pumps have old-style meters.
“They are easier to reset than computerized ones,’’ said Wayne Marks, a station attendant.
• A station office filled with memorabilia like old framed ads for Texaco products including one for “ … Top Octane Sky Chief, Super Charged with Petrox’’ and motor oil that is “wax and tar free.’’ The office also has a display of automotive product cans, which disappeared from the market long ago.
Subtle features adding to the station’s old-style authenticity include 1950s vintage lights and bathroom fixtures and floor tiles.
“We found the original 1959 blueprints (of the Texaco station) and restored it almost everything exactly as it was,’’ Gregory said.
The Rev. Hank Albrecht is the station’s owner, and he’d been working seven years to restore it. The Gas Station opened in the past week or so.
In the coming weeks, coming will be ice-chest Coca-Cola dispenser, a garage for repairs and air pumps. Checking customers’ tire pressure during a fill-up be part of the full-service duties once the air pumps are installed.
Here’s another photo of The Gas Station. It’s a beaut.
The Gas Station is at 1508 Adams Ave. in La Grande (map here). It is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
A closer look at El Rancho Grande October 19, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in History, Preservation, Restaurants, Signs.2 comments
Greater Tulsa Reporter Newspapers has published a well-done article about El Rancho Grande, the oldest surviving restaurant on 11th Street (aka Route 66) in Tulsa.
The news hook is the restaurant’s recently restored and unique neon sign. But the story also contains a nice overview about the development of Tex-Mex cuisine in Tulsa (and the United States in general).
Enterprising folks found ways to divert trickles from the river of a highway into their diners and eateries for a short stopover and some good old American food before proceeding on down the restless road.
El Rancho Grande was just such a place, only the food was decidedly not diner food, or even American for that matter, but just as fast and just as coveted by both travelers and locals. It was called Tex-Mex, a coupling of Mexican and particularly Texas cuisines with an emphasis on chili powder, cumin and garlic seasoning, and with lots of meat and cheese ingredients. Tex-Mex was a hearty workingman’s cuisine. It reached the table quickly, was cheap and “stuck to your ribs.” It had already found a home in the Austin, Texas area from where the restaurant’s original owners Francisco and Guadalupe Rodriquez came. They left the Lone Star State in the 1940s because it had become saturated with small mom and pop restaurants devoted to Tex-Mex.
They apparently were in a hurry to introduce Tulsa to this new hybrid menu because they wasted no time in setting up a tamale wagon in the downtown area. This gave way to a small downtown restaurant. As far as anyone can tell it was the first Tex-Mex food being served in the city. Then in 1953 an ad appears in the city directory confirming El Rancho Grande Tex-Mex restaurant had moved to its current location on 11th Street. Not long after (know one is sure when) the wonderful old neon sign with its flashing bulb-lit arrow appeared on the front of the building pointing motorist to Tulsa’s newly located El Rancho Grande Mexican Food restaurant. [...]
“We’ve tried very hard to maintain all the original Tex-Mex ingredients and recipes. When a long time customer tells us we’ve succeeded in preserving the El Rancho Grande Tex-Mex tradition, nothing could make us happier,” says (co-owner) John Walden.
El Rancho Grande’s Web site is here.
Oklahoma, Arizona Route 66 awarded new road designations October 19, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Highways.add a comment
Oklahoma Route 66 was designated a National Scenic Byway, and Arizona’s Route 66 was given All-American Road status in an announcement by the U.S. Department of Transportation chief Ray LaHood on Friday.
LaHood said:
“By enriching the National Scenic Byways program with their own unique historical or aesthetic quality, these new additions help our national road system tell our country’s story. [...] These routes continue to offer Americans exciting new opportunities to explore the nation – whether they travel close to home or across the country.” [...]
The U.S. Department of Transportation recognizes certain roads as All-American Roads or National Scenic Byways based on one or more archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational and scenic qualities.
With the announcement, 46 states now have Scenic Byways. Texas still remains a notable holdout.
Here’s Oklahoma’s listing on the site. Arizona’s Route 66 has already had Byways status for a while. Route 66 in New Mexico and Illinois also have Byways status, and Missouri’s section is expected to become one soon.
The All-American Road status is bestowed on particularly scenic routes.
The byways program enables participants to apply for federal tourism grants and other assistance.
UPDATE: The Kingman Daily Miner has a good analysis of Arizona’s All-American Road designation.
More “Cars” toys released October 19, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Movies, Toys.add a comment
The Disney/Pixar animated movie “Cars” was released over three years ago, and people still are collecting the toys and other memorabilia that the film spawned. “Cars” wasn’t Pixar’s biggest hit, but memorabilia has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales.
Longtime Texas Route 66 fan Becky Ransom, who’s a collector of “Cars” stuff herself, pointed out the Take Five a Day blog, which she says follows “Cars” memorabilia as closely as anyone. Take Five a Day reported Sunday on a recent Kmart Cars Collector Day, in which the movie’s “Day 3″ toy line was released to stores. The blog reports that the Day 4 line will probably be out in the spring.
On another “Cars” note, Disney Pixar’s Facebook page announced that a “Cars” short cartoon was posted online. “Mater the Greater” from the “Mater’s Tall Tales” series can be watched here (high-speed connection is recommended). Other short videos can also be viewed at the main “Cars” site.
Hello from Belgium October 19, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Music.add a comment
This is a version of “Route 66″ sung by Elliott Murphy. But the guy who steals the show is blues harmonica player Ben Lambrechts.
Refurbishing old vehicles October 18, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Highways, History, Preservation, Railroad, Road trips, Vehicles.add a comment
The Tulsa World had a couple of articles last week about old vehicles being restored to as good as new in Oklahoma.
The first was about the Maggie M, an electric trolley that served the Route 66 town of Sapulpa from 1919 to 1933. After it was taken out of service, the trolley sat decaying in a field until about 10 years ago, when local preservationists took up its cause. The trolley is now on display at the Tulsa-Sapulpa Union Railway offices, right on Route 66.
Also, a bunch of Ford Model T enthusiasts spent a few days in the Miami, Okla., area, taking in sights along Route 66 in the region. That includes the 9-foot-wide Sidewalk Highway of Route 66, which fits the era in which those Model Ts were built.
Dedication of Red Fork Centennial Oil Derrick October 17, 2009
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Events, History.1 comment so far
David Breed of the Southwest Tulsa Chamber of Commerce next to the Red Fork Centennial Oil Derrick at Route 66 Station park.
I went Friday afternoon to the official dedication of the Red Fork Centennial Oil Derrick, which is an exact-size replica of an important early derrick that stood during the oil-boom days of southwest Tulsa.
The 154-foot-tall derrick has been finished for several months. It’s part of a Route 66 Station park that’s still under development. The park will include memorabilia from Tulsa’s aviation, railroad and Route 66 history. The park is just off Southwest Boulevard (aka Route 66) in southwest Tulsa, across the road from Webster High School.
Oklahoma House Speaker Chris Benge, a southwest Tulsa native, gave a speech at the dedication.
In case you’re wondering about the Red Fork name, that was the name of the town where the derrick stood before the Tulsa annexed the city in the 1930s.
The oil derrick during the ceremony Friday.