Route 66 exhibit opens at Springfield, Mo., museum

A new exhibit about a local history of Route 66 — “Woodruff’s Dream: The Mother Road Through Springfield” — opened over the weekend at the History Museum on the Square in downtown Springfield, Mo.

It speaks a lot for the exhibit when Tonya Pike, a local who’s very well-versed about Route 66, said it made a favorable impression on her. She said in an email:

It was a very nice opening and honestly, I wasn’t the biggest supporter of this display.  But even I was impressed with all the things they had on display and the thoroughness they’ve done showcasing the businesses along Route 66 in Springfield through the years. […]

Two special treats — an entire room devoted to Campbell’s 66 Trucking and a special video done by Springfieldian Lou Whitney about eating at Red’s … and filmed entirely at Red’s.  Somehow I think Red & Julia would be proud and honored it’s playing non-stop in the display area devoted to diners.  They were very special people to me.  And yes, lots of reprints from “Show Me 66” and the Route 66 Magazine, and lots of references to Skip Curtis’ books.

There is also one photo of a painting of the Square, circa mid-50’s,  The exhibit also features the paintings of Jerry Rice, a local artist who has done a series of of paintings of Springfield, all circa mid-50’s to early 60’s … and many featuring the cars of local car enthusiasts.  My dad’s ’56 Fury is in the painting showing the Sky Ranch Drive Inn, which was at College and Kansas, on Route 66 and is in the Diners exhibit area.

Pike also emailed several photos from the exhibit, including the Rice painting and the Campbell display.

“Woodruff’s Dream” will remain on display through Aug. 31.

UPDATE 5/5/2013: The Springfield News-Leader today posted a long article about the  exhibit and Springfield’s history with Route 66.

2 thoughts on “Route 66 exhibit opens at Springfield, Mo., museum

  1. Interesting. Any idea what the 45rpm record in the Campbell Trucking case is? Who it’s by, what it’s about?

    1. It is called “Humpin’ to Please” which was the signature logo of Campbell’s 66 Express. It appeared on a small record called “Truckin Music”, and which appears behind the 45 in the case in the exhibit. The 45 on display was labeled “DJ Version”. Frank Campbell was very good at promoting his business, as you will find from the number of things on display. Lots of things with the Campbell’s 66 logo turn up here in area flea markets.

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