Two blasts from the past

Jim Farber, who’s helping the Autry National Center in Los Angeles with its upcoming “Route 66: The Road and the Romance” show, said he recently found an old photo of a family on the road at a paper show.

“I did not realize until I was driving Route 66 this summer that it was taken on the National Old Trails road in Oatman!” Farber said in an email.

He’s referring to Oatman, Ariz., which became part of Route 66 with its federal certification in 1926. The photo above is believed to have been shot about 1919.

“I also found this wonderful image which is definitely going to be in the show of Thelma and Louise 50 years before Thelma and Louise,” Farber said.

Note: I increased the contrast in the photos so the backgrounds could be seen better.

Farber said the people in both images remain unidentified. So you to recognize an ancestor in these pictures, let us know in the comments section.

He said both photos would “almost certainly” be included in the show, which opens June 7.

(Photos courtesy of Jim Farber)

2 thoughts on “Two blasts from the past

  1. I find it fascinating that the Auto Club of Southern California was placing signs in Arizona.
    I’d also hate to think of how much that sign would sell for if it was on eBay.

  2. The Auto Club was a leader (innovater?) of the Good Roads Movement, to be sure, both within the state and throughout the Southwest.

    I am still torn on this whole exhibit, though. Well, no I am not torn. I cannot bring myself to go, unless the Autry National Center chooses to reopen the Southwest Museum of the American Indian. Los Angeles’ oldest museum merged with the Autry in 2003 and the National Register of Historic Places Landmark building has since undergone some restoration. However, mostly the artifacts housed there have been removed and the building remains largely closed. This is NOT what I would consider being a good steward of a Route 66 landmark, and that’s why I cannot fathom any support of the Autry National Center.

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