A closer look at Ramone’s Body Art in Cars Land January 14, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Businesses, Gas stations, Movies, Signs.add a comment
The Disney Parks Blog posted this construction time-lapse of Ramone’s Body Art inside Cars Land at Disney’s California Adventure park.
Ramone’s resembles the historic U-Drop Inn along Route 66 in Shamrock, Texas. Disney says Ramone’s eventually will have neon lighting.
Cars Land was inspired by the fictional Route 66 town of Radiator Springs, depicted in the 2006 Disney-Pixar animated film “Cars.” Cars Land will open this summer; a more specific date will be announced later.
The blog post also contains a photo of the “Here It Is!” billboard, directly inspired by a similar billboard near the Jackrabbit Trading Post near Joseph City, Ariz. It also contains an image of the signs atop Lizzie’s store, the Radiator Springs Curios shop.
A video report from San Bernardino County January 14, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, Businesses, Signs.add a comment
This local television show interviews Brad Mitzelfelt, vice president of the San Bernardino (Calif.) County Board of Supervisors.
In this video, Mitzelfelt talks about:
- The effort to erect Route 66 historical marker signs in the county.
- The status of the proposed Mojave Trails National Monument, which shadows much of old Route 66 in the county.
- How proposed solar plants may affect the Mother Road.
The segment is quite informative.
Manning’s Coffee sign glows again January 11, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Preservation, Signs.3 comments
This recently restored Manning’s Coffee Store rooftop neon sign in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles was relighted during a ceremony Tuesday afternoon.
This video from the Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch shows the switch being thrown:
The fellow on the right helping the munchkin drop the switch is Scott Piotrowski, author of the “Finding the End of the Mother Road: Route 66 in Los Angeles County” guidebook (which, alas, doesn’t appear to be available at this time). Piotrowski is holding his son, Sam.
Martha Benedict shot several dozen photos at the ceremony, including this one of the sign.
Manning’s Coffee went out of business in the 1960s, and the sign’s neon lighting hadn’t functioned for many years. A cost-share grant from the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program helped restore the sign. It’s believed the sign dates to 1933.
Las Cazuelas restaurant occupies the building.
The area is part of the North Figueroa Street corridor in Los Angeles, which had Route 66 from 1931 to 1934 and again from 1936 to 1960.
Nearby, the Highland Theatre rooftop sign was restored and relit to much fanfare in May.
UPDATE: I altered the code so the video wouldn’t automatically play every dadgum time the page is loaded.
UPDATE2: The Bell Gardens Sun posted a good story about the relighting, including these interesting tidbits:
Manning’s was a leading chain of cafeterias and restaurants with 40 locations in nine western states, 19 of which were located in Los Angeles, according to sign restoration organizers.
In fact, today’s Starbucks are modeled after Manning’s in the West Coast, according to local historic preservationist Nicole Possert.
“This roof top sign in Highland Park is the last remaining evidence of Manning’s Coffee in the entire City of Los Angeles, it’s the only sign that we have found keeping that piece of history connected to California, the West coast,” Possert said at the relighting ceremony on Tuesday.
UPDATE3: Here’s a new video about the relighting ceremony:
The ultimate road-music accessory January 9, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Events, Music, Signs.add a comment
Jess McEntire, a musician and the man behind the Mother Road Music project, is selling charity raffle tickets for a chance to win a custom-made Route 66 electric guitar.
The guitar’s body is fashioned so it looks like the Route 66 shield sign that once graced the Mother Road decades ago. It’s a limited-edition model made by Forrest Custom Guitars in Waverly, Tenn.
Making the guitar even more special is it’s autographed front and back by country-music legend Loretta Lynn. She and McEntire collaborated on the song “Ole Route 66″ a few years ago. (The song can be downloaded for 99 cents here.)
Tickets for a chance to win the guitar are $25 apiece, and can be ordered here. Proceeds from the raffle will be given to the nonprofit Project Route 66.Com Inc. so it can fund a billboard in Nashville promoting Route 66 tourism. The group already has funded a billboard in Hurricane Mills, Tenn., in September.
Here are two close-ups of the body of the guitar, so you can see the handiwork and Loretta’s signature.
I have to admit, I’ve never seen a guitar quite like it.
One of McEntire’s prominent projects is the “Man on a Mission” double CD, which contains a lot of songs about Route 66 and also raises money for the cause.
Shimmering in the night January 2, 2012
Posted by Ron Warnick in Books, Motels, Signs, Web sites.add a comment
Here’s a short-but-sweet new video of the great neon sign at the Supai Motel, along Route 66 in Seligman, Ariz.
The video was created by Andrew Wood, a professor at San Jose State University and a longtime roadie. He owns the Motel Americana website, and published “City Ubiquitous,” in which Route 66 played a prominent role. My review of his book is here.
Manning’s Coffee sign being restored December 29, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Preservation, Restaurants, Signs, Theaters.2 comments
The historic Manning’s Coffee Store rooftop sign in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles is being restored, reported the Highland Park-Mount Washington Patch.
Manning’s Coffee went out of business in the 1960s, and the sign’s neon lighting hasn’t functioned for many years. Las Cazuelas restaurant now occupies the building.
The area is part of the North Figueroa Street corridor in Los Angeles, which contained Route 66 from 1931 to 1934 and again from 1936 to 1960.
Here is an image of the unrestored Manning Coffee Store sign.
According to the story, a cost-share grant from the Route 66 Corridor Preservation Program is being used to restore the sign. Community leaders and volunteers are covering the rest of the cost.
“It turns out, it’s kind of important in terms of signage history because it combines neon with opal glass, and there’s very few of those in existence,” said Amy Inouye of Future Studio. “As well as the fact that there’s not any signs like this from Manning’s that we know of at all on the entire West Coast.” [...]
Richard Ankrum, a neon restoration expert, is currently working on painting the sign and is scheduled to install the neon lights later this week. A note on the flyer for the relighting ceremony taking place at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 10, states that original materials will be used in the restoration and only missing and broken pieces will be replaced.
According to Future Studio, the Manning sign was erected in 1933.
The newspaper also says the groups consulted with the Museum of Neon Art to ensure that the original neon colors are used in the sign.
Nearby, the historic Highland Theatre rooftop sign was restored and relit to much fanfare in May.
History Channel may include Route 66 on program December 10, 2011
Posted by Ron Warnick in Attractions, History, Museums, Signs, Television.1 comment so far
A film crew from the History Channel filmed segments Friday along Route 66 in Southern California that may be included in a program titled “101 Objects That Changed the World,” reported 66-to-Cali owner Dan Rice in Santa Monica.
The crew spent time shooting near the “End of the Trail” Route 66 sign on the Santa Monica Pier, then at the California Route 66 Museum in Victorville.
Rice provided some details in an email:
Last week, they called to say they hadn’t found a location they liked yet, so I suggested the California Route 66 Museum in Victorville. They were open to the suggestion, so I called Betty Halbe there and she signed a location release immediately to make it happen. Wednesday night, I called Paul Chassey to ask if maybe we should have a classic car or two for the History Channel folks in case they wanted some of that classic car ambience. Paul has been such a help to me with the car rallies for the birthday celebrations I’ve put together at the pier, and lo and behold, in just a few hours, he got 12 cars together from “Cruzin’ Buddies of Apple Valley,” a local car club for our shoot that took place this morning, Friday, December 9.
The producer and I rode up together from Los Angeles and he was floored by the presentation that the folks in Victorville had waiting for us, right down to buying the film crew pizza for their trouble of driving the distance. If there has ever been a definition of volunteerism and class on Route 66, all the amazing folks at Victorville more than fit that description. The producer was so impressed with their welcome that he decided to incorporate one of the vehicles, a beautiful 1958 Pontiac Chieftain into the segment with me behind the wheel. Though I’d never met Roger Glenn, the Pontiac’s gracious owner before, he was more than happy to get involved, so in 2012, he’ll have some nice footage from the History Channel of his baby cruising along on Route 66 for the segment. [...]
Overall, a good time was had by all I think, and it was a true, true team effort…but the big star of the day turned out to be Route 66 as it should have been. Come next year, she’ll get some great coverage on a network that reaches a lot of people. It’s a short segment, but every little bit helps the folks out on Route 66, and the Producer left with the idea that doing something more and longer later might be a great project to put in the que. We’ll see what happens.
More photos from the History Channel’s day at the museum can be found here.
UPDATE 12/13/2011: Here’s a story in the Victorville Daily Press. Excerpts:
The historic cars served as a natural backdrop for a segment on Route 66’s famed sign, which JWM Productions is filming for the History Channel special “101 Objects That Made America Great.”
“I looked at the website and I fell in love with it,” Walter Gottlieb, producer and writer for the “101 Objects” series, said of the museum in Old Town Victorville. “I said, ‘This is the place we have to shoot.’ ”
The crew filmed for four hours Friday to generate a 11⁄2-minute segment, set to air in late spring or early summer. [...]
Gottlieb said the segment will focus on the significance of Route 66 in America’s history, using its iconic shield sign to represent the country’s move west and decades of glamorized travel down the “Main Street of America.”