In case you didn’t get to the National Preservation Conference in Tulsa last month, you now can buy over the Internet the Route 66 T-shirts recently created by the folks at Vintage Roadside, which specializes in putting retro graphics from defunct roadside businesses onto apparel.
Here’s the story about this T-shirt:
Route 66, also known as the Mother Road, the Main Street of America, and the Will Rogers Highway, symbolizes so many things to so many people: the development of good roads in America; America’s love of automobiles and travel; mom and pop roadside businesses; neon signs; roadside attractions; the beauty of the American landscape; hope during the Great Depression for dustbowl families traveling west in search of a better life; opportunity in the 1940s for workers seeking wartime jobs in California; adventure in the 1950s for post-war tourists traveling towards the California dream.
Begun in 1926, Route 66 stretches from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California, crossing through Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona along the way.
Referred to as one of the Mother Road’s daughters, the little loop you’ll notice on our Route 66 t-shirt begins in Kingman, Arizona, passes through Nevada and ends in Barstow, California. Once designated part of US Route 466, this 250 mile stretch of road was a popular loop off of Route 66 to Las Vegas and the Hoover Dam in the 1950s. This old loop of Route 466 now follows US Highway 93 from Kingman, Arizona to Las Vegas, Nevada, then I-15 from Las Vegas to Barstow, California.
The decline of Route 66 as a major route west began in 1956 after the passing of the National Interstate and Defense Highway Act which ultimately created large super highways that bypassed or co-opted large sections of Route 66. This routing around of tourist traffic also spelled the demise of many mom and pop businesses found along the way. Decertified as an official highway in 1985, Route 66 still offers travelers willing to work a little for their adventure a wonderful drive through some of the most interesting towns, cities and scenic landscape in the country.
Designated a National Scenic Byway on September 22, 2005, Route 66 continues to be honored by Route 66 associations in all of the states it passes through. For some firsthand roadside adventure, you can read about Vintage Roadside’s Route 66 trip from Portland, Oregon to Tulsa, Oklahoma here.
So in case you’re wondering about the little loop up to Las Vegas, now you have a story to tell. I was told that the graphic came from a 1950s brochure.
Prices range from $20, to $22 for larger sizes. They’re really good quality shirts, too. I’ve had my Zia Lodge shirt for well over a year, and it’s holding up extremely well despite regular washings.