“Roadside USA: Route 66 and Beyond” by Shellee Graham and Jim Ross (64 pages, Ghost Town Press, $10.95) isn’t strictly a book as much as a bound collection of their vibrant travel photographs in postcard form.
The 30 postcards are detachable from the binding so you can mail them to friends and family. However, “Roadside USA” mostly likely will serve as a nice souvenir during a current road trip (a number of Route 66 businesses stock the book, including Afton Station in Afton, Okla., where I got mine) or will spark memories of previous two-lane voyages.
The colors and angles in the photographs stand out, which shouldn’t come as a surprise to those who know Ross and Graham’s work through Route66photographs.com.
Here’s a list of the photographs/postcards in the book:
- A backyard Texaco station in Springfield, Mo.
- A Route 66 highway shield at a former Texaco in Davenport, Okla.
- The closed Home Ranch Motel near Laramie, Wyo., on the Lincoln Highway.
- A portion of a 1,200-foot-long art display of highway signs in Meadville, Pa.
- An abandoned stretch of U.S. 34 near Albia, Iowa.
- Detail of a pink 1959 Cadillac Coupe DeVille.
- A rural scene on U.S. 6 near Grinnell, Iowa.
- Detail of a neon sign at the Silver Moon Drive-In on U.S. 92 in Lakeland, Fla.
- Remnants of a “cabins” neon sign at an old tourist court on the Lincoln Highway in Brady, Neb.
- Interior of a restored Valentine diner at the Route 66 Museum in Clinton, Okla.
- Exterior of TeePee Curios on Route 66 in Tucumcari, N.M.
- Exterior of Eisler Bros. General Store on Route 66 in Riverton, Kan.
- Cadiz Summit on Route 66 in the Mojave Desert of Southern California.
- A mural off Route 66 in Kingman, Ariz.
- A cabin at Orr’s Ranch, off the Lincoln Highway in Utah.
- The neon sign of Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa.
- Road sign of the Extraterrestrial Highway, aka Nevada Highway 375.
- Close-up of the neon sign at El Don Motel on Route 66 in Albuquerque.
- A fading mural for Kis-Me Gum on U.S. 70 in Brinkley, Ark.
- The twisting mountain highway of Mokee Dugway, aka Utah Highway 261.
- A vintage Steak ‘n Shake in Springfield, Mo.
- The sign-festooned Preston’s Station on the Lincoln Highway in Belle Plaine, Iowa.
- Old gas pump on U.S. 83 in Wellington, Texas.
- Road sign of historic U.S. 80 in the Southwest.
- The historic Lincoln Highway Bridge in Tama, Iowa, built in 1915.
- Motorcycle riders on the Extraterrestrial Highway in Nevada.
- The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge, aka Route 66, in St. Louis.
- The “Loneliest Highway,” aka U.S. 50, near Ely, Nev.
- Nighttime shot of POPS on Route 66 in Arcadia, Okla.
- A montage of various highway signs.
The backs of the postcards contain a description of the front image, along with another thumbnail photo of the scene or one related to it.
“Roadside USA” should provide a short, inexpensive and enticing ride on our nation’s highways.
Recommended.