Longtime Route 66 enthusiast Jim Conkle is scheduling a so-called “archaeological dig” at a barn in Rochester, Illinois, to find artifacts that belonged to late Route 66 artist Bob Waldmire.
The barn belongs to Buz Waldmire, Bob’s brother. Bob also spent time there off and on during his lifetime, and he died there in 2009 of abdominal cancer at age 64. Though Waldmire spent much of his time in the Southwest, he ultimately was based in his native Central Illinois.
Conkle wrote in the Mother Road Newsletter:
In this barn, there is treasure to be found in the boxes, containers, bags and, yes, maybe even shoe boxes. Bob was a collector as well as an artist and he documented everything he did in journals, notes and scrapbooks.
Our task is to sort, clean, inventory, scan and catalog this material to preserve Bob’s artwork and life story for future generations.
We will be documenting this adventure with photos/videos/interviews and will bring it all together for everyone to enjoy on our web site.
We invite others to join us on October 9-10-11, 2020, if you can. This will be an organized event and done to existing museum standards. In other words, done in a controlled environment using procedures that will protect the integrity of Bob’s material. Be a part of “history in the making” by participating in this exciting project.
Prospective volunteers should contact Conkle by email at jim@MotherRoadEnterprises.com or by phone at (760) 617-3991 for more details.
Those who cannot participate are encouraged to email photos or memories.
Bob Waldmire, a son of Cozy Dog Drive-In founder Ed Waldmire, wandered up and down Route 66 for decades. His celebrity on the Mother Road continued to grow, culminating with him winning the prestigious John Steinbeck Award at the Steinbeck Awards Dinner in 2004.
He served as the unofficial inspiration to the Volkwagen minibus named Fillmore in the 2006 animated movie “Cars” by Disney-Pixar. The minibus was going to be named Waldmire, but he refused to let it be called that because toys bearing his name would have been placed in McDonald’s Happy Meals, violating his vegetarian principles. Bob’s decision potentially kept him from lucrative earnings, but he was firm about the decision and expressed no regrets.
Waldmire also once owned the now-iconic Hackberry General Store along old Route 66 in Hackberry, Arizona.
Waldmire was well-known as a devoted environmentalist. He urged travelers to look out for animals while driving.
He scratched out a living selling his intricate pen-and-ink drawings, especially at Route 66 gatherings. His artwork, which bears a resemblance to Robert Crumb‘s, hangs in many homes across the globe.
His VW and a school bus he converted into a home sit on display at the Illinois Route 66 Hall of Fame and Museum in Pontiac.
(Image of Bob Waldmire in 2006 by cobalt123 via Flickr)