The History Museum on the Square in downtown Springfield, Missouri, soon will launch a three-month exhibit about gas stations along Route 66.
“Service with a Smile” will run at the museum from Aug. 9 to Nov. 5.
It’s the second of five annual exhibits featuring Route 66’s history, running up to the highway’s centennial in 2026. Last year’s exhibit was about Route 66 restaurants.
According to KY3 in Springfield:
Visitors will learn about the Springfieldians who kept cars running and the service stations that became community hubs for travelers.
The exhibit will feature interactive displays, original documents, and photographs.
”These service stations weren’t just a place to get gas. It was a place where travelers who were doing Route 66 could come in and swap stories with other travelers. They could get something to eat, they could gas up, fix their cars. The roads weren’t as nice as they are today, so a lot could go wrong on their road trips,” says Sean FitzGibbons, the executive director of the History Museum.
(Screen-capture image from KY3 video of one of the forthcoming “Service with a Smile” exhibits)
I can recall the days before the interstate highway system. We drove through all the little towns on the way to see the grandparents. It was especially nice during Christmas when all the town centers were decorated. It made staying awake extra late at night fun. Each town had its own display. Lot’s of highway signs around the town square directing travelers. I remember my father knocking on a bedroom window waking up a store owner in the middle of the night to buy gasoline. Sleeping on roadside park tabletops, narrow, curvy roads with the endless yellow strips and dad flashing his headlights as on-coming motorists approached the crest of a hill with their ‘brights’ on. Motorists tricks of the trade to warn of upcoming speed traps. The newfangled Motel 6’s that actually charged $6 and a little later the fancier Super 8’s. We never used motels nor stopped to eat. Mom made sandwiches before we left and brought along a gallon jug of water that she placed on the floorboard between her feet. The jug would get refilled at gas stations. The Burma Shave road signs and all the “See Rock City” bird houses and painted boulders. The trip was between south Texas and Knoxville Tenn. A.M. radio playing Roy Orbison with all us kids singing “Holy Baloney” rather than “Only the Lonely”. The early days of Rock and Roll, no AC and innocence. I think this is why we memorialize the Mother Road. Pausing and remembering those times give us a brief respite from all of today’s nonsense.