A collection of late singer Patti Page‘s memorabilia will be on display through the rest of the year at the Oklahoma History Center and will later travel to several other Oklahoma sites, including the Oklahoma Route 66 Museum in Clinton.
According to The Oklahoman newspaper, the “Patti Page: Once Upon a Dream” exhibit from the official Patti Page Estate Collection opened at the Oklahoma City museum last week. It includes her gowns, dolls, gold records and her lone Grammy Award.
Page, who died nearly two years ago at age 85, was best-known for her multimillion-selling version of “Tennessee Waltz” in 1950. She landed more than 100 singles on the Billboard charts (including 14 million-sellers), was the best-selling music artist of the 1950s, and eventually had a show on all three major television networks before the cable-TV age.
It seems appropriate the Route 66 museum in Clinton will host Page’s collection, as her roots to the Mother Road are substantial. She was born Clara Ann Fowler in the Route 66 town of Claremore, Oklahoma, which also was the adopted hometown of Will Rogers. Patti Page Boulevard intersects with Lynn Riggs Boulevard (Route 66) in Claremore. She graduated from Daniel Webster High School on Route 66 in southwest Tulsa. A plaque of her hangs in the main hallway as the one of the school’s most distinguished alums. She gained the attention of talent scouts while singing western-swing tunes on KTUL radio in Tulsa.
And, as you might expect, she recorded a version of this Bobby Troup song:
The Oklahoman reported the Page collection also will be taken to sites in Tulsa and her hometown of Claremore.
(A 1950s image of Patti Page by Roadsidepictures via Flickr)