There are certain authors who have such a good track record, you know their books are good even before you pick them up.
Michael Karl Witzel is on that short list. He’s written books about drive-in theaters, drive-in restaurants, gas stations, diners, Americana and barns. “Route 66 Remembered” remains a classic of the Mother Road genre, and “The American Motel” became one of his best-received works.
Witzel, with his wife Gyvel Young Witzel, recently published “Legendary Route 66: A Journey Through Time Along America’s Mother Road” (256 pages, Voyageur Press, $29.95), and it’s another winner.
You’ll quickly leaf through the handsome book, admiring the many colorful and often-nostalgic images. Even if you’re a hardcore roadie, you’ll likely see images you’ve never seen before. Apparently the Witzels are excellent scavengers of sources for old photos, maps, postcards, matchbooks and souvenirs.
But you’ll read the articles, too. The Witzels uncovered obscure figures that were crucial to the development of Route 66. You’ll learn these historical tidbits:
- The bicycle, not the automobile, was the first shot across the bow that eventually led to the downfall of the horse-drawn carriage as a mode of transportation.
- Francis Xavier Aubry during the 1840s blazed a trail through New Mexico, Arizona and California. Much of that became the future Route 66.
- Horatio Earl, nicknamed “The Father of Good Roads,” led the building of the first mile of concrete highway, in Detroit in 1909. It proved to be hugely influential to the design of future highways.
- A ragtag crew of automobile aficionados was determined to drive from the West Coast to Chicago in 1910. They did it, despite the utter lack of trails and bridges in many areas.
- A.L. Westgard blazed similar cross-country paths through the Southwest in 1911.
- Judge J.M. Lowe was instrumental in the creation of the National Old Trails Road. Much of the road was converted into early alignments of Route 66.
The Witzels’ book also contains well-researched chapters on more familiar historical figures, including Cyrus “Father of Route 66” Avery; Shirley Mills, one of the last living cast members from “The Grapes of Wrath”; Lucille Hamons, who owned Lucille’s gas station near Hydro, Okla.; Frank Yellowhorse of the famed Yellowhorse Trading Post; John Lewis, who designed owns the tepee-shaped Wigwam Motel; Angel Delgadillo, a critical leader in Route 66’s resurrection; and Hugh Davis, who created the Blue Whale of Catoosa, Okla.
And make sure you check out the informative Route 66 map, created by Michael Karl Witzel himself and based on a 1936 Shell service station map.
Learning about history should always be this much fun.
Recommended.
First off, I don’t want to take anything away from John Lewis and his contributions to Route 66 and Americana in general but it was not John who “designed the tepee-shaped Wigwam Motels”. That was Frank Redford and it was John’s dad, Chester who originally built the Holbrook Wigwams as a Redford franchisee. I confess to not yet seeing the book so don’t know if the word “designer” comes from it or the review but am sure it is just an accident in either case.
Secondly, I have a simple observation concerning the National Old Trails Road. The statement that “Much of the road was converted into early alignments of Route 66.” is absolutely true. So is the statement that “Much of the road was converted into early alignments of Route 40.” My observation is that your perception of the NOTR depends quite a bit on which side of St Louis (or somewhere there abouts) that the perception was formed.
Thanks for the review and I look forward to checking out the book someday.
That was my mistake, Denny. I fixed it. That’s what happens when you type things out in a hurry.