Story by Emily Priddy’s sixth-hour sophomore English II class, Webster High School, Tulsa.
Ron Jones has 81 tattoos.
“It’s like a potato chip. Once you eat one potato chip, it’s addictive. It’s like a drug,” he said.
The Bartlesville, Okla., resident visited Webster High School’s English II classes Thursday, Oct. 8, to tell students about his Route 66 tattoo collection.
His most expensive tattoo cost $550 and took six hours to finish. His cheapest one was $60.
He has spent $15,000 to $16,000 on tattoos.
He has tattoos on his back, legs, and arms.
Six different people have done his tattoos. A man named Gypsy from Kansas is the artist for 25 of his tattoos.
Jones has been collecting tattoos for 10 years.
His first one was a Route 66 shield with the highway in the background. It was on his right calf.
His newest tattoo was Hamons Court, which is an old hotel on Route 66 near Hydro, Okla.
His definition of Route 66 is, “Life begins at the off-ramp.”
His favorite tattoo is of his car, a 1956 Chevy.
Out of the 81 tattoos he has, he only has one non-Route 66 tattoo, which is an Eskimo Joe design.
His wife likes his tattoos, but his dad hates them. When he found out about the tattoos, he was furious, Jones said.
He doesn’t regret any of his tattoos.
(Postscript: Priddy’s English classes are using a Route 66 theme. The kids earn “miles” instead of points, with the goal of reaching Santa Monica by the end of the semester. They chart their progress on a map designed to resemble the old “Here we are …” postcards, and we are reading excerpts from Route 66-related texts such as “Route 66: The Mother Road” and “The Grapes of Wrath.”)
This sounds like a great teaching method. They are getting history and English, and it takes them both “out of the textbook.”
Our students in Cuba, MO “Rt. 66 Mural City” learn about the town’s history and Rt. 66 as they study our murals in fourth grade. They impress me with their knowledge.
I hope to read more student work in the future.
…A retired teacher
I met Ron once at Afton Station. It was a pleasure meeting him.
His first question was, am I related to Paris.
I’ll claim Conrad Hilton. He did something. Paris is the “Black Sheep.”
The kids really got into it. They had a good time with Ron and with the assignment. We’re hoping to bring in another speaker as soon as we can work out the schedule so they can get more practice interviewing and writing articles.
Ron, Good to see you speaking about Route 66. Thanks for sharing your story with our next generation.