A recently posted massive photo archive on the Vintage St. Louis & Route 66 page on Facebook revealed an episode at an Albuquerque restaurant that led to the city imposing an anti-discrimination ordinance years before the U.S. civil-rights movement began in the mid-1950s. One post contained an old postcard of Oklahoma Joe's Genuine Pit Bar-B-Que … Continue reading How an incident at Oklahoma Joe’s led to an early civil-rights movement in Albuquerque
Tag: Okies
End of an era: Final Dust Bowl Festival held at Weedpatch Camp
Weedpatch Camp, immortalized by John Steinbeck's novel "The Grapes of Wrath," recently held its 30th and last Dust Bowl Festival on the outskirts of Bakersfield, California. Simply put, the festival is being shut down because the survivors of that calamity have gotten too old to run it. A local television station did a preview about … Continue reading End of an era: Final Dust Bowl Festival held at Weedpatch Camp
The enduring fascination with Oklahoma Joe’s in Albuquerque
One of the most popular comment threads in the nearly 12-year history of Route 66 News is the one about Oklahoma Joe's, a restaurant along Route 66 that also became a tavern popular with University of New Mexico students. It also was known as Okie's or Okie Joe's. At last count, more than 220 comments … Continue reading The enduring fascination with Oklahoma Joe’s in Albuquerque
“I hate the Okies”
The folks with the National Steinbeck Center recently completed a trip on Route 66 before the 75th anniversary of the publication of John Steinbeck's "The Grapes of Wrath." The group has posted a slew of videos in the last few days. But this stands out because it's a gut-punch of how the Great Depression and … Continue reading “I hate the Okies”