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Return to Route 66
March 3, 2001-September 9, 2001
John Steinbeck called it "the Mother Road." Route 66 -- the ultimate main street, the American road. Chock full of kitsch and nostalgia, but also a hard-working road that carried countless young families west, fueling the growth of the country. "Return to Route 66," at the National Heritage Museum, March 3-September 9, 2001, whisked visitors on an unforgettable journey from Chicago to L.A. with stops along the way at Burma-shave signs, diners, motels, and drive-in movie theaters. Featuring historical artifacts and contemporary photographs, the exhibition revealed the impact of this celebrated highway on American history, popular culture, and art.
"Return to Route 66" explored the history of the famous road and its significance in the development of the West through historic images, artifacts, modern day photographs, ephemera, and audio and video clips. Sixty-six photographs by artist Shellee Graham formed the center of the exhibition and captured a nostalgia for the old Route 66 that still survives long after most sections of the road have been replaced by modern high-speed highways.
Winding, as the song goes, from Chicago to Los Angeles, the road was built in the 1920s during a pre-Depression boom that saw the first evidence of America's car craze. In the 30's, it became a route for Dust Bowl farm families looking for a better life in California, creating a different kind of boom for the businesses that set up shop along the way. During World War II it was major convoy route, and after the war, the generation of young men who'd traveled it returned with their wives, looking west for opportunities. "Visitors were fascinated to learn of Route 66's history as a working road, which is often overlooked amid all the pop-culture touchstones," said Elysa Engleman, the Museum's Matthews Fellow who undertook the research for the exhibition. "It actually wasn't until the 1950s and '60s that Route 66 became a family vacation route then a destination on its own, giving rise to the huge tourist trade with which we are most familiar." Some of the roadside businesses that sprang up to serve these travelers -- from gas stations and diners to motels and souvenir shops -- still survive, sustained mostly by local residents and fans of "The Mother Road."
The exhibition featured a number of interactive components including video loops of the 1960s TV show, audio recordings by Woody Guthrie, Bobby Troup and others, and a computer set to log into current Route 66 web sites.
Route 66 has had an impact on the larger American culture as well. Even those living on the East Coast were touched by its legend through John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, Jack Kerouac's On the Road, the famous song "Get Your Kicks on Route 66," and the classic 1960s television series. By the 1970s, the road was falling into disrepair and decline. Coincidentally, that decade also saw a rise in Route 66 nostalgia, as fifties mania swept through the popular culture, exemplified by American Graffiti, Happy Days, and Grease. By the 1980s, when Route 66 was officially decommissioned as a national highway, preservation efforts had begun, fan clubs had popped up, and state associations had formed to promote the road. "Now," said Engleman, "people come from all over the world to rent a Corvette and drive Route 66. American has become identified in some ways with this road."
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