The Mother Road

Main Street of America

The Will Rogers Highway

Immortalized by John Steinbeck’s “Grapes of Wrath,” popularized by the 1960s television show “Route 66” and the 2006 Disney-Pixar movies “Cars,” this 2,448 mile ribbon of highway hopes and dreams embodied the American spirit and tenacity.

Today, Route 66 is no longer an “officially” designated highway. Sadly, “progress” and interstates have rerouted it multiple times, but the spirit will continue as long as folks enjoy the ride.

Launched in 1926, just before the Depression took hold on the country, Route 66 provided the road of opportunity out of the dusty farms and dangerous mines of the heartland to the fertile lands of California.

In 1937, John Steinbeck traveled west on the “long concrete path” with his wife in their Victory Red Chevrolet. He wrote in his journal of the people and cars “panting across the country.” laying the groundwork for his seminal book, “Grapes of Wrath.”

“66 is the path of a people in flight, refugees from dust and shrinking land, from the thunder of tractors and shrinking ownership, from the desert’s slow northward invasion, from the twisting winds that howl up out of Texas, from the floods that bring no richness to the land and steal what little richness is there. From all of these the people are in flight, and they come into 66 from the tributary side roads, from the wagon tracks and the rutted country roads. 66 is the mother road, the road of flight.”

America’s mood was considerably lighter by the end of the Second World War, and folks loaded up the station wagon for family vacations, Bobby Troup captured the romance and freedom of the road in the song “[Get Your Kicks on] Route 66,” after a drive from Pennsylvania to Los Angeles. In an interview, he told how the tune and main lyric, “Get your kicks on Route 66,” came easily but the rest of the lyrics evaded him. Out of frustration, he just filled up the song with the names of the cities and towns on the route.