It was billed as the Main Street of America and the Mother Road.
It was a highway of commerce, both legal and illicit.
It was traveled by vacationing families and serial killers, truck drivers and celebrities, vagabonds and gangsters, the weary and the wicked.
It was the hunting grounds of criminals and the battlegrounds of racial violence and gangland strife.
This was Bloody 66.

Seeing this panoply of signs splashed across the pages in Route 66 Roadside Signs and Advertisements is almost as good as taking a road trip!

You can get your kicks--and pretty much anything else--on Route 66, provided you see the sign that s advertising it! Route 66 Roadside Signs and Advertisements showcases the colorful history of commercial signage along the Mother Road. From kitschy to classy, this book includes photos of early vintage signs as well as modern signs.

The vivid photos are organized according to type of establishment the signs are for, such as roadside attractions, motels, restaurants, businesses of ill repute (bars, strip clubs, etc.), and more. While Route 66 Roadside Signs and Advertisements places emphasis on high-quality visuals, it also includes anecdotes and history about the signs that sprang up along the sides of Route 66.

The most famous Route 66 signs get center-stage treatment in the book, with two-page spreads accompanied by detailed text. Such signs include icons like the Blue Swallow in Tucumcari, New Mexico, the Munger Moss in Lebanon, Missouri, the U-Drop Inn at Shamrock, Texas, and the El Vado in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Additional information is included, such as background about buzzing neon lights--how these signs are actually made and how they get restored. Each image from this famous American roadway could be a postcard, so allow yourself to be rubbernecked by Route 66 Signs and Advertisements.

These pages cover the history of Route 66 and the people who played a role in its transformation from highway to icon between 1926 and the present, but like the highway itself, this work does not fit within the traditional confines of generalities or terminology. Yes, this is an encyclopedia, a reference book for all things Route 66. However, it is also a time capsule, a travel guide, a history book, a memorial, a testimonial, and a chronicle of almost a century of societal evolution.

While countless books have been devoted to single roadside-culture and car-related subjects, none have addressed in one volume American pop culture's love affair with the automobile. But what is that love affair, if not an expanse of fond memories and compelling kitsch as vast as the nation itself? This smorgasbord offers discriminating readers a tasty A-Z assortment of entries and accompanying images touching upon all the old chestnuts (Route 66, drive-in restaurants, filling stations, et al) as well as some edgier topics to appeal to younger generations interested in the seedier and/or more whimsical sides of roadside America (i.e, Earl Scheib, the Chicago entrepreneur who promised to paint any car for $99, or 1950s juvenile-delinquent hot rod films

Join Route 66 expert Jim Hinckley as he tours more than 60 ghost towns along the Mother Road, rich in stories and history!

The quintessential boom-and-bust highway of the American West, Route 66 once hosted a thriving array of boomtowns built around oil mines, railroad stops, cattle ranches, resorts, stagecoach stops, and gold mines. Illustrated with gorgeous sepia-tone and color photography by Kerrick James, this book tours dozens of ghost towns in:

• Illinois (Braidwood, Braceville, Gardner, Dwight, Bloomington, Funks Grove, Springfield)
• Missouri (Rolla, Dootlittle, Springfield, Halltown, Paris Springs Junction, Avilla, Carthage, Joplin)
• Kansas (Galena, Riverton, Baxter Springs)
• Oklahoma (Narcissa, Afton, Tulsa, Warwick, Bridgeport, Foss, Elk City, Erick, Texola)
• Texas (Shamrock, McLean, Alanreed, Jericho, Amarillo, Glenrio)
• New Mexico (San Jon, Tucumari, Montoya, Newkirk, Cuervo, Dilia, Tecolote, Santa Fe, Thoreau, Gallup)
• Arizona (Lupton, Chambers, Two Guns, Flagstaff, Truxton, Hackberry, Kingman, Goldroad, Oatman)
• California (Needles, Goffs, Essex, Cadiz, Chambless, Amboy, Ludlow, Newberry Springs, Daggett, Barstow)

This edition also includes directions and travel tips for your ghost-town explorations along Route 66, as well as a fold-out map of the Mother Road.

Explore the beauty and nostalgia of these abandoned communities along America’s favorite highway!

Route 66 changed immensely in the six decades between its opening in 1926 and its removal from the U.S. highway system in 1985. Since that time, Route 66 has enjoyed a renaissance, and interest in America's Mother Road as both a historical byway and a travel destination continues to grow. In this unprecedented volume, prolific Route 66 author Jim Hinckley presents an illustrated Route 66 atlas that explores the road's history from its inception into the present day. The Illustrated Route 66 Historical Atlas features sections on eight U.S. states that include points of interest along or near Route 66, divided into six categories: pre-1926 historic sites (such as Lincoln's home and presidential library); noteworthy landmarks; the locations of infamous crimes and disasters; parks of interest; key sites in Route 66's evolution (such as Hooker's Cut, Missouri, an engineering marvel when completed); military-specific sites (including Civil War battlefields and POW and internment camps); historic attractions from the road's midcentury heyday (such as Little Beaver Town and Geronimo's Trading Post); film-related sites; and locations important to Route 66's modern resurgence. Illustrated with photography and memorabilia, The Illustrated Route 66 Historical Atlas is a unique, colorful, and visually dynamic look at 500 of the Mother Road's most significant sites from the past and today.

“100 Things to Do on Route 66 Before You Die” probably will offer a few new excuses for even veteran travelers to take another Mother Road trip. That’s reason enough to get the book.” - Ron Warnick, Route 66 News

“If you’ve got a Summer road trip in mind, author and Route 66 expert Jim Hinckley sorts it out for you with his 100 favorite points to plot on your map. Now that’s a memorable road trip!” - Linda Allen, Ms. Career Girl

“Dedicated historian and author, Jim Hinckley has done the research to make the most of your odyssey along iconic Route 66.” - Gerry Furth-Sides, Local Food Eater