Get your kicks

Photographer Shellee Graham's Return to Route 66

by Leon Nigrosh

RETURN TO ROUTE 66
at the Museum of Our National Heritage, 33 Marrett Road/ Rte. 2A, Lexington, through September 9.

Much like the former US Route 66 itself, this unique exhibition meanders through history, nostalgia, and kitsch. Also like the actual 2200 miles of cement and macadam, the exhibit

has several bright spots worth stopping at for a good, long look, with other portions deserving only of a quick glance as you motor on by.

At the core of the exhibition are 66 photographs (get it?) taken by St. Louis photographer Shellee Graham as she recently traveled the length of the venerable highway. Peppered throughout the gallery, Graham's color and black and white images highlight the glory of the "Mother Road" long since faded, and in some cases, no longer in existence. What fun it must have been during the '40s, '50s and '60s -- the highway's heyday -- to be traveling along and suddenly come upon the Great Wigwam Motel, in Holebrook, Arizona, then stop for the night and stay in one of these brightly decorated concrete teepees. Other roadside oddities from that era that Graham captured on film include the Gemini Giant at the Launching Pad Drive-In in Willmington, Illinois. This 28-foot tall, green cement astronaut welcomed visitors while cradling a rocket ship in his arms. The bright red and yellow Club Café in Santa Rosa, NM, was more famous for its "Fat Man" logo than its chili and burgers.

Some of Graham's subjects were saved from the wrecking ball, such as the Big Blue Whale in Catossa, Oklahoma, that announced a swimming hole attraction. Closed in 1988, it was recently restored by the local Chamber of Commerce and is now open again to the locals and tourists. In McClean, Texas, a crumbling Phillips 66 gas station was privately restored and once again sports its bright orange gas tanks, truck, and roof.

One section, near the beginning of the exhibit, is devoted to John Steinbeck's (1902-1968) landmark book, The Grapes of Wrath, which centers on a fictional Oklahoma family as they drove west on Route 66 trying to escape the Dust Bowl poverty of the 1930s. His powerful 1939 portrayal of these migrants was turned into a feature film a year later, starring Henry Fonda and directed by John Ford. Not only did this masterpiece win an Academy Award and Steinbeck a Pulitzer Prize; it made people the world over aware of the real plight of American migrants and also raised the lowly roadway to near mythic heights in the minds of many.

Another section of the exhibit explores a more recent mythology, that of Buzz and Todd as they drove their blue 1960 Corvette convertible down route 66 seeking adventure. Video clips, board games, and other memorabilia feature George Maharis and Marty Milner as they came into America's homes once a week for four years to share their TV explorations. Never mind that few of the episodes were actually filmed on the real Route 66 -- or anywhere near it -- but Route 66 became a national symbol of adventure for a whole new generation. And Bobby Troup's post-war ditty, Get Your Kicks (On Route 66), took on a whole new meaning. Incidentally, this song, along with Woody Guthrie's Willy Rogers Highway, Nelson Riddle's Theme from route 66, and other Route 66 related tunes, lends a pleasant added dimension as they play quietly in the background.

The installation, Mike's Gas (named for the display designer?) replicates a `50s-style filling station, complete with a display case featuring products like "Tomahawk Motor Oil" and "Wunda Wiper Cloths," along with a Good Gulf gas pump set at 25-cents a gallon. Maybe it's a Gulf pump and not a more historically accurate Phillips 66 pump, but it's fortified with pure lead, man.

There is so much to see in this exhibition filled with souvenir ashtrays and maps and Will Rogers memorabilia and WWII POW handicrafts and stuff about Ford motorcars, that you can get tired from reading all the labels. But the last section of the exhibit has a nice chrome and genuine Naugahyde chair that you can sit in at the "Kitschy Kitchen." Here you can feast your eyes on a wide array of Route 66 related collectibles like plastic illuminated gas pump salt and pepper shakers, decorated place settings, a Hawaiian-style Route 66 shirt, Revell's plastic model kit of the route 66 Corvette and the infamous Coral Court Motel, and even wallpaper. And the best part is that you don't have to travel the road to "Get Your Kicks," you can get this stuff off another highway -- the Internet.

The Museum of Our National Heritage is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Call 781-861-6559.