This post motivated cruising Route 66 with street view.
Cruising from west to east.
"Paradise" had a Sinclair service station. This town has five I-40 exits. This is on Business-40, but most people must use the other exits. There were two more motels along this stretch that are now vacant lots.
There is an antique store on the right side.
This is now
The Redwood Lodge. Furnished studio apartments for $420/month. [
RedwoodLodge]
The New Mexico Route 66 Museum (the http://www.nmrt66museum.org/ link is broke) is behind their convention center. I did not see a sign for it from the road. (
Satellite)
Neon signs were an important part of the 1950s car culture.
Juke boxes and 45 RMP records were very common in the 1950s. Note the A&W sign near the bottom. I miss those root-beer stands.
This pump is not a surprise. The TV is. In the 1950s, having a TV in your motel room was such a big deal that it would be included on the road sign. In the 1960s, the signs bragged about Color TV. If I remember correctly, air conditioning is another thing that was included on the road signs.
The Mobile pump with the glass cylinder is an early design. The Texaco pump below and the Royal pump above are early flow metered pumps. They still have the little glass window near the top so that customers could see the gas flow.
The museum has multiple glass -cylinder pumps.
Another brand of gas and a pump with a flow window.
Many of the gas stations had a payphone booth. I learned that photos of payphones are hard to find when I needed one a few years ago.
I wonder how many of those signs lit up at night.
Just east of the museum is this "Route 66 Monument."
The motel and restaurant have survived, but RadioShack hasn't.
And the Buckaroo Motel is across the street.
There are an incredible number of vacant lots and buildings along the road. At least this one has been painted.
Here are some more motels that have survived.
After passing more vacant lots and buildings, I get into some modern stuff such as Dollar General, Family Dollar and Lowes.
This is the side of the Lowes building.
In general, the eastern side looks more prosperous. I stopped "cruising" when I found the TeePee Curios.
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