After having a freezing past four days, we decided to venture out and visit a museum that we had never been to. The trip was going to take an hour and a half to get there and I decided to take a couple of pictures along the way. This was a homestead that we came across in our travels. The earth was re-claiming the tractor that had been left by the previous owners....
It was a good size of land that had an out building and barn on the property....
In the out building there were old gas pumps and things dating back from the 1970's.
It was hard to see the house, but from what I could see, it was a beautiful house at one time. I wondered how much it would take to restore everything?
We traveled on and made our way to Cordell, Ok and made a quick run through town to see what was there.
Nothing, honey! The biggest thing was the Washita County courthouse.
they were busy doing repairs on the main building in town and the water tower was standing proudly in the background.
The county courthouse was bigger than the city hall.
And bigger than the police department!
That was it for Cordell. On to Clinton, OK!
As we entered the town, there were tell tale signs of the historic route 66 beginning to pop up......
We were headed in the right direction to the museum.... I was getting excited!
This is not a good shot, but there were these huge number 6's on the ground that made the number "66".
We were about to get our kicks.....om route 66!
The wind was howling and Sir Scraggle stopped to get pictures.
It was cold too, but not too cold to snap this one before going inside. A $4.00 entry fee was not too bad....:-)
Hey! I know her! haha
As soon as I walked in, history hit me in the head! It was almost shocking to see some of the things I had seen as a girl growing up, but had not seen since.
I remember old Phillip 66 gas stations and some of the old pumps that used to be in the gas stations.
When I saw this car, my mind went back to my Father coming home with one that looked something like this one except it was pink and seemed to have "wings" on the back. This is a 1957 Chevy Belair.
Chris went ahead to pay our admission fee and to find out about picture taking.
Remember these! RC Cola was the thing back in the day although I preferred Coke Cola. (did I say that right??).
Here we go!!
There were all kinds of things plastered on the walls, but my attention fell on this barrel that met me around the corner.
Should I stay or should I go now........la la la- la la- la la la
Well, I should have gone! haha. But at least I saw the "battle ratlers"......ha
Chris was reading everything on the walls. I was curious about what was in the next room.
There was this little section that has been made to look like a period garage. It you look closely enough, you can see the greasy mechanics in the background.
They even had an old gas pump that would actually show you what amount of gas you were getting. You would tell the attendant and he would fill it up to the gallon mark that you wanted and then fill your tank. None of this digital stuff that they have today. Today you can't actually "see" what you are getting!
I didn't see the mechanic under the car until I was right up on it. I just about jumped out of my skin! ha The line you see in the center of the picture is actually a piece of glass that the curators placed there to keep people from touching stuff.
The historic Route 66 road went from Illinois to California. When the famous Dust Bowl hit the land, several thousand people migrated to California using that road.
Here is a picture of a family that was settled on the side of the road trying to take in a meal; such as it was.
People loaded up everything they could carry and anything of value that they thought they could sell to help buy food for their families and give themselves a fresh start in another state.
In all of the tragedy and hardships of the 1930's, there was still those who were looking out for the welfare of the country; including it's road systems.
It was an intense time in history. Thank God we have come a long way in many respects, but still have a long way to go in other respects.
Does anyone remember these?
Or these? Well, not much as changed except the fact that you can do it digitally now and on the phone!
In the next room was this high yellow truck that had been perfectly restored to its former glory. You know the technology is "young" when a phone number is a total of 3 numbers!
Next door was a soda hop joint and this car which was a 1954 Ford.
I could not believe I was standing in front of a telephone booth! I wondered it those things were still somewhere in the US?? The ones that I remember where blue and white and shiny.....:-). And they were often broken into or just plain....broken. But they were just about on every corner.
A closer look revealed the telephone number that was always posted on the public phones.....
and the next thing you know...........Somebody was trying to make a call.
There was a shoe shine chair also. The kind that you would see on the city streets or at the airport waiting for your plane to arrive. We were fascinated at the size of the shoe thingee's that the customer was supposed to put their feet on. Wow...My feet haven't been that size since I was 8 years old!
And there it was.....:-). The famous dinner counter. You could get soda pop, ice cream soda, burgers, etc at these kinds of places.
They even had a juke box.......
complete with songs that were playing..........:-)
Here is an old fashioned weight machine that both of us passed by....haha. We ALREADY KNOW! haha
This van reminded me of the Westfalia Vans that I see so often in Canada. This one had been outfitted with a little couch like are and all of the fixins of the 1960's
Somebody was really strolling down memory lane with this one.....:-)
Hippy power.......
All of my hippy friends from the Baby Boomer era will remember this anti- war slogan......
The world was in such transition during this time....This wall captures much of the historical moments of that era.
But even with all of the transition and turmoil that was going on, people still found time for family and fun by going on picnics and writing their travelogues.
My husband the "gear head" was having a blast looking at all of the old cars from the era......
The wooden picnic basket in the back of this car reminded me of the one we had when I was a child. I eventually repurposed it to accommodate a stray puppy that I brought home......:-).
Before leaving that area of the museum, we were invited to write a memory. So, I did.
We were coming to the end of the history of this historic road. "progress" had taken hold and new roads were being paved. Route 66 was being decommissioned in some sections.
Here are a few historic photos of the road itself.
I felt a sadness come over me when I saw this picture. It was like someone had permanently closed a book I had not finished reading.....:-(.
But there was still a bit more to see before the self guided tour came to an end...........:-)
\o/ \o/
this hotel was frequented by thousands of folks migrating and traveling from different parts of the country. The luggage looked like typical Samsonite which was "the thing" to have when you traveled back in the day.
The host at the desk looks really familiar to me......
As the tour came to an end, we both felt like we had stepped back in time. Lots of memories........I wouldn't have any problems going through the museum again.
Our last stop was a replica of a soda joint with all of the stuff inside to give you the feel of how things were in that time.
Here you can see the soft serve ice cream machine on the left and the soda machine in the middle.....
I had to pan down to get a picture of those famous red seats that were so common in diners of that day.
Pushed me right over the edge, I tell ya! I had to have an ice cream sundae after that. Unfortunately, that was only a replica. So, we had to settle for Braums; a local ice cream shop.
Chris decided on a burger.... a seriously large burger complete with onions, mushrooms and swiss cheese.
It was official. We had gotten our kicks on Route 66....:-).
You should do the same!
Thanks for coming with us!!
