Blue Swallow Motel: Tucumcari, New Mexico

"Tucumcari Tonight! 2000 Rooms!" Floyd Redman gave his fiancee, Lillian, the Blue Swallow as a wedding present. She added the fancy office and an apartment for her parents, and when the competition to fill those 2000 rooms became very stiff, Lillian added the giant sign and turned the Blue Swallow into a Route 66 icon.

 

Save 5 Cents: Santa Rosa, New Mexico

Pumping gas was never more than a penny business, and there were more than a dozen gas stations vying for every gasoline nickle that came down Route 66 to Santa Rosa. Independent pump jockeys mixed whatever they could with gasoline-kerosene, naptha, alcohol-in order to bring their costs down and make that penny.

 

The Jackrabbit: St. Joseph, Arizona

James Taylor purchased a snake farm several miles west of St. Joseph, Arizona, evicted the snakes, turned the building into a souvenir stand, and named it the Jackrabbit. Then, he erected Jackrabbit signs as far east as Springfield, Missouri, and this one, across Route 66 from the store.

 

Roy's Motel: Amboy, California

Buster Burris, a Texas boy, settled in Amboy in the 1930s, went to work for Roy Crowe's garage and gas station, married Roy's daughter, and drove Roy's tow truck, picking up wrecks and vapor-locked cars along Route 66 in the Mojave Desert. When he tired of seeing Roy's customers sleep in their cars while they waited for Roy to repair them, he built the motel. His occupancy was 100% day and night.

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