My Review of Route 66

A Review of:

Krim, Arthur. Route 66: Iconography of the American Highway. New Mexico: Center for American Places, 2005.

An Open Road of Unlimited Promise

by Stacie Brady

This book presents a complete portrait of an American region rich in meaning: Route 66. With its abundant history and powerful significance to the citizens of this country, Route 66 became over time the icon as Arthur Krim identifies it. Krim unquestionably succeeds in showing how an idea with fragmented parts transformed into a practical pathway and ultimately into “…a universal symbol that anyone can appropriate for any purpose” (3). In so doing, he illuminates the depth, the meaning, and the magic of Route 66. Krim emphasizes the obvious effect of Route 66 on those who traveled it and those who dreamed of what it had to offer, and in the end, Krim succeeds in personifying this pathway just as Steinbeck did, “…presenting the migrant road as a persona with its own graphic identity,” capturing its essence and solidifying its “…immortal identity” (99).

Need usually gives rise to change, and Krim methodically explains how through the ages necessity powered the development of the path into the cross-country route it became. In contrast, he also shows how necessity forced the highway into decline as well, documenting the torturous destruction of the original system and its inherent beauty. The growing need of the American populous for more room on the roads to accommodate the escalating number of vehicles, coupled with the increasing desire for faster speed of travel, led to Route 66’s eventual demise. Through all of the change, however, the highway became like a friend for many Americans, increasingly so as it declined and became more of a symbol than an actual road on which people traveled—“As its physical identity was erased, nostalgia for Route 66…grew” (139)—, and perhaps above all else, Krim captures how Route 66 became “…an iconic highway of the American spirit” (141), symbolizing America’s “wanderlust” (143) and its desire to conquer.

In so doing, Krim reveals the abstract, though seemingly tangible, power of an icon in a culture, and proves how Route 66 as such an icon faded and renewed and transformed over the years. For instance, during the Dust Bowl era, “Highway 66” held special meaning as a road west, a road to a better life and promise, but that meaning had all but faded when Bobby Troup revived it as “Route 66” in his “lyrical map” (128), refreshing it and making it “…once again meaningful for its times” (123). By means of his book, Krim further solidifies Route 66 in the realm of great American legend and tradition, enriching the country’s foundation as a pioneering nation of adventurers and conquerors.

Krim brings comprehensive research to his portrait, pulling together disparate sources for a three-dimensional look at the highway. He exhaustively consulted history books, media archives, art anthologies, political records, newspaper articles, firsthand accounts and so much more to provide this well-rounded depiction of the highway. He even grew in a close friendship with Troup over the years. Krim personally took many of the included photographs or borrowed them directly from his own collection, and all of the maps are his own rendering of the nature of the route. In doing this, he assures the reader of his firsthand experience on the subject of Route 66 and confirms the obvious love he has for this road. To accomplish a work of this magnitude, an author must be a studious and methodical researcher along with diligent firsthand observation, and it is obvious that Krim pulled off this feat of great value, giving his readers the gift of knowing for themselves “…the potential power of the road, an open road of unlimited promise” (72), which should be celebrated by every American with dreams of something greater and better.