Serving travelers whose destinations were across town as well as across the continent, Route 66 was vigorously promoted by entrepreneurs of all kinds. Popularizing a new nickname for the roadway, business associations and individual proprietors of hotels, motels, restaurants, filling stations, etc., reveled in the pro- business title of "Main Street of America." Another nickname emerged because Oklahoma was home not only to Cyrus Avery, but also to Will Rogers, America’s famous humorist. Having promoted and popularized the use of Route 66, the roadway was appropriately nicknamed the "Will Rogers Highway" in his honor during its golden age. A third, very familiar appellation for Route 66 has more somber beginnings. Attempting to escape the "Dust Bowl," a region of the southern Great Plains devastated by severe dust storms, hundreds of thousands of destitute farmers traveled west during the 1930's. These so-called "Okies" left Oklahoma in the midst of the Great Depression because the land was so dry that dirt-filled storms whipped through the air and few crops could grow. Since used motor vehicles were so cheap, the migrants piled mattresses, cooking utensils, children and friends in the backs of old cars and trucks and began slow journeys to the distant, fertile land of hopes and dreams. That is, many, if not most, of the travelers set out for California via Route 66. For the first time, most of the migrants met people who spoke Spanish, Navajo or the Pueblo languages & got their first glances of our nation's majestic mountains and arid deserts. Vividly portraying a Dust Bowl family's hardships, John Steinbeck nicknamed Route 66 the "Mother Road" in his revered novel of 1939, "The Grapes of Wrath". This particular alias has been fondly & ubiquitously used for decades, and we name our second collection of textiles in its honor.
This collection of color coordinated fashion fabrics is from Vogue Fabrics By Mail Transition 2011. Order a subscription for home delivery of the entire catalog, or order individual fabrics on-line.
This collection of color coordinated fashion fabrics is from Vogue Fabrics By Mail Transition 2011. Order a subscription for home delivery of the entire catalog, or order individual fabrics on-line.
