Route 66 - The name of the two-lane interstate highway that ran 2,200 miles through six states from Chicago to Los Angeles. Called "America's Main Street" and the "Highways of Dreams," this famous highway (now designated as a National Scenic Route) was the backdrop of the adventure series ROUTE 66/CBS/1960-64 about two young men, Tod Stiles (Martin Milner) and Buz Murdock (George Maharis) and later Linc Case (Glenn Corbett) who drove about the USA in a ragtop Corvette sports car on a quest to find out just how they fitted into this crazy mixed up world. Falling into ruin in some areas, today Route 66 is but a shadow of its former glory. Much of the traffic that originally flowed along its roads, now takes the faster, wider, and more direct route of Interstate 40. The original concept for the roadway project to become known as Route 66 was inspired by Cyrus Avery, a Tulsa businessman who wanted better roads into and out of Chicago to Oklahoma and then to the coast. Avery pushed Congress to initiate such a thoroughfare but it wasn't until 1938 that the last stretch was paved ending at the Santa Monica Pier in California. Both Nat King Cole and the Manhattan Transfer have done classic renditions of the Route 66 song which suggested that the motoring public "Get your kicks on Route 66." The lyrics and music were written by songwriter Bobby Troup (who later appeared on the NBC medical drama EMERGENCY as Dr. Joe Early). For the CBS TV series ROUTE 66 composer Nelson Riddle created a breezy piano theme song (that sounded like the open road) which became a hit record in 1962. If your interested in reading more about this historic roadway, I suggest the book Route 66: The Highway and Its People by Susan Croce Kelly. In 1857 the land that would one day be Route 66 was surveyed by US Army Lieutenant Edward Beale. Another famous thoroughfare was highlighted on the NBC TV special U.S. Route #1: An American Profile (3/29/62). Narrated by Van Heflin, it featured a trip down the East Coast. See also - AUTOMOBILES: "Route 66 Corvette"        

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"Get Your Kicks On Route 66"
(Lyrics by Bobby Troup - 1946)

 If you ever plan to motor west
Travel my way, take the highway that's the best
 Get your kicks on Route 66.

 It winds from Chicago to L.A.
More than 2,000 miles all the way
Get your kicks on Route 66.

 You go through St. Louie, Joplin, Missouri
 Oklahoma City looks mighty pretty
 You'll see Amarillo, Gallup, New Mexico
 Flagstaff, Arizona, don't forget Winona
 Kingman, Barstow, San Bernadino.

 Won't you get hip to this timely tip
When you make that California trip
Get your kicks on Route 66.