Route 66 Main Street USA

Los Angeles – Chicago. Either Way..It’s Great Year ‘Round

This delightful souvenir postcard of Route 66 presents a heavily stylized overview of Main Street USA in the early 1960s. Linking Chicago to Los Angeles, the highway meanders across the American West – much more directly than what is depicted within the image. But the clever use of space allows for ample illustrations of the various attractions along the route. Numerous side trips are also shown (Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon, Spring Training, Meramec Caverns, etc.), showing that Route 66 is a convenient means for travel, as well as a destination in its own right. The verso of the oversized mailer provides a view of the Geronimo Trading Post outside Holbrook, AZ; “one of the Finest on 66” and can still be visited today.

The piece was designed by King Cards. Copyrighted in 1962 by Paragon Productions, Inc. of Phoenix. At the time, the Route 66 TV series (1960-1964) was near the height of its popularity, perhaps providing the commercial impetus behind the issue. A scarce piece of ephemera that’s listed only once in WorldCat, in the collections of Stanford University.