History Museum

This is what our weather looked like for the first few days we visited St. Louis.  It meant we looked for indoor sites to explore.  One day we walked in one of the malls and we made a couple of visits to stores like Walmart and Target.

Another day we decided to visit the Missouri History Museum.  It is located on the edge of Forest Park, a beautiful wooded area in the city.  We would have loved to walk there but is was too windy and cold.

Forest Park was the location of the 1904 World's Fair, held.  Most of the fair building were removed and the area was kept as open space and park land.  One section of the museum is centered on that fair.  We have never been to a world's fair but if another one is held in this country it might be interesting to check it out.

This display shows what the well-dressed fair-goer wore in 1905.

The fair highlighted peoples and cultures from around the world and recent technological advances.  Manufacturers displayed their labor-saving products like this cream separator and carpet sweeper. 

Above the display was this image of the Bissell company store.

This stunning cut glass punch bowl was made especially for the fair.  It must be very heavy to pick up.

Apparently the Israel display was the most visited of those highlighting areas outside the US.  The Philippine Islands display was also very popular. People who represented those areas and other participants, like those from Alaska, were required to remain in their native dress any time they were on the fair grounds.  That was very tough during the summer months for the Eskimos in the fur-lined clothing.

This photo is a view through a window showing how the land had been cleared to prepare for the fair.  They obviously cut down a lot of trees and even put a section of either a river or canal underground to make space for the fair.

Another gallery in the museum addressed Route 66 through Missouri.  Cars and trucks and trailers traveled along the Mother Road.

This is an interior shot of a very early Airstream trailer.  I'm glad ours is larger and more modern.

I am standing outside that Airstream.

Those travelers needed convenient places to get a meal along the route, leading to fast food restaurants like McDonald's and White Castle.

Travelers who didn't have a trailer needed a place to sleep, bringing about the development of motels--motor hotels.

If you click on the photo below you can get a good view of how prices have increased from 1930 to 2015. It looks like homes have gotten more expensive in comparison to other items.  However, they have also gotten larger.  The price of a gallon of gas has also changed significantly.

We explored one other gallery in the museum, the Civil Rights display on the African American Freedom Struggle in St. Louis. It was very interesting--and very crowded and noisy. Somehow neither of us took any pictures there. It was definitely worth our time to see it.

The Mother Road

We are traveling on I-40 which basically follows Route 66 from Los Angeles to Oklahoma City. From there, I-40 goes east to Nashville and Rt. 66 goes northeast to Chicago. You really can't forget your are on Route 66 if you venture into towns along the route. There are three museums about the road in Oklahoma, several in Illinois and more in other locations. In Flagstaff and Winslow, Albuquerque and Amarillo we see signs marking the old route through downtown area.

Wednesday we visited the Route 66 museum in Elk City, OK.

There were exhibits concerning transportation ranging from bicycles both with and without motors,

old Cadillacs

motorcycles

and airplanes.

With all this travel down the road came roadside attractions

diners and tourist courts

Of course, there were also RVs. I think we see units like this today, as well.

All those cars also help create the need for drive-in movies.

The dust bowl of the 1930s drove lots of mid-west farmers onto Route 66, headed for California with all their possessions loaded in their old trucks.

We really enjoyed the Elk City Route 66 museum. But I'm not sure we need to visit the other two here in Oklahoma.

The Mother Road

Route 66, America's Main Street, The Mother Road. These are all names for the highway that was built from Chicago, Illinois, to Los Angeles, California. Route 66 passed through both Williams and Flagstaff in Arizona. Williams has really capitalized on this location. We enjoyed exploring historic downtown Williams, where we found murals,



and souvenir shops,





restaurants with decor reflecting our early love affair with the automobile.


>


This display brought back memories of one of my early jobs. My dad worked for Gates Rubber Company in Denver. The firm gave summer jobs to college student-children of its employees as a form of financial aid. One summer I worked in the fan belt warehouse section of the factory. These were the belts I worked with every day.



This is one of the early Route 66 road signs.



The Red Garter was an early brothel in Williams during the early mining days. It has been reconstructed today.



In the historic part of Flagstaff, we saw buildings and signs that have been maintained since those days of Old Route 66.



Flagstaff also has some impressive old buildings, like the County Courthouse, the Train Station, and this old church.