Route 66 Lost Found

“[The] text and photos make this . . . more than a pretty coffee-table book, Route 66 aficionados will want to add this descriptive tome to their collections.” —Ruidoso News (New Mexico) Much more than a ribbon of crumbling asphalt, Route 66 is a cultural icon revered the world over for its nostalgic value—an east-west artery pointing America toward all the promise that the great West represented. But as stretches of Steinbeck’s “Mother Road” were bypassed and fell into disuse, so too did most of the bustling establishments that had sprouted up from Illinois to California to cater to weary travelers and hopeful vacationers alike. Motor courts, cafes, main streets, filling stations, and greasy spoons—all are represented in this second volume of Lost & Found images from photographer Russell Olsen. As with its predecessor, Route 66 Lost & Found (2004), this new installment presents dozens of locations along Route 66’s entire 2,297 miles, showing them both as in their heydays in period photographs and postcards and as they appear today. Each site is accompanied by a capsule history tracing the locale’s rise and fall (and sometimes rebirth), as well as an exclusive map pointing out its location along Route 66. “Author Russell Olson has unearthed old photos and postcards of various buildings, landmarks and towns which he carefully researches and then rediscovers and takes pictures of them as they are today.” —Auto Aficionado “I could barely put this down.” —Daily Express (UK) “A good read for fans of roadside architecture.” —Classic and Sports Car (UK)

Now Russell Olsen’s best-selling collections featuring Route 66 filling stations, main streets, motor courts, cafés, campgrounds, honky-tonks, truck stops, and barbecue joints as they appeared both in their heyday and today is available in one package. For more than 30 years, Route 66 was America’s main east-west artery, pointing the nation toward all the promise that California represented. To serve these travelers, Route 66 boasted bustling commercial hubs, many of which remain today, many more of which crumbled long ago. All of the sites included here—150 in all—are shown both during their mid-century heydays and as they appear today. Taken together, the marvelous visual and descriptive elements assembled here—period postcards and imagery, specially commissioned maps, and Olsen’s own photography and capsule histories of the sites featured—comprise a unique, state-by-state look back at America’s Main Street.

Reorganized, updated and expanded ed. of earlier work with same title proper.

Route 66: Lost and Found conveys the spirit and the times, not quite like any other book. Arizona Daily SunFor several decades, Route 66 was the nation's main east-west thoroughfare, pointing Middle America toward all the promise California seemed to hold at various times, whether permanent refuge from the Dust Bowl or a temporary escape from the drudgery of everyday suburban life in prosperous postwar America. As such, America's Main Street once teemed with activity . . . bustling centers of commerce that evaporated into the vast American landscape like the jet contrails overhead and the heat rising from the Interstate asphalt. This engaging look at the "Mother Road" takes 75 locations along its 2,297 mile route from Chicago to Santa Monica and shows them first during their halcyon heydays through black-and-white photographs and period postcards, then on the facing page as they appear today, from the exact same angle and also through vivid black-and-white photographs.

Now Russell Olsen’s best-selling collections featuring Route 66 filling stations, main streets, motor courts, cafés, campgrounds, honky-tonks, truck stops, and barbecue joints as they appeared both in their heyday and today is available in one package. For more than 30 years, Route 66 was America’s main east-west artery, pointing the nation toward all the promise that California represented. To serve these travelers, Route 66 boasted bustling commercial hubs, many of which remain today, many more of which crumbled long ago. All of the sites included here—150 in all—are shown both during their mid-century heydays and as they appear today. Taken together, the marvelous visual and descriptive elements assembled here—period postcards and imagery, specially commissioned maps, and Olsen’s own photography and capsule histories of the sites featured—comprise a unique, state-by-state look back at America’s Main Street.

Through the stories of one of Canada's most enthusiastic travellers explore the famous American highway that inspired the likes of Al Capone, Salvador Dali, Mickey Mantle, and the countless fans of this iconic American landmark.

Explores the many sites along the famous American east-west artery, including filling stations, main streets, motor courts, cafes, campgrouds, honkytonks, truck stops, and barbecue joints established to serve motorists. All of the sites and structures included here are shown both during their mid-century heydays and as they appear in the present.