The Town Square Moves to the Highway
In the years following World War II, Route 66 made the transition from being simply a road connecting Chicago and Los Angeles to a place in and of itself, as much the focus of travel as the final destination. The close of the war marked the end of gasolin
e rationing and the scarcity of rubber tires, making car travel affordable again. Returning vets found good wages in an industrialized America, and during their three week vacations they wanted to see the country they had fought to protect. Magazines such
as Life, Time and the Saturday Evening Post did feature articles on national highways, locating good places to eat, spend the night, and visit along the way. Car travel boomed, aided by a massive internal migration. Swamping the prev
ious numbers of the Dust Bowl, over 8 million people moved into the trans-Mississippi West after the war, 3.5. million to California alone. (cite) Tourist shops, diners, cafes, service stations, sprang up alongside of the road
to serve this new mobile American population.
Image:vintage Route 66 postcard
