Wild Things!

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Today I spent the majority of my time at the National Route 66 Museum in Elk City, Oklahoma. It was a fascinating time, introducing me to a lot of wild things that I’d never seen before along with other very familiar things. The museum is actually multiple museums, with the bulk of the property devoted to the “Old Town Museum,” depicting life when Route 66 started. Have you ever heard of the Studebaker car? I had to look it up, but the wagon in the upper left photo WAS indeed manufactured by the company that went on to make the automobile (oh, they also made an electric car before their gasoline-powered vehicle!) While I’ve seen the automobile in museums, I’d never seen a wagon made by Studebaker before! The upper right photo is hilarious, isn’t it? That’s a 1920s “permanent wave” machine. Before the advent of the chemical treatments, that contraption is how women who weren’t blessed with naturally curly or wavy hair got the style they wanted. According to one historical site in Wisconsin, it would take the entire day to “beautify” one’s self (hence the “beauty parlor” or “beauty shop”). Gee, I thought my mom sleeping in curlers was bad! More common are the things in the bottom two photos. On the left, you see cans and cans of coffee and tobacco from a general store. It’s much different than our supermarket these days: a customer would ask for a certain amount of the item and it would be measured out from those tins. (Nowadays, the two shelves of coffee will hold most people for a couple of weeks! ) Finally, a children’s collection of toys. The “Raggedy Ann and Andy” are the most recognizable item, but you also see early toy cars as well as a couple of tricycles. This was only the tip of the iceberg, believe it or not. There were old tractors, stores (one that made me laugh was a “furniture and undertaking” shop…a business for here and the hereafter! ), old horse-drawn carriages (including one for the mail), a caboose, examples of hair wreaths, cameras, and buildings ranging from an old chapel to a one-room school. Spending a couple of hours wandering through an old “pioneer village” to see what life was like at the start of Route 66 (in 1926) or earlier can certainly make you appreciate modern luxuries! PHOTO COLLAGE: (Upper left) Studebaker wagon, before they made cars (Upper right) “Permanent wave” machine from the 1920s (Lower left) Shelves of supplies at the general store (Lower right) Toys for children from the past