HAH! Thanks for fixing it for me. I do sort of live in the weeds, er, sticks.

My neighbors are probably lighting up a bit of weed, though, at least on two sides of me.

Can you come up with any photos of old truck-and-camper/campershell combos, Bill?

Merry Christmas to you, as well as to SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED.......

 

I have lots of memories of old camper shells, but no pics.

Always liked the Alaskan Camper shells, were level with the cab while whizzing down the highway, but could be cranked up to nearly twice their height.

Remember the Happy Wanderers TV show hosted by Slim "Hoot" Bernard? Sponsored by Ford, Bernard drove the byways of the west in pickups and Bronco's.

He had a very distinct laugh. Huell Howsers CA's Gold PBS TV show is loosely based on Bernard's. Huell did a 60 minute retrospective show that featured original clips and Bernard's widow.

 

Yes, and the last time I was on it in Pasadena (many years ago now) they still had stop signs at the end of the VERY short on-ramps. It was still Hwy 11 then.

 

Stop signs still present today. Weren't considered too short originally, but today they can be death traps. I avoid it, haven't driven it since Reagan was prez.

But for many years drove the 405 aka the San Diego Freeway (that doesn't go to San Diego!) aka the "worlds longest parking lot." Santa Monica native, lived on the west side 1947/2001.

 

Logical that a vintage camper thread should morph to discussion of the roads that gave birth to the lifestyle. The most famous being the Lincoln Highway and Route 66. Henry Ford's Model T, and the east-west expansion of the Lincoln Highway, brought motor camping to the masses in the 1920s. Then in a few years the Mother Road took a wave of adventurers from the midwest to the southwest. This thread could go on forever telling stories of those roads. Stu

 

The Lincoln Highway was the "brain child" of Henry Bourne Joy, president of the Packard Motor Car Co. He supervised most of the construction and Packard trucks were used almost exclusively.

The entire highway from NYC to San Francisco was paid for by the automakers, tire and petroleum companies. There are a few original bridges remaining that are marked ******-Overland and etc.

Today, most people have never heard of the Lincoln Highway, but it predated Route 66. Route 66 routed from Wacker Drive in Chicago to Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica.

Route 66 was originally called "The National Old Trails Highway." When Will Rogers died in 1935, Route 66 was renamed "The Will Rogers Memorial Highway."

Today, only the portion of Route 66 that passes thru OK is called that. Route 66 was never called "The Mother Road" officially, that's an enthusiasts term born in the 1970's.

Someone, not saying who, beat CalTrans to the punch by removing the END ROUTE 66 sign at the intersection of Santa Monica Blvd/Ocean Avenue.

 

As I've read, Henry Joy was the man that made it happen. The idea guy was Carl Fisher, the owner of the Prest-O-Lite Company that made carbide headlights. Fisher was also owner of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and father of the Indy 500, then later was one of the pioneers in developing Maimi, Florida. By the time the Lincoln Highway was completed Fisher was out of the picture having moved on to pursue his Florida dreams.

Today there are Lincoln Highway Associations in each state that work to preserve and mark the old roads/trails. As the wife and I drive I-80 west each year to visit the kids in OR I find myself watching the Union Pacific tracks knowing that the old road was built on railroad right-of-way land and in many areas of the west sits below me as I drive. Stu

 

This Packard "nut" gave credit to Joy, but...you're right, Fisher was the "idea" man.

Off I-80 near Sherman WY is the pyramid shaped Ames Monument, passengers riding on the UPRR shot their noses off.

The Ames Brothers were major financial backers of the UPRR and participated in the crooked Credit Mobilier holding company scam that raked off funds for their pockets.

There are at least two books on the Lincoln Highway, one is strictly for kiddies, and a gazillion books on Route 66.

1933: My grandmother along with my mom and uncle headed west from Chicago to Pasadena on Route 66 driving a brand new 1933 Packard Super 8 convertible sedan.

Thru OK, NM, AZ and CA 'okies' pelted them with rotten fruit. After she got settled, she drove to Fortner & Loud Ford in Pasadena, traded the Packard straight across for two 1933 Ford's, one a coupe, one a roadster.

Grandma was never good with money, but had enough of it to sustain here till the day she died in 1986 at the age of 95.

 

Driving a Packard through OK in 1933 couldn't have made you popular. Those were dust bowl years, and Depression era to boot.

The best book I've read on the Lincoln Highway was written by Drake Hokanson. We've stopped at the giant Lincoln statue in WY several times. Stu

 

Since we're talking about trans-continental highways, I'd like to introduce you guys to one not as well known as the ones mentioned, the Yellowstone Trial. Conceived in 1912, it linked Massachusetts with Washington state across a northern route as "A Good Road from Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound." One of the distinctions of it (to me, anyway) is it originally ran through my town across the Columbia River, and the bridge built there was the last link which created the first complete coast-to-coast highway in 1922. The bridge is gone, but a monument to it stands and a portion of the original concrete pavement still exists and is in use today through Columbia Park, along the Lewis and Clark route to the end of their upstream exploration of the Columbia River, before turning around to find the Pacific Ocean.

Here's a link to the Trail's website.

The Yellowstone Trail

 

I realize the bridge is gone because it was getting old but why didn't they replace it Wayne

 

this is for sale in my area. Pretty neat old rig.Springfield mo.
Larry

64 ford truck and or avion airstream camper

 

They did replace it in 1978 with this beautiful structure.

 

Hmmm, I'd like you to post a picture of that sign hanging in your garage, Bill. That is a good piece of automotive history.

 

Just curious, what is the statute of limitation for theft of a historical marker, Bill? Could you pass my question along to that anonymous person?