Congratulations, and thank you to Mary Beth Babcock, who is not only a keeper of the Route 66 flame, but she’s also making it bigger and brighter.
In 2019, she introduced the world to Buck Atom, a Muffler Man who is a space cowboy, at her Tulsa, Oklahoma, shop, Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios on 66.
Now, Buck has company.
On June 28, at a dedication ceremony that began a new chapter in Route 66 lore, Stella Atom was officially welcomed to the shop, which resides in a repurposed 1950s PEMCO gas station.
The two giants make a dynamic duo and add to the magic of the Mother Road. It’s so easy to look at Route 66 through the rear-view mirror — an exploration and celebration of what once stood or still stands, be it a forgotten relic or a revitalized icon.
It’s thrilling to see new places and traditions that draw upon Route 66 heritage, the road that has most captivated the American — and perhaps the world’s — imagination. (And kudos to other “magicians” who made this happen, including the great Mark Cline, who helped bring these new giants to life.)
Read more about the dedication ceremony, and the sweet inspirations for both characters, here, and follow Buck Atoms on Instagram here. It should come as no surprise that Tulsa has been named the capital of Route 66.
Fox 23 quoted Rhys Martin, the president of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association:
"What's good for Tulsa is good for Sapulpa, for Catoosa," she said. "When people are on Route 66, they just don't go to one place. They travel the road itself, so they go from one community to the next."
And the out-of-this-world Atoms Family is now a towering part of that. Reports City News Tulsa:
For Babcock, it was a dream come true, a symbol of perseverance and the power of dreams. She envisioned Stella Atom as an emblem of inspiration, encouraging others to pursue their aspirations with the same fervor.
The excitement surrounding Stella Atom's arrival is not just about her impressive stature or unique design. It’s about what she represents – a beacon of creativity and ambition. Babcock's message is clear: with enough determination, anyone can achieve their dreams.
I’m inspired!
Stay tuned for more about Tulsa, Buck and Stella Atom and other spots along Route 66 in The Retrologist later this summer. (And in MY BOOK next year!)
Here's some cool (and tempting) Stella Atom swag! And don’t forget Buck!
(Buck’s back story is awesome: He was once a rodeo star on the Route 66 circuit until he was whisked into space by a rocket ship, only to return to the Mother Road when he saw from up above that it needed some TLC. His efforts have been a success!)
Arrivederci, Francesco. Beloved NYC suburb Italian restaurant closes after 54 years
Francesco’s was one of those restaurants I passed for years but never dined in until it was almost too late.
Last Saturday was set to be the last day at Francesco’s in White Plains, New York, which closed after 54 years in the Italian comfort-food business. (It now bears the dreaded “permanently closed” stamp on Google.)
And so goes one of the most lovely, perfectly intact Italian red-sauce dining rooms in America, wrapped in a cocoon of wood paneling. Its primo corner booth by the front door was bathed gently by the pink neon light from the window sign seeping through the blinds. It was too good to be true.
The bar showed all the signs of character you’d expect after more than half a century, and a wall was covered in hockey memorabilia from the 1980s.
The restaurant certainly isn’t closing because of a lack of clientele. When my pal and I made our first (and alas, last) visit two weeks ago, the place was doing a hearty business in the bar and dining room.
The owner’s daughter wouldn’t tell me very much, and I didn’t want to press her too hard. She was working hard that night, as she did every night — her dad, namesake Francesco Spinali, had left the restaurant not long before I talked to her after our meal. You could tell she was going through a lot — putting to bed the family business since 1970.
“The expiration of a lease, rising rent costs and the fact that the owners (and kitchen staff) are ready to retire,” is how the Journal News summed up the Reddit chatter about the woes. The owner wouldn't say much to the local paper either.
But we all know how tough this business is and how factors can converge to force a decision that was long put off, long the unthinkable. But the unthinkable can be thought of — and occur — and so Francesco’s is closed.
“Owner and namesake Francesco Spinali is adamant about quality ingredients, not cutting corners, and preserving the traditional recipes that have been served here for nearly 50 years. Many people drive by Francesco’s every day without knowing what’s inside. It’s officially time to stop neglecting this neighborhood gem. Pop in and experience the timeless classics done right,” wrote Westchester Magazine in 2018.
Ouch. That hit a little too close to home.
Yep, I passed this restaurant almost every day between 1987 and 1991 — I went to high school nearby. And I still thought about it for years after and marveled it was still with us, ever curious about going but never doing so until I almost never could.
I’m so glad I got to say hello — and goodbye — all in the same evening.
What restaurants do you regret not visiting enough — or at all?
Perkins perks up its look (they just better not mess with the pancakes and pies)
Perkins, the 66-year-old diner-like chain, is getting a big refresh, including a new name, Perkins American Food Co.
The whole “new vibe,” as Perkins President Toni Ronayne describes it, comes from its research that “guests want the American classics of yesterday in a place that feels like today.”
First, the name is changing to “Perkins American Food Co.” making it more encompassing of what it offers. That means “bakery,” which has been part of its moniker for the past five decades, is disappearing but the bakery will still exist in its restaurants.
Lots of changes, including the palette of its signature color green, are on the table.
I must admit, I have not been to a Perkins in years — I was a devotee during my Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, days — but this refresh, which I rather like, at least based on the image released, above, intrigues me.
Nation’s Restaurant News has a slideshow.
The logo change is already live on the Perkins’ website.
Hit the road, Jack! West Coast’s Jack in the Box eyes eastern frontier — again
Jack in the Box is returning to the Chicago area after a four-decade absence.
The San Diego-based fast-food giant is looking to open 125 stores in the region, reports the Chicago Tribune.
WGN reports some of the stores opening starting in 2025 “will be in New Lenox, Naperville, Plainfield, Carol Stream, Tinley Park, Lake in the Hills, Countryside and a Chicago location near Midway.”
According to a news release, the expansion will move the brand far beyond Chicagoland:
This strategic expansion into Chicago allows us to not only satisfy long-standing customer demand for our brand, but also to become a key member in the region’s thriving restaurant scene,” said Darin Harris, CEO of Jack in the Box. “We’re excited to bring our unique menu where customers can order any item at any time – day or night and we’re confident Jack in the Box will quickly become a favorite local destination.”
This 8-store initial development in Chicago builds on the brand’s momentum of multi-unit expansion in new markets including Utah, Kentucky, Arkansas, Montana, Wyoming, Michigan, Florida, Georgia, and internationally in Mexico.
I was born a little too late to have seen them on the East Coast, but there were once Jack in the Boxes in the New York City area market, and folks just a little older than I have fond memories of them.
It would be cool if, as part of the expansion, they brought back the original clown head menu speakers, as seen at Valley Relics Museum, below.
I would also not object to the new Jacks embracing the “boxy” architecture trend, which they already are, with promising results, so long as the boxes look like the ones in the video I embedded below.
In Wyoming, the Horseshoe Bend Motel leans into its nostalgic past — and a Stephen Shore photo that perfectly captured it
Calling it now: I have dibs on the Stephen Shore room!
A Lovell, Wyoming, motel immortalized in a 1973 photograph by the famed photographer of so many beautifully captured “Uncommon Places” is undergoing revitalization.
But don’t let that word — revitalization - scare you. The motel’s owner, Bobbi Jo McJunkin, is leaning into the Horseshoe Bend Motel’s vintage vibe and the aesthetic that drew Shore here for a photo just after rainfall on July 16, 1973, with a rainbow in the sky, a period American gas guzzler in the foreground — green in color, not in environmental impact — and the horseshoe sign, seen at an angle, standing off in the distance, casting its reflection on the rain-slickened parking-lot pavement.
A 2013 Chromogenic print of the image is in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art.
The sign still stands and is a popular draw. Surely, some know of the Shore connection, but others find it irresistible without knowing of its artistic provenance. It is a slice of roadside authenticity in a world increasingly deprived of it.
McJunkin told Cowboy State Daily she’d been offered up to $50,000 for the sign, a windfall that would go a long way toward underwriting the total restoration of the property. But if you’re refurbishing a vintage oasis, losing the sign — or erecting an LED replica — makes no sense, and McJunkin appreciates this, reports Renée Jean in the article.
And how can you not love — and be grateful — for this sentiment:
“The theme of this whole place is really off of that sign,” McJunkin told the site. “Everything that has been planned for this motel remodel is all stuff around that sign.”
McJunkin won a $10,000 Backing Small Businesses Grant from American Express — one of only 500 recipients — and she’s using the money in part to restore the sign. A Sheridan-based sign company is being contracted for the work. The sign will be repainted, and the restored neon, it is hoped, will better withstand the wind storms that routinely blow through here, sapping the light from the letters.
And what’s this about the Stephen Shore room? McJunkin is renovating the motel’s rooms according to a theme — one inspired by Apollo 8 astronaut Jim Lovell, who shares the same name as the town. Another room features a cowboy motif — a fitting choice in the Cowboy State. One, McJunkin said, will be themed after Mr. Shore and will feature a print of the iconic photograph taken just outside in the parking lot 51 years ago this month.
Sign me up! I hope to travel this way later this year to do research for my new Retrologist book.
Historic Hildebrandt’s Luncheonette takes a bite out of patriotic competitive eating
My friends at the great Hildebrandt’s, which has one of America’s most beautiful storefronts, are taking a bite out of a July 4th tradition — competitive eating.
With perennial champ Joey Chestnut not competing at the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island this year because of the mortal sin of repping a meatless hot dog maker, July 4th seems like a Yankee Doodle Dandy time to declare independence from the tyranny of competitive hot dog eating — and switch to competitive hamburger eating.
Brave folks of high ambitions and strong stomachs will go belly to belly in a hamburger-eating contest at the beloved Long Island luncheonette, a tradition the owners hope to make an annual one. More information here.
The action begins at 11 a.m on Thursday, July 4. The winner walks away with $2024 — and the satisfaction of being the inaugural champ.
I can vouch for the yumminess of a Hildebrandt’s burger, but I like to limit my consumption to one per visit. But if there’s a day where a little patriotic gastronomic excess is in order, it’s Independence Day.
Hildebrandt’s is one of my favorite subjects and probably the mom-and-pop eatery I’ve most shared on my Instagram.
Read more about Hildebrandt’s rescue from the brink of destruction in my report from 2022 here.
Retrologist’s Roadside Ticker …
There was no Grimace shake this year (read my thoughts on the McDonald’s marketing coup last year, below) but all of New York got to celebrate the occasion last Wednesday night when the Empire State Building’s upper floors were lit purple in the shake-loving mascot’s honor!
McDonald's 'Grimace's Birthday' campaign is a stroke of nostalgic marketing brilliance
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McDonald’s, as you know, has just about erased all traces of the architectural era in which Grimace and his McDonaldland friends thrived — the early 1970s into the early 2000s. And those characters were retired from its marketing long ago, when selling fast food to kids s…
A Florida theater that was shuttered after a 2018 hurricane is being revitalized. Panama City commissioners have allocated big bucks to get the Martin Theatre project off the ground.
A visit to Tulsa’s Mayo Motor Inn is not quite what the name suggests: It’s a motel for cars, 400 of them, completed in the early 1950s and still looking — and operating — much as it did on opening day.
For Disney fans: The Disney Treasure cruise ship will feature a lounge inspired by the 1970 animated film, “The Aristocrats.”
The former Woolworth’s building in Medford, Oregon, is for sale. The building features the original red fascia signage.
Want a Muffler Man all your own? One has hit the market, American Giants reports, and bidding sat at $9,500 when I published this. You have until July 9 to raise your virtual paddle for a shot at hauling away the big guy. (By the way, I visited the new and wonderful American Giants Museum in Atlanta, Illinois, recently, on a book-research trip. More soon!)
A fire damaged a historic Boston building that was the once and future home of the Jacob Wirth restaurant, a New England institution since 1868. It had closed in 2018 (after a smaller fire upstairs) and was set to reopen in August. With $3 million in damage, the restaurant’s future is once again up in the air.
Toronto’s beloved CN Tower turns 48! Here’s a little history.
You probably have already heard that Marilyn Monroe’s house in Brentwood has been saved from demolition after the Los Angeles City Council declared it a historic cultural monument. But the owners of the property — the ones who wanted to bulldoze it — are, shall we say, disappointed, calling the decision “unconstitutional and rigged.”
The J. Huston Tavern in Arrow Rock, Missouri, traces its heritage back to 1834, making it the oldest restaurant in the Show Me State. After closing earlier this year — which I told you about in The Retrologist — the restaurant is happily preparing to reopen.
Firestone buildings are old and reliable Americana in towns across the nation. I often pull over for them, because the architecture and signage can be quite impressive. A former Firestone location in Phoenix is reopening as a Goodwill.
After 125 years (!!!!), Truzzolino Tamales in Butte, Montana, is for sale but remains open. But the owner won’t sell to just anyone.
Superior, Colorado, lost hundreds of buildings in the infamous 2021 Marshall Fire, a mass erasure of its historic footprint. But an important part of that has returned — the Superior Historical Museum has reopened.
Somehow, I never visited the Snow White Cafe in Hollywood. Sadly, it’s now too late. It hasn’t been a good few weeks for old-school Hollywood eateries. (RIP Arby’s.) While that Arby’s sign is still standing, Snow White’s finest feature, its historic murals, allegedly painted by Disney artists in the 1940s, allegedly with Walt’s blessing, appear to have been destroyed, or are certainly missing, based on photos.
In the spirit of the dwarfs of the story, we go from Grumpy to Happy news.
At least we can still celebrate Disneyana at the Seven Dwarfs Family Restaurant in Wheaton, Illinois, a 1950s bastion where a young John Belushi is said to have toiled.
The neon sign outside is no slouch, either.
Enjoy my photos from a July 2019 visit, below.
New to Substack, but just wanted to say how much I’ve enjoyed looking through your work! I’m posting this on an article focusing on Tulsa, OK since I thought you might enjoy hearing about a Tulsa-based photo op project I (through my former employer) was involved with. The (then) new Scheels store in Tulsa wanted a small version of the legendary Golden Driller statue posing next to a small version of their signature indoor Ferris wheel. I was involved with the concept pitch, then others in our shop handled the sculpting, fabrication, and painting. Obviously, it was a very fun project to work on.
Keep up the good work!
There is a regional fast food chain in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia called Jack's (www.eatatjacks.com), which I have often wondered if that's what is keeping JITB out of those areas.
Jack's used to have some spectacular, almost Googie-like architecture of its own. https://www.eatatjacks.com/pages/our-story