Route 66, arguably the most famous highway in US history, is officially designated present day in 1926. Although officially decommissioned in 1985, the highway is an important part of American history and remains a tourist attraction to this day. To celebrate the anniversary, Google created a Google Doodle for its homepage. The iconic white 66 shield is featured in a unique logo along with a video.
Additional video set to “(Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” by Bobby Troup backing his journey along Route 66 from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California was not set at a specific time but was intended primarily to convey the spirit of Route 66. Illustrations, animations, and drawings of many landmarks along the length of the highway in each state.
The art realistically impresses and creatively depicts the various locations and images associated with Route 66 through time succinctly in a 150-second video. The Chain of Rocks Bridge crosses the Mississippi into St. Louis, Devil’s Elbow Bridge in Missouri, the Golden Driller in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the Cadillac Range in Amarillo, Texas are all featured in the video. There are many other places referenced that I did not mention.
In an internal interview with Google, artist Matthew Cruiskshank “developed over 100 paintings and sketches to create today’s animated video Doodle” during a trip along Route 66. When asked what it was like he wants people to take away from the Doodle, to which Cruiskshank replies, “Life in the slow lane can be incredibly worthwhile over time!”
Admittedly, Route 66 is a bit overrated. It’s not that iconic highways are unimportant. It’s just the general image of Route 66 as a 1950s vacation route that has far too much of a presence in the cultural history of the United States compared with Route 66’s role as a route for migrants. fled the Dust Bowl west in the 1930s. That, however, was a story for another day.
