Story by Jon Stalnaker
AKA The Studebaker Dude
I love the Route 66 murals that you find all along the Mother Road. When I first set out to drive through all 8 states of Route 66 back in 2015, one of my favorite elements of the trip was the many murals painted in the little towns along the way. I mentioned it briefly in the series of stories I wrote for the Sapulpa Times starting October 3, 2021. When we moved to Sapulpa and started exploring around town, I noticed two such murals in downtown Sapulpa on Dewey.
I was driving my Studebaker around town on International Drive Your Studebaker Day (IDYSD) back in September of 2021, and I took pictures of my truck by the sign at Dewey and Main. It was an illustration for a story I submitted to the Studebaker Drivers Club monthly magazine. The parking lot which is normally full of cars was closed for a special event, so I took advantage of the opportunity and grabbed a great picture. I also took a picture of the sign on the building closer to the High School that spelled out Route Sixty-Six. I’ve included that picture with this story. It was dusk and I was trying to get an interesting picture of my truck with the mural in the background. This mural had a painted road winding through it, and I positioned my truck to look like I was headed down that road. Yes, it was a bit corny, so I didn’t submit that picture with the story published in the car magazine. But I still like the picture. I used the past tense when talking about that mural because I drove by a few days ago and noticed that the mural is mostly gone along with the wall that it was painted on.
Being friends with the publisher of the local newspaper has its perks. Instead of having to research what happened to the building, I just called Micah and he told me the building had to come down as it no longer was code compliant. I’m so glad I took that picture when I did. Too many times I envision a cool picture but don’t get around to taking it and before long, it no longer exists. I got lucky this time. Even though it is a bit goofy, I was trying to make it look like I was heading down that road at night. It was a cool mural, and it can now live on in this reminiscence.
We’re coming up on the Mother Road’s centennial celebration, and more murals are popping up for the event. I know there are a couple more being developed for Sapulpa so keep your eyes peeled for new art. They are typically completed without fanfare. What started out as nuisance graffiti, has morphed into a popular way to spruce up an old building. You could also trace painting buildings back to the early years of the automobile and our nation’s new roadways that were popping up all over the country. They say that the United States Post Office Department gets credit for the development of the early roads as they needed to deliver mail to people who lived in remote rural areas. As the cars got better and more affordable, businesses found it lucrative to advertise along these roads before the creation of billboards. Mail Pouch Tobacco Company found a clever way by painting Barns with the simple 9-word slogan. “Chew Mail Pouch Tobacco Treat Yourself to the Best”. It was a good deal for the farmers as they got their barns painted for free. In addition, they received $1 or $2 dollars a year, which equates to about $20-$40 in today’s money. If you are as old as me, you may remember seeing these barns. I love this kind of art. I look forward to seeing many more murals in town, be they Route 66-oriented or something else. And we in Sapulpa are blessed with a wild and crazy artist like Joe Krout who keeps the genre alive and well. He will soon be painting a mural on the side of his faux mortuary. Keep your eyes peeled for that one.
