Jon Fasman
speaker
158 appearances
4 recordings
1 series
first heard Jul 2026
last heard 27 Aug
Jon Fasman’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.
Trend
recordings per month · last 12 monthsRecordings per month over the last 12 months — 4 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 3.
Appearances
They're a reminder that Route 66 hasn't always been just a quirky little byway.
It was built for commerce.
It connected the Great Lakes in Chicago with the Mississippi and Arkansas rivers in St.
Louis and Tulsa and the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica.
It transported goods as well as people.
But how did people decide where to stop?
Remember, this was before the flourishing of chain restaurants and hotels, and before we could call up reviews on the supercomputer in our pockets.
Owners competed for drivers' attention and wallets with eye-catching displays like neon signs, painted billboards, and, yes, giant fiberglass statues, all of which blur the line between art and advertising.
But they're not really advertising anything anymore.
Now they're just kitschy art.
And they highlight the extent to which Route 66 has become an incubator of delightful, specific, out-of-the-way weirdness.
I stopped at one old service station in rural Oklahoma, and he said, you know, there's a guy you should talk to about 17 miles up the road.
His house has a car coming out of its roof, and there's a big sign for UFO parking.
And if his gate is open, it means he wants to talk about Route 66.
Unfortunately, his gate wasn't open, and I had a schedule to keep, so I missed him.
But I've done a lot of driving on modern interstates, and not once have I been excited to talk about the highway with strangers.
But Route 66 is different.
I'll give Lee the last word.
Showing 141–158 of 158 · page 8 of 8
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