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passing through with strangers.
You
know, somewhere I read, only ants and savages put strangers to death.
All right, we'll find a place with no ants and no savages.
Enjoy the navigator.
Music of the Stars, Nelson Riddle right here.
Route 66, television.
Highway so famous, it has its own songs, movies, and fan clubs, and it hasn't even officially existed since 1985.
From Chicago's bustle to the laid-back vibes of Santa Monica, this legendary ribbon of highway carried dust-covered migrants, Elvis-loving tourists, and Corvette-driving dreamers alike.
So, how did a decommissioned highway become more famous than the one still on the map?
And what really made it the main street of America?
Was it the quirky roadside motels?
The ghost towns?
Buckle up.
This journey is just beginning.
Welcome to U.S.
Route 66, the most legendary stretch of asphalt in America.
It was officially established in 1926, becoming one of the original highways in the U.S.
numbered highway system.
Its design was clever.
It zigzagged through small towns, instead of skirting around them.
pumping money and opportunity directly into rural America.
In the early 1900s, the U.S.
had roads but no real system.
In 1925, the U.S.
government finally rolled out a plan for a nationwide highway infrastructure.
The mastermind behind this genius, Cyrus Avery, dubbed the father of Route 66.
Our United States may not have the centuries head start that Europe has in producing the romantic ruins of ancient castles, but we Yanks We have our ruins and some romantic ones as well And if you don't believe me just listen to the rest of the story when the automobile put America on wheels in the 1920s Highway 66 was America's Main Street Roadside camp grounds evolved into little villages of frame cabins with steel cots and
Sometimes indoor plumbing.
The more grand establishments had tiny screened porches.
Gradually the barracks like cabins became fancier.
Some were designed like teepees or sombreros or taco stands.
And then there was the Coral Court Motel.
And it was something else.
Where 66 bypassed St.
Louis on the west, the Coral Court was on the north side.
A longscape's driveway led to a gated entrance.
The only access to 74...
Honey-colored, detailed bungalows, each with attached garage.
The attached garages were for privacy.
You see, the Coral Court had a deliciously naughty reputation.
Cars entering would be directed to a specific bungalow, depending on whether the guests were spending less or more than four hours.
Weekend evenings, it was not unusual to see dozens of cars circling, waiting for an opening.
More than just another no-tell motel, the Coral Court had a veneer of refinement.
Rooms had glass ashtrays and chenille bedspreads.
The owner and builder John Carr had a frayed reputation.
Once village treasurer, he also owned a midtown brothel, and his underworld connections were such that criminals in hiding were sometimes accommodated at the Coral Court.
But mostly the streamlined glass-breaking lavatory-tile bungalows were noted for the, um, liberal guest policy and the notable absence of police surveillance.
An unsentimental search of history reveals that Coral courtroom keys were once so coveted that St.
Louis Curio shops sold counterfeit keys, while originals commanded a handsome price.
Today, half a century later,
Coral Court behind its locked gates is decaying.
The lawns have gone to weeds.
Inevitably the eight acres on Watson Road lured developers who were prepared to wreck what's left to the Coral Court bungalows and build a shopping center.
But suddenly from the surrounding area came a chorus of resistance.
Tear down the Coral Court never.
Now there's no known connection but old-timers snicker that half of the first-born babies in South County were conceived.
in the Coral Court.
But anyway, the resistance mobilized lawyers were hired, lawyers got architects to make an official professional pronouncement at the Ramshackle Buildings, which once comprised the Coral Court Motel, offered, quote, the finest example of depression streamlined modern architecture.
Yes, I do mean to say that today, any would-be developers are promptly advised, sorry, gentlemen,
But the infamous Motel Motel is on the National Register of Historic Buildings, and sure enough it is.
And now you know the rest of the story.
There's Vince Edwards, star of the TV show Ben Casey.
Music of the Stars, Nat Cole right here.
Bobby Troop wrote this.
Mr. Julie London.
Nat Cole with the Trio, Music of the Stars.
If you ever plan to motor west, travel my way, take the highway, that's the best.
Get your kicks on Route 66.
It winds from Chicago to LA.
More than 2,000 miles all the way.
Get your kicks on Route 66.
Flagstaff, Arizona, don't forget Winona, Kingman, Bosto, San Bernardino, won't you?
Get hip to this timely tip When you make that California trip Get your kicks
music
of the stars cross country highway and we got a cross country highway here too it's
just kind of up and down instead it's um route 41 the music of the stars let's see
um
Wisconsin breezes run.
Have your fun on Route 41.
Have your fun on Route 41.
From Miami Beach to Naples where the sun sets glow.
Fort Myers humming where the trade winds softly blow.
Tampa Bay is swinging St.
Pete's Parkal.
It's built to Lake City, across the Georgia line.
Val Duster hums a ditty, then Cordello feels just fine.
Macon plays him mellow as the Red Clay rivers run.
Atlanta keeps it jumping, Chattanooga rolls along.
Through Tennessee, the highway hums a lonesome song.
Kentucky bluegrass picking when the day
have your fun on route 41 have your fun on route 41 now Chicago
who's overdue.
There's a guy at the jukebox cronin' on Frank.
Maybe with an agent he could take it to the bank.
There's a waitress named Patty who's quick with a joke.
Keeps the coffee hot and the punchlines broke.
She says, hey there, baby.
You talk kind of fast.
You must be from Chicago.
glitz and some got glam, but Kenosha's gotten...
Watch our pride grow from
the New York Harbor to Frisco Bay.
We got charm and spirit to light up your day.
Every corner bustling.
Everyone's so proud.
my sweet hometown catch a
jazz band playing at the square families gathering
East and West unite, watch our pride grow from the New York Harbor to Frisco Bay.
We got
charm and spirit to light up your day.
Every corner bustling, everyone's so proud.
In Kenosha's rhythm, we sing it out.
my sweet hometown catch a jazz band
playing at the square families gathering
The music of the stars, Joey Heatherton.
Harold Arnold.
Just sitting butter, life's candy, and the sun is a ball of butter.
Who told you you're allowed to rain on my parade?
I'm gonna march my band out.
I'll beat my drum.
And if I'm fanned out, your turn at bat, sir.
Hey, at least I didn't fake it.
Sir, so what I did may.
Perfection
or freckle on the nose of life's complexion.
He can die once right, sir.
Ooh, love is juicy.
See juicy and juicy.
I gotta have my
bite, sir.
So get ready for me, love, because I am a comer.
I simply gotta march my hearts at trauma.
Don't bring around a clown.
Have you seen a Kansas sunset or an Arizona rain?
Have you drifted on a bayou down Louisiana way?
Have you watched the cold fog drifting over San Francisco Bay?
Have you heard a Bob White calling in the Carolina pines or heard the bellow of a diesel at the Appalachia mines?
Does the call of the Niagara thrill you when you hear her waters roar?
wonder in Massachusetts shore where men who braved a hard new world first stepped on Plymouth's rock.
Do you think of them when you stroll along a New York City dock?
Have you seen a snowflake drifting in the Rockies way up high?
Have you seen the sun come blazing down from a bright Nevada sky?
Are you hailed to the Columbia as you rush into the sea?
How your head at Gettysburg are struggling to be free?
Have you seen the mighty Tetons?
You watched an eagle soar?
Have you seen the Mississippi roll along Missouri's shore?
Have you felt a chill at Michigan when on a winter's day her waters rage along the shore and thunderous display?
Does the word aloha make you warm?
Do you stare in disbelief when you see the surf come roaring in it?
Why am I a reef?
From Alaska's cold to the Everglades, from the Rio Grande domain, my heart cries out.
My pulse runs fast, the might of her domain.
You ask me why I love her?
I have a million reasons why.
My beautiful America beneath God's wide, wide sky.
Here's the kid from Cudahy.
Bomb and roll.
We'll perceive what it's allowed.
Someone's eye will see the people.
Someone else will see the crowd.
But its image is reflected in the mirrors of the mind.
And the eye that's growing older seeks to find identity.
In reflections of reflections, which of them is really me?
Which of them is really me?
Which of them?
Someone's eye will see the fire
Which of them is really
me?
The music of the star
That was Joe Harnel and Callaway.
Stand by for news on NBC.
Come on over here.
Will you come up here?
Close to the people.
The four lads are all gone now.
The last one we just lost.
It's close.
I like that.
They're live in Livermore, California.
Anyway, this is a song that actually goes exactly like this.
The lads actually played at Fest Italian in Milwaukee.
A few years ago, Connie Coderini led them.
These are four kids out of Toronto.
Catholic High School.
Found they could really sing.
Jimmy Arnold was that high voice.
He made the lads.
We lost another singer here for you.
Let's see.
Well, here, I have to get that.
I have to get that date.
Guy Hovis, anybody remember him?
He was featured on the Lawrence Walk program.
Let's see what we can find from Guy.
A tribute on the music of the stars.
Now, stand by for NBC News.
This is the music of the stars.
I'm your host, Lou Vergonni.
Be right back.
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