We got out of Chicago—they hit us with more tolls, of course. We plan to create a poster with all of the toll receipts that we have when we get back. It would be interesting to see all of them at once and reflect upon how expensive the city is.
Our next destination was a small town called Pontiac. It’s not the large town of Pontiac in Michigan which was the center of car manufacturing for that same brand name. No. Instead, this is a small town that is located in Illinois. We went there to see an unusual museum about Pontiac cars. As I mentioned before, my husband loves cars. The particular car make that he loves is Pontiac.
Here at the town, they have set up a weekend where a lot of Pontiac cars from all over the state park in the small downtown. It is a sight to behold and so much of what America used to be about in many ways. Many of the car owners are very proud of their vehicles and will spend a lot of time talking about them.
The museum has a treasure trove of old memorabilia and history regarding the cars. I have never seen anything like it. There are displays of badges, oil cans, insignias, car emblems, maps, and even some old official identification cards. There is a library of official company papers as well. A very surprising piece of nostalgia was an oil can with a swastika emblem on it. It was manufactured by a company called Troco located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Before Hitler appropriated the insignia, it was a symbol of good luck originated by the Iroquois Indians. The Troco oil can was from the 1930s. Honestly, it took me by surprise and I had a strong reaction to it. The symbol is reviled for good reason. I didn’t expect to see it on an old oil can.
The owner of the museum also had some of the original artwork that the designers created for various advertisements in the 1950s. These were beautifully restored. I’m glad that he was able to acquire these items and save them for us to see.
Before we got into town, we ended up on a piece of Route 66, by accident. That was a pleasant surprise since we didn’t expect to cross it this early on the road trip. I was thrilled that we got to drive a piece of it. Even better, we saw one of the Gemini giants. The Gemini Giant is a landmark statue on the U.S. 66 route in the city of Wilmington. Actually, they were originally called muffler men. It was in front of a restaurant which is now closed and is for sale. Did you know that there was a muffler man statue in Hayward, CA? It's gone now. There was another one in San Jose, CA, as well. It's sad to see these pieces of Americana disappearing from our roads. I remember seeing the muffler man in Hayward once.
There are only a few of them left out in the roads of the United States. I also believe that some of them have been sold off. I wonder what private collections they have gone to. I’m glad that I got to see my rocket man on this trip.
Rocket Man burning out his fuse up here alone…
The Gemini Giant--my rocket man!