Customer Reviews

Route 66: The Empires of Amusement

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Thomas Arthur Repp's love for his oft-maligned subject matter (he dislikes the term "tourist trap") shows in the care in which he hunted down the enthralling stories of those wonderful roadside diversions that once enlivened Route 66. Repp takes us behind the flamboyant facades of these mostly "Mom and Pop" operations, to give us a privileged "behind the scenes" peek at the entrepreneurial life along the road.

The attractions presented illustrate the changing face of the highway, as the amusement parks of urbanized eastern U.S. 66 slowly give way to the snake farms of rural Oklahoma and Texas. Along the way, Repp takes us to places as famous as Oklahoma's Buffalo Ranch, as well as to more obscure, but no less fascinating, enterprises such as Amarillo's Prarie Dog Town. Each attraction is brought to life with priceless anecdotes and colorful quotes.

The stories of these attractions and their operators are brightened with wonderful old photos and memorabilia that take one back to the days when a trip down old 66 was as exotic as a jungle safari, and the old road seemed lined with incarcerated rattlesnakes, supernatural raccoons, talking crows and "Live Buffalo."

"Route 66 The Empires of Amusement" thoroughly covers the roadside entertainment scene from Illinois through Texas. I understand that Repp is hard at work researching the myriad delights of western '66. I can't wait!

"Step right up, ladies and gentlemen,...!" Author Thomas Repp offers up a decidedly different Route 66 book sure to please both novice and veteran road warrior alike. Repp's book is a nostalgic salute to the entrepreneurs whose creativity led to the many quirky roadside attractions and amusements that helped make the Route 66 legend. Repp examines over 30 attractions, some of which survive today, and arranges them in geographic order from east to west in the chapters of the book. Included are such well-known attractions as Meramec Caverns but also many that only the most seasoned highway expert will recognize. Repp researched extensively, including many first-person interviews, and has included an extensive bibliography. There are hundreds of nostalgic photographs included as well as a complete index. The book heavily emphasizes the eastern half of the route because, according to Repp, that's where the people and hence the attractions were.

Anyone who traveled the route in its heyday will remember the miles of signs for numerous roadside enterprises tempting you to stop and buy an oddity or, at least, see one. A talking monkey, jumping beans, a two headed cow and the less miraculous Navaho blankets and genuine arrowheads became mainstays of this 2,400 mile carnival. Rep brings us back in his colorful rememberance of this era of anticipation and excitement. The book is a joy to read and see whether you remember those days or not.

"Empires" is perhaps the most important addition to the literature of Route 66 since Michael Wallis's Pulitzer Prize nominated book, "Route 66, The Mother Road." Painstakening researched, it is packed with vintage photos, many of them from the family albums of those who spent their lives selling roadside fun to vacationing Americans during the heyday of Route 66. Repp's command of the language and writing skills are unerring throughout, making his subjects as unforgettable and vibrant as the pulsing neon that once splashed small town boulevards. Purists who fret over differences as obscure as the correct "Buz" vs. the incorrect "Buzz" (an error likely caused by an editor) miss the point entirely. For everyone else, "Empires" is a must-have. Buy it. It will do your coffee table proud.

It is reassuring to note that Repp's book was received positively by the inner circle of established Route 66 writers such as Wallis or Ross. Repp does cover a new facet, especially in terms of the photographic record, but it is rather on the fringes. His focus is on the carnival folk that set up shop along certain parts of Route 66. What the book doesn't say, what none of the reviewers say, but what ought to be clarified nevertheless is that the circumstance that entertainers sought out Route 66 has more to do with necessity being the mother of invention than any intrinsic quality of Route 66.

The book's 200 new and vintage photos have largely not been published before. That, in and of itself, regardless of its Route 66 connection, validates the book's purpose. Undeniably, Repp has done a great deal of research in his six years of traveling Route 66 and provides a heretofore missing piece to the puzzle, especially the oral histories in his interviews with the original protagonists or their offspring. His writing style is, well, unique. Whether you call it inspired or contrived, the result is the same: it forces you to slow down.

The book has a bibliography and an index but no map. The Route 66 novice will note with irritation that none of the attractions are specifically identified by state; the text does provide clues but they have to be stumbled across.

Full review at <speedreaders.info>. Copyright 2010, Sabu Advani

Thomas Arthur Repp's love of the Road is evident in "Route 66: The Empires of Amusement." He weaves the reader along a highway filled with nostalgia and family history, all relating to the early roadside attractions that captivated travelers not so long ago. I particularly like Repp's attention to the people that populated Route 66. Their personal stories and entrepreneurial ideas are a national treasure, endearingly captured within this tome for all time. For me, the best part of travel is not necessarily the things that you see, but more often the folks that you stop and talk with awhile. It felt like I'd done that after reading this book. I give a hitchhiker's thumb way up on this one!

Repp's book "Route 66: Empires of Amusement" is an embarrassing revelation to those of us who were getting cocky about our trivia base of Mother Road lore. I read THE Bible of the Mother Road; Michael Wallis' "Route: 66, The Mother Road", years ago before their was much interest in the subject. Every book since then is just a comparison to Michael's. Until Now. "Empires" sleuths bizarre Mom and Pop operations long gone with great passion and detail. But wait, there's more: The real reason I was prompted to write this review is not so much the bit, but the delivery. Repp's writing style is an object lesson in wordsmithing of the type you rarely see. He compresses an incredible amount of entendre and pun into his sentences that forces you to read slow and savor it all. It was a joy for me to read something for the pleasure of reading a book for the style alone and then read it again for content. If you know someone that is a speed reader, throw this book his way and watch him go down in flames.

"Route 66: The Empires of Amusement" allows the owners of some of the most fascinating Route 66 attractions to tell their story, their way. Mr. Repp retells their stories with compassion, humor, and a desire to share the real "Main Street of America." The photos included in this book would have been hidden away in the family album if not for Mr. Repp. The Route 66 journey you will take will introduce you to many of the well known Route 66 attractions, Meremac Caverns, Totem Pole Park, and the Cadillac Ranch, but now you will get the "real" story. You will also be introduced to many attractions you had no idea existed and, boy, are they fun and fantastic! Whoopee Coasters, Onyx Cave Park, Prairie Dog Town, Mr. Lloyd's Snake Pit, and my personal favorite The Blue Whale. This book is a must for every Route 66er and those interested in the "real" stories of the "Mother Road". Whose story will be included in his next book?

This book really picks up on the greatest of places on Route 66 and the special people that ran them. Back when Mom and Pop ran businesses and lived IN them... what a pleasure to read..!

A book devoted to the tourist traps and amusement parks of Route 66 should be a fun read, one that makes you want to visit the site and buy a petrified cow-pie or a rattlesnake rattle encased in Lucite. But Route 66 - The Empires of Amusement is so full of convoluted sentences and odd words that you feel as if you are trapped in a Fun House constructed by Roget. Route 66 stretches from Lake Michigan to the Pacific Ocean, however for some curious reason Route 66 - The Empires of Amusement stops in Amarillo, Texas. Research errors that are a burr under the T-shirt of any experienced Roadie compound the problems, i.e. the Big Boy hamburger did not come to life on Route 66, but first hit the grill in Glendale, California; and Buz, that erstwhile traveler of the Mother Road with his faithful companion Tod, has always spelled his name with a single "z." Affectation? Possibly. But it is his name, after all. Old family photos, advertising literature and modern snapshots add to the book, but in a manner that is more melancholy than upbeat, and a few of the photos beg the question, "Why am I here?" What should have been a book celebrating the world of the odd and unusual along Route 66 became almost as sad as the remains of the Longhorn Ranch, a famous tourist trap in New Mexico; but then we'll never know, because Route 66 - The Empires of Amusement didn't take us that far.