US Route 66 highway marker

Description

The United States’s most famous highway is almost certainly Route 66. Before the Interstate System, the historic “Mother Road” was one of the country’s most important highways. US Route 66 connected Chicago, Illinois and Los Angeles, California, a distance of over two thousand miles. It was quickly elevated to place in American pop culture that no other road has obtained, before or since. US-66 became a setting for popular books and television shows. Nat King Cole made Bobby Troup’s song “(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66” famous, and it has been covered by dozens of artists since. Not even the retirement of the actual US-66 designation in the 1980s damaged the highway’s popularity! Travelers from around the world still retrace the famous highway’s path as the ultimate American roadtrip.

Two different varieties of Route 66 sign were in use in the 1950s and 1960s. With the introduction of the Interstate System, a new, more legible US route marker was needed for use on high-speed roads. A suitable style was invented by the state of California in 1957, and then picked up by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) and distributed to the other states. This style features a shield-shaped cutout blank, with the letters “US” at the top and large bold digits underneath. Many states used this design in its heyday, especially Colorado and Missouri. In 1961, the federal government came out with a new Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), that placed the shield silhouette on an easier-to-fabricate black square blank. Forty-seven states now use a modern variation of this 1961 square style, but California still continues to make and install the 1957 cutout markers to the present day.

We offer both the 1957 cutout and 1961 black square styles of US Route 66 sign for your enjoyment in the modern day. We’ve followed the actual specifications that were then in use to create a sign just like the ones used in the early days of the Interstate System. Accept no imitations that feature the wrong fonts, layouts, and who knows what other embarrassing imperfections—our Route 66 signs are of the highest quality and are as historically accurate as you can get, without dropping hundreds or thousands of dollars on an original!

Our Route 66 signs are flat printed in the United States on 14-gauge steel. They are non-reflective, with an attractive high-gloss coating that will protect them from the elements for years. Choose from the following sizes:

• 12 in. × 12 in. (for those wanting an excellent display piece on a size or cost budget)
• 16 in. × 16 in.
• 24 in. × 24 in. (the size used most frequently on surface-level streets and highways)
• 36 in. × 36 in. (as seen on particularly high-speed roads or where extra emphasis is needed)

We can make signs of these design for any US highway, anywhere in the country, from 1 to 730! And of course we can also make just about any route marker, directional sign, or welcome sign from bygone eras too. Looking for something you can’t find on our website? Just place a custom order—contact Jake today to get started!