- This event has passed.
Get Your Architectural Kitsch on Route 66
January 24 @ 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
$15
Called the Mother Road, U.S. Highway 66 has been a fixture in American history since its inception in 1926. Join us for a trip along the highway – known simply as Route 66 – as we look at the best examples of what has been called Roadside Architecture: the visual reflections of the American regions the road crisscrossed.
Route 66 was an exploration trail to America’s west, became a migration trail from the Dust Bowl to California, a military transport road during World War II, and later reverted to a tourism trek. Typically, the vernacular architecture along the way was suited for its purpose as gas stations, eateries or souvenir shops, all new building types in the 1930s. Over the years, the architectural styles illustrated what many would call “kitsch,” defined as cheaply made, disposable, accidental or even tacky. Have some fun, get your kicks – and kitsch – on Route 66.
Presenter: Ellen Shubart
A lifelong Chicagoan, CAC docent Ellen Shubart spent more than two decades as a journalist, taught at the college level and ended her career as an advocate for sustainable city planning. A historian by training, with advanced degrees in U.S. History and Historic Preservation, she has written four books all with an emphasis on the history of the City of Chicago: What’s With Chicago?, Images of America: Glencoe, Illinois, Taylor Street, Chicago’s Little Italy and most recently, Chicago: An Illustrated Timeline.