Highway 66 was created under the Federal Road Act of 1921. Its "birthday" is on April 20, 1926. This was the day they officially released the plans of its creation. It was suggest my Cyrus Avery, who gave the route the name "Main Street of America." Its intentions at first were to allow Americans to move west into California for reasons much more pleasurable than those of
Grapes of Wrath. Regardless of the perversion the highway underwent, it still was an admirable sight, stretching 2448 miles from Chicago, Illinois to Los Angeles, California.
The road was initially primarily dirt and gravel. It was not completely paved until 1938. The road gave a location for many businesses that would otherwise not exist. Lucille Hamons owned such a business. He operated a gas station and tourist court that was supported by the customers who drove down the road. Such a trend was reason for the government to create a long highway: an increase in jobs.
It was named "The People's Highway" because of the crowd it attracted. The large amount of lower class members travelling west for jobs allows the highway to become paired with these people. These people are often referred to as the "people" because they are the ones who toil endlessly and are still manipulated by the "machine."
The road was extremely important to the Joads and all other migrants. The route allowed these people to have hope. Without a straight path to California, such a migration would have been impossible. Giving a means to their goals gave way to much migration. This aspect of the road, enabling farmers to survive when they had been kicked off their land, is an very American aspect of this road. American, for many generations, had been the mother to farmers, providing their families with food and shelter. Unfortunately, with the introduction of big business, small farmers became obsolete. The small essence of what America used to be remained in route 66. This highway allowed these impoverished farmers to believe that this country would continue to support them. This gave way to the nickname of the "Mother Road," which came from Steinbeck himself! Additional evidence for this sentiment was the fact that the road was dirt and gravel, allowing farmers to still feel connected to the land, even when on a giant slab of artificial road.
Look at these rich fat cats! These are the people that kicked the Joads off their land! Look at how well they are doing. How can such a group of people travel on the same highway that their victims traveled? What kind of society would allow such a perverse contradiction to occur? Highway 66 also served to highlight the class gap between the extremely wealthy and those Americans who were struggling for the necessities. In many ways Highway 66 was symbolic of America at the time.
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