Bobby Troup:“( Get Your Kicks on) Route 66”
No song is as emblematic of American road travel as“( Get Your Kicks on) Route 66.” Not only do the lyrics take listeners on an aural road trip along the Mother Road; the story of the song’ s creation is a direct representation of what Route 66 became in the American imagination.
Actor, singer, and songwriter Bobby Troup composed the song while traveling with his wife from Pennsylvania to California in 1946, chasing his dream of becoming a songwriter in Hollywood. He wrote the song during the drive and finished it once they arrived in California, where he referenced a map to include the cities and towns they passed on the way.
Nat King Cole recorded the song in 1946 with the King Cole Trio, and the rest is history. The song has been covered and recorded by too many artists to list here. While“( Get Your Kicks on) Route 66” was Troup’ s most widely known accomplishment, he didn’ t rest on his laurels. He continued working in Los Angeles as a songwriter and an actor, appearing in numerous shows and films.
Bobby Troup’ s journey to California and the song it inspired symbolize the promise of Route 66: Travel west, and your dreams can become your reality.
Angel Delgadillo: The Guardian Angel of Route 66
Angel Delgadillo, a humble barber in small- town Arizona, played an outsized role in saving one of America’ s most iconic highways from fading into history.
Born in 1927 in Seligman, Arizona, Delgadillo grew up along U. S. Route 66 during its heyday, when the road was a lifeline for cross- country travelers, migrants, and small towns built around roadside commerce. After studying barbering in California, he returned home in 1950 to run his father’ s barbershop on Route 66, serving locals and travelers who passed through the small desert town.( Angel’ s brother, Juan, established Delgadillo’ s Snow Cap Drive- In in Seligman in 1953, and it remains one of the most iconic eateries on Route 66.)
Everything changed in 1978 when Interstate 40 bypassed Seligman. Almost overnight, traffic on Route 66 disappeared, and businesses that depended on travelers began to collapse. Delgadillo described it as a moment when the town was“ forgotten,” with the once- busy highway falling silent.
Rather than watch his community fade, Delgadillo became an unlikely preservationist. Along with local business owners, he helped form the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona in 1987. The goal was to convince the state to recognize and promote the remaining stretches of the old highway as historic, bringing travelers back through signage, storytelling, and tourism. It was the first official state- based Route 66 preservation organization.
His efforts worked. Arizona officially designated its portion of Route 66 as a historic highway, and similar preservation movements soon spread across all eight Route 66 states. A road abandoned by the modern interstate system began to experience a cultural revival. Seligman, once nearly a ghost town, slowly transformed into a must- stop destination for Route 66 road trippers.
Over time, Delgadillo himself became part of the attraction. His barbershop, later evolving into a Route 66- themed gift shop, turned into a gathering place for travelers from around the world who wanted to meet the man behind the revival. He greeted visitors, told stories of the road’ s golden era, and embodied the nostalgia and spirit of the“ Mother Road.”
Now in his late 90s, Angel Delgadillo is fully retired from cutting hair but remains closely connected to the road he helped preserve.
While he no longer leads preservation efforts, he still occasionally visits his former barbershop and meets travelers who come from around the world to hear his story. His family continues to operate the shop, keeping it a living landmark for road trippers, and Delgadillo himself remains a symbolic figure of Route 66’ s revival.
50 / AUGUST 2026 / RIDERMAGAZINE. COM