The Era of World War II

The Era of World War II. Route 66 Tulsa. When the United States entered World War II, Route 66 was a strategic transportation corridor that avoided the mountains and colder climates of the north. The Chicago-to-Los Angeles paved highway created a reliable means for transporting raw materials and parts between factories in the east and military bases in the west., At this intersection on the southeast corner, Benjamin Franklin School had been completed in 1927. During the war, children brought scrap metal to the playground where it was collected for use by the military's war efforts. Children received war bond stamps for the weight of the metal they donated. The stamps were then redeemed for a $25 war bond - a significant sum of money during that time., The rail line east of the intersection not only carried soldiers, but also prisoners of war. Children often stood along the tracks asking soldiers for chocolate or military souvenirs. Butter was rare during the war. One small boy reportedly asking for butter form the soldier cook as a train rolled slowly by. As the story goes, the soldier threw a block of butter onto the tracks. The boys took it quickly to his mother, who used it for a treat on some homemade bread., When the war ended, families began prospering, traveling more for leisure and new job opportunities. Route 66 became the romantic highway of travel, leisure and an emerging middle-class lifestyle that created its own iconic era - the 1950s.