Monthly Archives: September 2026

Lincoln Highway Driving Forces in Massillon, Ohio

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I think I was aware of the “Driving Forces: The Lincoln Highway Journey” exhibit at the Massillon Museum before I headed to the Lincoln Highway Association 2026 Conference in York, PA, but I’m not certain. I was definitely aware of it when the conference ended, and I considered ways to include a stop in Massillon on my way home. That didn’t work out, but the museum lingered in the back of my mind until the weather and my schedule aligned for a visit on Tuesday.

I didn’t realize when I took the picture that the big neon sign I parked beneath was newer than the exhibit I came to see. An opening reception kicked off “Driving Forces” on May 30. The brand-new 30-foot sign was hung on the building around June 6. A wall-mounted plaque provides more information about the building.

The exhibit begins with several items travelers might take with them on a trip along the Lincoln Highway or any other highway of the era. Missing the official existence of the Lincoln Highway by a few years, The Negro Motorist Green Book was published from 1936 through 1966. The rather thin document on the table is a reproduction of the 1940 edition. It would grow over the years.

Some wonderful artifacts from businesses that once operated on the Lincoln Highway in Massillon are on display. John Margolies took the two photographs in 1988. Is it possible that Massillon had the very first no-tell motel?

Wall-mounted signs identified several driving forces, such as the Good Roads Movement, that contributed to the Lincoln Highway journey. Of course, the original Lincoln Highway Association was top of list and the three men pictured here were top driving forces within that association.

The museum’s lower level contains a gallery filled with work by local artists. The exhibit, titled “Creativity Within Community”, is organized by the Massillon Community Arts Council.

The upper level contains several galleries devoted to what I’ll call general local history as well as two dedicated to specific local icons. From the general galleries, I’ve included a 1908 Jewel automobile built in Massillon and some glass canes Massillon Glass Works employees made from leftovers around 1900.

I found the gallery with Dr. Immel’s hand-carved miniature circus and related artifacts particularly interesting. I suppose my interest might have been boosted just a bit by my recent exposure to full-sized sideshows. The cane on the wall makes a lot more sense with a little background.

Not surprisingly, football legend Paul Brown has his own gallery in the town where he began his climb to fame by coaching the Massillon High School Tigers.

All in all, this is a very impressive museum that I enjoyed way beyond the Lincoln Highway exhibit that drew me here. That Lincoln Highway exhibit runs through October 8.

WTC and Me (Repeat)

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On this 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, I am repeating a post from the 20th anniversary, which was little more than a link to a webpage prompted by the 1st anniversary. Neither these blog posts nor the webpage they reference are all that significant, but remembering the events behind them is extremely important. It is also important to remember the nation’s complete unity in the days following the attacks. The memory of that unity is a large part of what gives me hope today. Let’s do that again.

Nineteen years ago, on the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks that killed so many innocent people in New York City, at the Pentagon, and in a Pennsylvania field, I posted some of my related memories on this site. A standalone web page was used as this blog did not yet exist. The page was accessible for many years through a link on this site’s home page. That link was eventually removed during a site layout change. However, the page itself remained in place for some time even though there was no way to access it other than entering its URL. Early this year, when the site was moved to its current host, the page was among those not making the move, so that even a direct URL became useless. Today, on the twentieth anniversary of those attacks, I have restored the page and am providing access to it here and through the image above, even though the page continues to be much more personally therapeutic than generally informative.

Three Nights at the Museum

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The American Sign Museum often hosts presentations and other events associated with temporary exhibits. The Freaks and Sideshows exhibit that opened near the end of July spawned three such presentations on three consecutive Thursday evenings. Each was available for remote viewing via Zoom, but I attended all three in person. The three presentations wrapped up this week. Freaks and Sideshows runs through October 4.

Freaks and Sideshows features sideshow banners from Dave Waller’s collection, and Waller gave the first of the three presentations on August 20. “Collector Talk: David Waller” was, of course, similar to Waller’s 2022 presentation, but there were differences. One example is that at the earlier talk, Waller told of meeting the niece of Johann Petursson, the Viking Giant, and giving her the Viking Giant’s souvenir ring he had acquired. The rings are not extremely rare, and Waller has since replaced his gift with two other rings which he circulated through the audience. This led to an impromptu three circus rings circus when one of the attendees pulled his own Viking Giant ring from his pocket.

The idea of human freaks as elements of sideshows has long been a controversial one. There is no doubt that some people with physical abnormalities have been taken advantage of and exploited by promoters, but it is also true that for others, sideshows provided both income and community at a time when the general society offered little of either. While not denying the existence of exploitation, Jason Harris’ “Behind the Curtain: The Tales and Lives of Sideshow Performers” focused primarily on the positive aspects of the relationships. Underlying the individual stories were observations of how the pure curiosity that fueled mid-19th-century audiences faded as science explained conditions once considered complete mysteries.

The third presentation wasn’t as tightly coupled with the banners as the first two, but it clearly aligned with the spirit of those banners. As expected, “Full Circle: The Golden Era, Decline, and Renaissance of the American Carousel” contained plenty of history, but it delivered a whole lot more. Presenter Danielle Bennignus is not only a passionate historian but an eager hands-on preservationist. She was accompanied by a pair of carved horses she owns. The last part of her presentation included several in-process photos of her restoration of Little Boy, so named because he fit in the back seat of her car for the drive home. His companion probably has a name too, but I missed it. The presentation was indeed focused on “the American Carousel”, although the wide-angle shot I’ve included is of a carousel in Paris, France, which Bennignus and her husband visited not long ago.

This last picture really has nothing to do with any of the presentations beyond my seeing the little truck for the first time when I arrived for the first of them. I snapped the picture on the way to the entrance, and only later learned that it is museum founder Tod Swormstedt’s new ride. The Daihatsu Hijet Deck Van is considerably smaller than what Tod usually drives to haul signs and pull a trailer. It’s a Kei-class vehicle with 1 cargo bed, 2 rows of seats, a 3-cylinder engine, 4-wheel drive, and a 5-speed transmission.

Book Review
Route 66: Faces and Places Along America’s Most Famous Road
Beth Bacon and Jodi Woolsey

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Nearly all the reviews on this blog are organic, meaning they are of things I’ve read, listened to, or attended because I discovered them and chose to review them on my own. This is one of the very few exceptions. The author, Beth Bacon, emailed me and suggested that since my site was about road trips and I did book reviews, I might be interested in reviewing her latest work. Right off the bat, I was impressed that she knew road trips and reviews were involved in the site. Most of the email requests/offers I get seem pretty oblivious to that. Cryptocurrency, miracle medical treatments, and streaming services are popular—the most recent involved ancient coins.

This email was legitimate, and a quick look at some accompanying information made me think the suggested review made sense. But there was one problem. Being a children’s book wasn’t the actual problem, but it was part of it. I’d never reviewed a children’s book, despite coming across a few “organically”. A couple of those were also related to Route 66, and were written by friends. That they were aimed at children was the only reason I’d not reviewed them before. It didn’t feel right to review a book by a complete—but polite and likable—stranger, when I’d not reviewed similar books by people I actually knew. I solved that problem by using the last two Wednesdays to post belated reviews of Emily Priddy’s Route 66 for Kids 2026 and Anne Slanina’s Annie Mouse’s Route 66 Adventure. Apologies, ladies. I hope you believe that late is at least a little better than never.

Beth Bacon has all the right credentials. There’s an MFA degree in Writing for Children and Young Adults, a string of books for kids, and a bunch of awards for them that include a couple each from Mom’s Choice and Chanticleer Little Peeps. She has illustrated some of those books herself and worked with various artists on others. As far as I know, this is her first time working with Jodi Woolsey, but it is hardly Woolsey’s first time working with authors. She teaches art at the college level and runs her own freelance studio. Her illustrations tell much of this book’s story and do an excellent job framing the names and other details in Bacon’s words.

Those names, and the places too, seem carefully chosen. A road that’s 100 years old and nearly 2,500 miles long certainly has plenty of both. It’s easy enough for adults to be swamped and even easier, I imagine, for the 5-10 year olds that are the book’s target readers. Bacon picks subjects likely to interest the 5-10 crowd and doesn’t overwhelm by trying to include everything. The book opens with a few bits of information about the entire road and about Cyrus Avery, who was instrumental in establishing it. That’s followed by one- and two-page sections on each of the route’s eight states. One of the names appearing for Illinois is Bob Waldmire, who traveled the route in a Volkswagen bus. Missouri’s pages include Alberta Ellis, who operated a hotel and other businesses where people of color were welcome at a time when that was often not the case. This brief, casual mention of the topic earns a bonus point from me. The Blue Whale of Catoosa, Oklahoma, is an obvious kid-friendly subject, and Bacon introduces its creator, Hugh Davis, and his wife, Zelta, to her readers. Bacon also identifies more key names and places for these three states, along with a handful for each of the other five. A personal favorite is Bacon’s mention that Snoopy’s brother Spike lives near the Route 66 town of Needles, California.

I have a hunch that recognizing the publisher had a little bit to do with me wanting to review this book. The list of Reedy Press authors contains quite a few familiar names. Two of my recent reviews (Aprons Away and Route 66: The First 100 Years) were of Reedy Press publications, which left me impressed with their product. And they’re just a couple of miles off Route 66. 

Route 66: Faces and Places Along America’s Most Famous Road, Beth Bacon (author) and Jodi Woolsey (illustrator), Reedy Press (August 15, 2026), 11 x 9 inches, 32 pages, ISBN 978-1681066776
Available through Amazon.