Breakdown in Shamrock, Texas

A re-post from a few years past. Not meaning to boast, but I consider this composite artwork my best.........or in any case, my favorite. I made a few subtle edits which I feel did make some improvements and decided to "bring this out of the past and into the present" (by changing the Uploaded date). I am not expecting or soliciting any new comments. Primarily I did what I did for myself........while I am still reasonably well in body and mind. Life is short......I have another flickr friend facing very serious health issues and I am very concerned.

 

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Driving along U.S. Route 66 approaching Shamrock, James Dean noticed smoke trailing out from under the hood of his 1939 Ford. Glancing down at the temperature gauge, Dean saw that the needle on the temperature gauge was showing dangerously close to the red mark. Just what I need, thought Dean, frustrated. Dean knew he needed to find a service station quick. Luckily he spotted a brightly colored Conoco station over to his left - the Tower CONOCO station and the U-Drop Inn & Cafe. Best pull in here and get some water in this troublesome radiator, he groaned. While wait'in for my car to be serviced I can grab a bite to eat at the U-Drop Inn, he concluded.

 

Some might remember this 39’ Ford from another scene I posted awhile back. A sharp little convertible that by all standards, a good running car, but it has suffered from a pesky radiator - especially when being driven a distance on particularly hot days and believe me, it was a particularly hot steamy day in Shamrock, Texas this day. Remember this misadventure involving this car? - HOT

 

 

James Dean

Most people will remember the incomparable James Dean but just in case, here is a short bio about the man who became something of an icon in the short period of his life. I know he had a big influence in my youth. Dean was the embodiment of the feelings swirling around within many young people in the late fifties and early sixties. To the young girls Dean was a “heart-throb”, the “Rebel Without A Cause” that appealed to many young girls at the time………and not to mention, a “cute guy”, reckless yet sensitive. To young teenage boys, he was the “cool” anti-conformist, anti-establishment good looking guy, who despite his cocky and seemingly self assured manner, was a confused guy who appeared to carry a deep sense of looniness and sadness in his soul. Dean did not have a “tough guy” persona as Marlon Brando. James Dean was……..well he was James Dean and there will never be another James Dean.

 

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James Dean was born February 8, 1931, in Marion, Indiana, to Winton and Mildred Dean. His father, a dental technician, moved the family to Los Angeles when Jimmy was five. He returned to the Midwest after his mother passed away and was raised by his aunt and uncle on their Indiana farm. After graduating from high school, he returned to California where he attended Santa Monica Junior College and UCLA. James Dean began acting with James Whitmore’s acting workshop, appeared in occasional television commercials, and played several roles in films and on stage. In the winter of 1951, he took Whitmore’s advice and moved to New York to pursue a serious acting career. At one point if his early acting career Dean reached out to the actor Marlin Brando who summarily rebuffed him. (Brando was an ass hole). Dean did appear in seven television shows, in addition to earning his living as a busboy in the theater district, before he won a small part in a Broadway play entitled “See the Jaguar.”

 

.............and oh yes, the image of James Dean was a B&W picture which I colored digitally.

 

If inclined, you might wish to learn a few more things about James Dean. 10 Things You May Not Know About James Dean

 

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Tower Station and U-Drop Inn Café

Shamrock, Texas

 

The Tower Station and U-Drop Inn Café is located along historic Route 66 in Shamrock. Built in 1936 by J. M. Tindall and R. C. Lewis at the cost of $23,000, this gem of a building got its start in the dust when John Nunn drew his idea for the station on the ground with an old nail. Plans were later given to architect Joseph Berry who set the final wheels in motion. With its Art Deco detailing and two towers, the building was designed and constructed to be three separate structures. The first was the

Tower Conoco Station, named for the dominating four-sided obelisk rising from the flat roof and topped by a metal tulip. The second was the U-Drop Inn Café, which got its name from a local schoolboy's winning entry in a naming contest. The third structure was supposed to be a retail store that instead became an overflow seating area for the café. The Tower Station was the first commercial business located on the newly designated Route 66 in Shamrock, and is one of the most imposing and architecturally creative buildings along the length of the road.

tower_station

 

Until about the late 1970s, the Tower Station and U-Drop Inn Café was light brick with green glazed tiles. Now refurbished with light pink concrete highlighted by green paint, it still looks much the same as it did during the heyday of the Mother Road. The towering spire above the service station still spells out C-O-N-O-C-O, a reminder of the booming business that the Tower Station and U-Drop Inn Café once saw.

 

 

I do hope ya’all enjoy. I put a bit of my heart and soul into this artwork.

Done