Coffee With Jim

A Fad That Should Not Be Missed

For a few visionary geniuses in the late 19th century the automobile was not a laughing matter, it was the future. In an interview published in Scientific American on May 21, 1892, Ransom E. Olds was quoted as saying about the automobile that, “…it never kicks or bite, never tires on long runs, and never sweats in hot weather. It does not require care in the stable and only eats while on the road.”
By 1900 automobile mania was sweeping Wall Street and the world of high finance. It was an industrial gold rush that led owners of established and profitable businesses to abandon everything in the quest to become an automotive tycoon. It also fueled a new breed of unscrupulous hucksters and unleashed the imagination of countless dreamers.
Today's program is sponsored in part by the magical roadside gem that is the Roadrunner Lodge in Tucumcari, New Mexico. This charming roadside oasis is a near perfect time capsule circa 1964 wrapped in modern amenities. Make your reservation today at roadrunnerlodge.com.

A Light In The Darkness

"Against this backdrop of prejudice Victor H Green saw an opportunity, and a need. In the early 19330s Green was employed as a postal carrier in Harlem and as a service for friends collected information on hotels, restaurants, and other businesses in the New York City area that accepted or catered to African Americans. In 1936 he published this information in a small pamphlet entitled The Negro Motorist Green Book.
It proved so popular that for the 1937 edition he expanded coverage to include businesses throughout the United States. In the introduction, Green wrote, “There will be a day sometime in the future when this guide will not have to be published. That is when we as a race will have equal rights and privileges in the United States.”

When Mobs Ruled The Streets

In the 1920s Tulsa was a modern, growing community. It was also a city with a bloody history, a city that served as a spawning ground for some of the most vicious criminal gangs in the United States. And as with many American communities in this era it was a simmering cauldron of prejudices that was one spark away from exploding.
Near midnight on August 28, 1920, masked men barged into the Tulsa County Courthouse and held Sheriff James Woolley and his deputies at gunpoint while removing prisoner Roy Belton, aka Tom Owens, from the jail. The crowd outside the courthouse grew in number as the vigilantes drove Belton to a rural location on Southwest Boulevard—Route 66 after 1926—and hanged him from a billboard.
In this episode of 5 Minutes With Jim, we share the story of one of the most violent racial incidents in American history. 
 

Meet Marcho Polo of The Motor Age

He was a legend. His exploits in mapping automobile roads in the west and southwest were nothing short of extraordinary. He was also a promoter and chronicled his adventures with articles, presentations and even motion pictures. And he helped lay the foundation for what would become an American icon; Route 66. He was A L Westgard. 
On this episode of 5 Minutes With Jim we meet daring pioneers and take a road trip through time. 
5 Minutes With Jim is sponsored in part by the City of Cuba, Grand Canyon Caverns & Inn and support our crowdfunding initiative on the Patreon platform. 

Birth of The Road Trip

"The best commentary on the road between Santa Fe and Albuquerque is that it took us less than three hours to make the sixty-six miles, whereas the seventy-three miles from Las Vegas to Santa Fe took us nearly six." Emily Post, By Motor to The Golden Gate, 1916. 
The National Old Trails Highway became the gateway to the wonders of the southwest. In 1915 more than 20,000 people arrived at the Panama Pacific Exposition by automobile from outside the state of California. Many of these folk, including Edsel Ford had followed the National Old Trails Road. 
The story of the roads creation, development, and evolution is a tale of politics, of changing times, and of epic road trips. 

Birth of The Road Trip

Before the Lincoln Highway, Dixie Highway and National Old Trails Road there was a national obsession with the bicycle.This was the dawning of the great American road trip and the good roads movement.
It was the dawning of a new era. AAA was formed in Chicago, automobile manufacturers were funding road development, visionaries were competing to build a coast to coast highway, and there was a looming political battle over the creation of a US highway system. 
Today's program is sponsored in part through the magic of crowdfunding on the Patroen platform. 
 

Skimmer of The Plains

He was a dreamer and adventurer. He transformed travel in the desert southwest. His exploits were the stuff of legend. Route 66 in the southwest was built on his work. He was Francois Xavier Aubry, the Skimmer of the Plains. 
In this episode of Five Minutes With Jim, sponsored in part by Grand Canyon Caverns and the magic of crowdfunding, we introduce you to a colorful adventurer, an explorer that has been largely forgotten even though valley's, mountains and streams along the Route 66 corridor carry his name.  

Welcome to Cuba!

On this weeks episode of Five Minutes With Jim, we visit delightful magical, wonderful Cuba, Missouri. And we meet Terry West, the dreamer who has very big plans for not one but two century old railroad hotels. 
This weeks program is sponsored by our City of Cuba and Grand Canyon Caverns, and supporters of our crowdfunding initiative on the Patreon platform.