The U.S. Postal Service on Tuesday released eight stamps to mark Route 66’s centennial, using a set of photographs collected by longtime road traveler David J. Schwartz. The stamps, intended to honor the “Mother Road” as it crosses the country, each highlight a state along the route as it passes through road-trip destinations that range from diners and gas stations to preserved roadside motels.
Schwartz, who was selected to help create the stamp images, said he has made 42 trips along Route 66 over two decades. He told AP that, as he sees it, Route 66 represents a stretch of 20th-century America tied to the road’s debut in 1926 and later decommissioning in 1985, even as large portions remain in use for tourists and road-trippers.
USPS art director Greg Breeding described how the project came together, saying he was working on a graphic showing a map of the route when he discovered Schwartz’s photographs. Breeding said he was drawn to the images because they look like the viewer was “there,” and he said that quality makes them useful for stamps.
For the design format, USPS said the plate contains 16 stamps, with two stamps of each state-representing design. The stamp sheet also includes a ninth photo used as selvage, or the image surrounding the stamp block, depicting an empty stretch of Arizona highway that Schwartz shot in 2023 near Seligman, Arizona, during a trip he described as years in the making.
Schwartz said his idea for Route 66 stamps dates back about a decade, after he returned to school to study photography following work in retail management. He recalled that he was tapped for the project in 2023, and he said he thought, “Here is my moment to bring Route 66 to the masses.”
In explaining the stamp imagery, Breeding said the USPS team aimed to steer clear of Route 66’s “most popular spots,” in part because of permission challenges and because they wanted a “fresh look.” He said the stamp blocks are devoid of people, and he described the intention as capturing both continuing roadside commerce and relics that hint at the highway’s past.
Among the examples described in the rollout, the stamps include imagery such as the Conoco Tower Station and U-Drop Inn in Shamrock, Texas, an Art Deco site that Breeding said comes alive at dusk with its neon-adorned lights. In Yucca, Arizona, Schwartz photographed a dilapidated “Motel” sign in bright noonday sun, and he characterized it as showing desert desolation while also conveying “the enduring pulse of the open road.”
Schwartz also pointed to an Illinois choice that features his friend’s 1929 Model A Ford on a remaining segment of Route 66 made of hand-laid brick just south of Springfield in Auburn. He said the overall goal was to create an image that would make viewers feel like they were there for the road’s “birth,” and Breeding said the stamp set is meant to be colorful, quirky, and reflective of the highway’s age.
Schwartz said he was amazed that stamp images based on his work will be distributed nationwide and end up in people’s mailboxes, adding that he hopes the stamps inspire travelers to get out and drive Route 66 while supporting “Mom and Pop” businesses.