Angel Delgadillo

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Angel Delgadillo (born April 19, 1927 in Seligman Arizona ) is an American hairdresser and businessman who gained worldwide fame for his commitment to the preservation of the historic Route 66 and as one of the initiators and co-founders of the Route 66 Association .

Life

Angel Delgadillo in his old Seligman hair salon

Angel Delgadillo was born in Seligman, Arizona, a small town on Route 66. In his childhood he saw hundreds of thousands of farmers from Oklahoma and Arkansas who were in debt due to the " Great Depression " and the drought years , and via Route 66 moved to California . In the world famous novel The Fruits of Wrath by John Steinbeck , this story was thematized in 1939 and later filmed with Henry Fonda .

When an important section of Interstate Highway 40 was opened on September 22, 1978 , this suddenly led to the fact that the tourists bypassed the small town of Seligman extensively. Like many other places on Route 66, Seligman was cut off overnight from through traffic on this important east-west link. For most of the towns along Route 66 with their motels, restaurants, and gas stations, however, people passing through were the main economic factor. Many places fell into disrepair.

Delgadillo and some like-minded people did not want to accept that their place should also become a ghost town. For years they fought for Route 66 to be recognized and protected as a "State Historic Route" by the state of Arizona, until it was actually successful in 1987.

At the same time, the wave of nostalgia for the old Route 66 as America's “mother road” was triggered, and the small town of Seligman became the focus of worldwide interest. One of the best-preserved and particularly picturesque sections of the old road begins here and leads west to Kingman , over the winding Sitgreaves Pass on to Oatman and to the Colorado bank at Topock.

Seligman is also home to the original fast-food restaurant Delgadillo's Snow Cap Drive-In, which was opened by Angel Delgadillo's brother Juan in 1953 and has since achieved cult status . Until his death on June 2, 2004, he entertained his guests with original sayings and funny jokes.

Angel Delgadillo ran the local hairdressing salon next door for decades, which has become a meeting place for Route 66 enthusiasts from all over the world and today mainly serves as a souvenir shop and focal point for tourists, who have the small hairdressing shop with thousands of small souvenirs such as business cards, banknotes, Have decorated postcards and license plates from around the world.

The old hairdresser Angel Delgadillo, who is now revered as the "Guardian Angel of Route 66" or the "Father of Mother Road" , has been featured in numerous articles, books and documentaries on Route 66.

In interviews, filmmaker John Lasseter revealed that the fictional location Radiator Springs in his Oscar-nominated Pixar animated film Cars is primarily based on Seligman. While researching Route 66, he had consulted with the old hairdresser Angel, who told him about what it was like when Seligman was cut off from traffic overnight and the town's revenue ceased.

literature

  • Michael Wallis: Route 66: The Mother Road, Griffin (2008) ISBN 0312281617
  • Holger Hoetzel: Route 66: Straße der Sehnsucht , Ullstein; (1992) ISBN 3550065582
  • Tom Snyder: Route 66: Traveler's Guide and Roadside Companion Griffin (2000) ISBN 0312254172
  • Armin E. Möller: A small village trumps - USA. A hairdresser saved Seligman from the past on the legendary Route 66 in Arizona - a woman from Wiesbaden bakes German cakes there, a man from Mainz runs a lodge in: ReiseJournal. The travel magazine of the Rhein Main Presse from March 21, 2015

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ [1] spiegel.de about Angel Delgadillo
  2. ^ Internet Movie Database. The inspiration for 'Cars . (2006) , Angel Delgadillo and John Lasseter.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Delgadillo, Angel
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American barber and businessman
DATE OF BIRTH April 19, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Seligman Arizona