A 1964 map illustrating Route 66, the ‘main street of America’ Photograph: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/Alamy Share

Square Deal Garage and Cafe on Route 66, Winslow, Arizona, 1928 Photograph: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/Alamy Share

Highway 66 through Waynesville, Missouri, 1931 Photograph: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/Alamy Share

A woman poses by a cactus opposite a service station on Route 66 in Arizona, circa 1939 Photograph: Jim Heimann Collection/Getty Images Share

A stretch of Route 66 in New Mexico, circa 1940 Photograph: FPG/Archive Photos/Getty Images Share

Main Street on 66, Baxter Springs, Kansas, 1946 Photograph: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/Alamy Share

Royce Cafe diner in Edmond, Oklahoma, 1949 Photograph: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/Alamy Share

Route 66, west of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1951 Photograph: Heritage Image Partnership Ltd/Alamy Share

Cars and people pass police headquarters along Route 66 during the Democratic national convention in Chicago, Illinois, August 1968.…