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Vol. 3 - Issue 1, Wednesday, January 23, 2008
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Gasoline Alley without the Gas
By Jim Winnerman |
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| | A long line of vintage gasoline sinage adorns the perimeter of Bob Mullen’s property in Ciba, MO. |
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Cuba, MO -- At the top of a gently sloping hill off Route 66 and just south of Cuba, Missouri, several high pole signs topped with different gasoline brand logos stand clustered together. They are in clear view of I-44, and several motorists have taken the next exit to find the service stations represented to buy gasoline.
Passersby with a keen eye, however, recognize the signs advertise brands of fuel no longer in existence, or that they display an emblem long abandoned in favor of more modern graphics.
A time-warp forest of signs for brands like Gulf, Champlin and Conoco gasoline are part of the unique private collection of Bob Mullen. He is a Cuba businessman with a penchant for accumulating and displaying old outdoor advertising, the type once seen along 66. His unusual hobby covers the outside walls and insides of two barns, plus a large room addition to his home. Trailers on Mullen’s property contain hundreds of items he has no place to display.
Mullen acknowledges his interest in gasoline advertising may have origins to his childhood on a nearby farm that had a view of historic Route 66. “I can still remember watching the old Campbell 66 Express trucks with their ‘Humpin’ to Please’ camels and ‘Route 66’ logos on their sides going up and down the highway,” he recalls as he looks at an old maroon and black Phillips 66 sign. Another memory is of a large tin ice cream cone sign that was on the porch of a favorite restaurant in Cuba where Mullen spent many evenings.
But it was a different type of collection that was responsible for Mullen’s purchase of the farm where his proliferation of signs is on display. Eleven years ago he stopped to buy pumpkins and noticed the owner had miniature horses for sale. “The next thing I knew I went home with four I could not live without,” he recalls. Revealing a propensity to quickly acquire what he likes, Mullen adds, “In a few months I owned 15 horses, plus chickens and turkeys.”
At the time Mullen was living inside the Cuba city limits. When he realized he was “running a farm in town,” he began to worry about the odor from his animals, so he purchased land outside town where he now lives. With more acreage, he started buying and displaying old advertising signs.
Coincidentally, the entrance to his farm is off old Route 66. It is also in view of where he grew up and could see Route 66 highway traffic.
Although it is Mullen’s tall signs that attract attention, visitors to Mullen’s home find they are a just a part of his world of collections. Pulling into his driveway, a small barnyard of animal pens is evidence that he is still acquiring unusual animals. Now included are emus (he bought 17 because they were “cheap and ugly”), exotic deer, long horn cattle and miniature donkeys.
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t is also apparent from his front yard that his interest has expanded to antique gasoline pumps. “When I saw my first gas pump, it ‘bit’ me,” he says. Now 60 pumps, once dispensing brands of gasoline such as Hudson, Skelly, Texaco Diesel Chief, Gilmore and Signal, line the barnyard fence. The oldest is a Mobilgas Special pump from 1904.
The real surprise, however, is what is inside each of his two barns. Displayed along with more signs and pumps are collections of hundreds of neon clocks, thousands of antique advertising thermometer signs and over a hundred antique ice chests.
Mullen also has more than 5,000 miniature Die Cast metal cars and trucks. Each is a replica of a model from the 1940s and ‘50s when Route 66 was most heavily traveled.
As Mullen’s collections grew, he decided the entire accumulation was large enough to be given a name of its own. About six years ago, after seeing a sign that read “Gasoline Alley,” he began to refer to his acquisitions as “Bob’s Gasoline Alley.”
Remarkably, Mullen has assembled his collections in only eleven years. Every item is neatly displayed and dusted as if each piece had just been purchased and cleaned. Anything electric has been rewired and lights up or runs if it is a clock. “I won’t display anything unless it works,” he says. Even the tall pole signs visible from I-44 are all lit at night. “It looks like a small city,” he says.
Meanwhile, Mullen continues to collect. Recently he took a trip to the southwest, and came back with his truck loaded with new acquisitions. He could have bought more, but did not have the room. “I won’t make that mistake again,” he says. “I just bought a 16 foot enclosed trailer.”
The question most frequently asked Mullen is if he has plans to turn his hobby into a museum. “My business is in town,” he repeats several times during an interview. He is referring to ABC Investments in Cuba, which is also a collection of sorts. Under one roof he operates a used car lot, a furniture store and businesses selling farm tractors and utility trailers.
Rightfully proud of what he has accumulated, Mullen will enthusiastically escort visitors on a tour if they call and make an appointment.
Every April the Missouri chapter of the Route 66 Association meets on his property, and vintage car clubs use the collection as a meeting place throughout the year. “They enjoy it and I love seeing the beautiful cars lined up on my grass.” Recently, he hosted several busloads of folks from a nearby assisted living center.
Mullen knows he is indebted to his wife Darlene, who puts up with his collections. “She dusts everything and ensures each piece is straight,” he says, adding that many refer to her as “a saint.” As recognition for her help, he had a sign painter add “Darlene’s Diner” onto the first large sign someone sees when they come to his home.
To respect Mullen’s privacy, directions to his house, which can be hard to find off Route 66, have not been published. However, he does stand ready to welcome visitors who call first. To arrange a visit to Gasoline Alley, contact Bob Mullen at 573-885-3637.
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