University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Remember what you truly want to remember: souvenirs, nostalgia and Route 66

(USC Thesis Other)

Remember what you truly want to remember: souvenirs, nostalgia and Route 66

PDF

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content

REMEMBER WHAT YOU TRULY WANT TO REMEMBER:
SOUVENIRS, NOSTALGIA AND ROUTE 66

By
Qing Zhang

A Thesis Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC ROSKI SCHOOL OF ART AND DESIGN
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF FINE ARTS
(DESIGN)

May 2022

Copyright 2022 Qing Zhang

ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to thank my family for always supporting my art and design studies. I also
want to express my appreciation for the help I received from Professor Ewa Wojciak, Professor
Jason Ellenburg and Professor Osvaldo Trujillo during the writing of the thesis, their suggestions
provided me with insight into the research process. Last but not least, I would also like to thank
my friend for his company along the way.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................................. ii
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... iv
ABSTRACT .....................................................................................................................................v
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................1
1.1 Why Route 66 ....................................................................................................................1
1.2 Tom and His Collections ...................................................................................................3
1.3 The War Museum ..............................................................................................................5
CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL AND ACADAMIC BACKGROUND .............................................9
2.1 The Route 66 National Heritage ........................................................................................9
2.2 Memory and Nostalgia ....................................................................................................10
2.3 The Value and Meaning of Souvenirs .............................................................................12
CHAPTER 3: JOURNEY TO THE WEST ...................................................................................14
3.1 The Virtual Space Design ................................................................................................15
3.2 Self-made Souvenirs ........................................................................................................26
CHAPTER 4: SELF REFLECTION .............................................................................................28
BIBILIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................32

iv
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Travel Schedule Break-Down ..........................................................................................2
Figure 2: Tom’s Photo of My Boyfriend and Me at the Front Yard ................................................3
Figure 3: Tom in His Shop with Rufus ............................................................................................4
Figure 4: Tom’s Stain Glass Art ......................................................................................................5
Figure 5: Human Mannequins Exhibition ........................................................................................6
Figure 6: Old Postcard .....................................................................................................................7
Figure 7: Name Tag on the Mannequin ...........................................................................................8
Figure 8: Illustration by Fenghua ...................................................................................................14
Figure 9: Gift Shop Design Process ...............................................................................................15
Figure 10: Plate from Route 66 Gift shop ......................................................................................17
Figure 11: Vehicle Model ..............................................................................................................18
Figure 12: Getting Pulled Over by the Police in Arizona ..............................................................19
Figure 13: Tickets from Route 66 Drive-in Theater ......................................................................19
Figure 14: My Cactus and My Cactus T-shirt ...............................................................................20
Figure 15: The Gemini Giant in Wilmington, Illinois ...................................................................20
Figure 16: Historic Signs in Different States on Route 66 ............................................................21
Figure 17: Sunset at Dwight, Illinois .............................................................................................22
Figure 18: The Neon Light Scene from “Cars” .............................................................................23
Figure 19: Different Types of Art Pieces along Route 66 ............................................................24
Figure 20: Postcard Illustration Process ........................................................................................26
Figure 21: Tom’s Postcard .............................................................................................................27

v
ABSTRACT
I often wonder how memories are shaped. Recently, I travelled Route 66 from Chicago,
Illinois, to Santa Monica, California. I visited place after place and collected many souvenirs
along the way. Looking at the souvenirs now, I recall specific reminiscence from my trip. These
small objects hold different memories and help form my self-identity. My design project creates
a way to properly store and view these souvenirs in order to let them remind me for what I have
experienced during my trip. As a professional designer, not just an average tourist, my work not
only documents the existing souvenir object that I had collected along the trip but also creates
new souvenirs that hold my experiences, and more importantly it functions as a vessel that
preserves my precious memories.

1
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
“To understand what people are and what they might become, one must understand what
goes on between people and things. What things are cherished, and why, should become part of
our knowledge of human beings.”
1

In the summer of 2021, I moved with my boyfriend from West Lafayette, Indiana to Los
Angeles, California by taking Route 66 to drive across the country. The trip went off without a
hitch and provided me with priceless memories, which I would like to preserve. As time passes,
my memories will undoubtedly become distorted. As a result of this, I wanted to find a means to
save as many of my journey memories as possible. I noticed the mementos I had purchased
during my trip just as I was striving to overcome the problem of forgetting. I thought I had found
a solution when I decided to design a project that would help me remember my previous travel
experiences by using souvenirs as a reminder.

1.1 Why Route 66
“The experience of a lifetime”
2

My boyfriend and I took the trip during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the virus
we were too afraid to go to the airport and take an airplane, so we decided to drive. We did not
take the main freeway, but instead, chose to travel the historic Route 66. According to Google
Maps, if we would have chosen to take the main road, the drive would have taken us only thirty-
one hours. However, since we decided to take the "slow road," our trip took us half a month.

1
M. Csikszentmihalyi and E. Rochberg-halton, The Meaning of Things: Domestic Symbols and the Self
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981), 1.
2
Tim Steil and Jim Luning, Route 66 (Osceola, WI: MBI Pub. Co., 2000), 7.

2

Fig. 1. Travel Schedule Break-Down

One may ask why we made such a decision. It began with my boyfriend pointing out that
Route 66 was very famous and iconic in the United States. As international students within the
U.S., we always try our best to travel and to explore this country as much as possible, during the
period of time that we can legally stay here. Besides, Route 66 begins in Chicago and ends in
Santa Monica, which overlaps with our starting location and destination, West Lafayette and Los
Angeles. Last but not least, we had the time and energy for this trip. This reason might sound a
little too simple or too obvious, but it was the most crucial factor for taking this trip. There are so
many people who either have the time but do not have the energy or have the energy but do not

3
have the time to make such a decision. Therefore, I consider us truly lucky to have had the
chance to go on this trip. Consequently, it was the best decision we ever made –– we met some
of the kindest people along the road, tried a lot of fantastic food, visited several idyllic places,
and learned so much about the "mother road" as well as the country.

1.2 Tom and His Collections
We met Tom, a gift shop owner along Route 66 in Illinois, on the first day of our trip.
Maybe it was because Tom was the first person that we met, or perhaps it was because he was
such a charming person and was so good at telling stories—he left the most vivid impression and
memories among all the people that I met along this trip. Tom also turned out to be an extremely
crucial person and provided huge inspiration for my present design work and thesis.

Fig. 2. Tom’s Photo of My Boyfriend and Me at the Front Yard
Tom's place was called a "gift shop" according to Google Maps, yet in fact, it was more a
place that housed Tom's personal collections. Instead of selling anything in the shop, he offers
interesting and sentimental stories about Route 66 and himself to visitors. For example, he told

4
us that he is interested in collecting all Coca-Cola themed things and old archaic toys. I
remember that there were a lot of old game machines in his shop like a slot machine, coin
presser, a soap bubble machine and a talking Gundam. All of them were still functioning
amazingly. Tom showed us an extensive collection—he even played his talking Gundam and
asked us what it said since it was not speaking English. Later, I told him the toy was saying
“attack, vending machines” according to one of my friends who spoke Japanese. Tom had taken
apparent care of these nostalgic machines—which he took great pride in showing us.

Fig. 3. Tom in His Shop with Rufus

Nevertheless, the collection in the shop that I remembered the most were his stained-glass
windows. Since the moment that my boyfriend and I stepped into Tom's shop, our eyes could not
help staring at all the stained window glass that was found everywhere. Those are extremely
delicate and well-made windows. We asked Tom where he acquired his collection of windows.
Surprisingly, he told us that he designed and made all of them, and he planned to keep making
them. We were shocked. We would never think that a more than 6 foot 5-inch-tall older man at

5
his age could run a gift shop and simultaneously make such detailed and fabulous work. He led
us to his office and showed us a round shaped window with portraits of two beautiful feathered
creatures—it was detailed and elegant. He then turned off the lights in his office, and we saw this
piece of window transformed into something that looked completely different. With the office
light off, we were able to see how the window texture interacts with the sunlight: it was
magnificent and stunning. Tom then explained to us that a stained-glass window is most stunning
when the sunlight pass through it. He was completely right.

Fig. 4. Tom’s Stain Glass Art
1.3 The War Museum
I was never into "war stuff" or any war-related content, especially when the war
happened in a foreign country. Despite that, the war museum on Route 66 was the first and only
place that made me cry throughout our entire trip.

6
There are many war museums along Route 66; the one that I am talking about is in
Pontiac, Illinois, and it is called Route 66 Association Hall of Fame and Museum. At first, I was
hesitant to check this war museum out because it was located on the top floor of a large building.
My boyfriend and I were already feeling tired from exploring the first two floors, but we decided
to quickly take a glance at it and get on the road for our next stop.
The entrance of the war museum got my attention and interest immediately; unlike other
war or history museums that used to exhibit historical documents, weapons, or combat vehicles,
the war museum here in Pontiac chose to exhibit a "fashion show.” (see Fig. 5) I had never seen
this many true-to-size human mannequins in my life, and they were all wearing a somehow off-
sized uniform. It was such an unexpected and unpleasing image. It was a hilarious and
simultaneously dreadful installation embedded in my memory.

Fig. 5. Human Mannequins Exhibition
Since this scene got my attention, I decided to enter the museum and venture further into
the space to explore and to see besides these odd-looking mannequins. As I walk around, I
noticed a small hidden room. My curiosity compelled me to open the door. What I witnessed was
something that seemed "normal" to a war museum exhibition. It was a room for old photos and

7
other antiques from the Vietnam war. A stack of old postcards caught my attention. My curiosity,
again, led me to come close to these postcards. I picked up one and started reading. The postcard
was written in cursive letters; therefore, it was very challenging for me, as a foreigner, to read.
However, I did recognize the first two words– and that two words were all it took to make me
cry.
It said, "Dear Mother."

Fig. 6. Old Postcard

I might not know what else was written on this postcard, but I was perfectly capable of
realizing that this was sent to this soldier's mother. Across time and space, I may not be able to
truly understand or imagine how cruel or brutal the war was, but humans' longing for their
mothers would be a sentiment that would never change and is universal to anyone. At this
moment, I suddenly realized that the owner of this postcard in my hand was also a young man
who was likely my age. He was made of flesh and blood. Just like me, he would also miss and
worry about a mother that lived far away. Nonetheless, unlike me, he could not go home and

8
visit his family whenever he wanted because he was living through a tough time, risking his life
to fight for the war.
When I looked again at the odd mannequins, I noticed that there was a tag on each one of
them. Each label included the soldier's name and other pieces of background information. I
realized that these mannequins' uniforms were worn by these soldiers. It reminded me again that
these people used to be real and alive, just like me. I started to closely read as many tags as I
could. The more tags I read, the more shameful and regretful I felt for thinking of them as funny
and horrifying.

Fig. 7. Name Tag on the Mannequin

If it was not for the postcard, I might never have really understood that soldiers are also
human—they also feel nostalgic and miss their mothers just like everyone. I was glad that I
found those postcards, and that they made me understand more about the these soldiers and their
stories.

9
CHAPTER 2: HISTORICAL AND ACADAMIC BACKGROUND
2.1 The Route 66 National Heritage
Route 66, also known as the Main Street of America or the Mother Road, was officially
established in 1926 and ran 2,448 miles from Chicago to Los Angeles (through Illinois,
Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California), becoming the first
all-weather road from the Midwest to the West Coast and opening the Southwest to migrants,
soldiers, and vacationers for the first time. "The only highway to have attained the status of
American cultural icon… So significant is Route 66 to U.S. cultural history that the
Smithsonian's National Museum in Washington D.C. features an exhibit titled 'America on the
Move," which includes an actual piece of Route 66 pavement."
3

The more visitors traveled on Route 66; the more business opportunities became
available for the local people. The remaining constructions of the old gas stations, hotels,
restaurants, and coffee shops are still standing along Route 66. The constant streams of visitors,
however, are gone. These buildings are vivid pieces of evidence of every shop owner's dream,
the American Dream, where everyone has the chance to live a splendid furnished life, as long as
they devote themselves to working hard.
Route 66 had begun to become a victim of its success by the 1950s. It was rerouted in the
1930s to cut down on excessive length and shorten the trip for visitors, and it was extended again
in the 1950s and 1960s to accommodate increased traffic flow. With the passing of a new
Federal Aid Highway Act in 1956, the United States Interstate Highway System was launched,
and by the 1970s, sections of Route 66 were being bypassed by the new high-speed, limited-

3
Kellee Caton and Carla Almeida Santos, "Heritage Tourism on Route 66: Deconstructing Nostalgia,"
Journal of Travel Research 45, no. 4 (2007): pp. 371-386, https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287507299572, 373.

10
access interstate freeways. From then on, more and more American travelers chose to take the
new freeways instead of Route 66.
4

2.2 Memory and Nostalgia
Even though there are not as many travelers as during the old times on Route 66,
thousands of people have still visited this Mother Road from all over the world. They are
certainly not aiming for fast speed travel or any conveniences like the previous travelers did;
instead, most of today's Route 66 tourists are there for the nostalgic feelings and histories—just
like my boyfriend and I. Since my project addresses nostalgia and memories and how to
carefully preserve them, I will investigate how and why nostalgia are formed, as well as the
concept of nostalgia, as part of my design process.
Fred Davis, in his book, Yearning for Yesterday: Nostalgia, Art and Society, considers
nostalgia as distinct from other past-oriented subjective states such as recollection and recall
since it is inevitably correlative and value-laden and involves the fantasy of memory.
5
Nostalgia
involves juxtaposing specific structures of the past with specific structures of the present so that
the past is associated with positive emotions; in contrast, the present is dreadful, boring,
depressing, and gruesome.
6
Thus, according to Davis, nostalgia is described as “a positively
toned evocation of a lived past in the context of some negative feeling toward present or
impending circumstance.”
7
Other scholars also argue that the reason that people feel nostalgic is
due to the dissatisfaction of the present situation.
8
“They extend nostalgia beyond lived

4
Caton and Santos, 373
5
Fred Davis, Yearning for Yesterday: Nostalgia, Art, and Society (New York: Free Press, 1979).
6
Davis, 14–15.
7
Davis, 18.
8
G. M. S. Dann, “Tourism: The Nostalgia Industry of the Future” in Global Tourism: The Next Decade, ed.
Theobald, William F (Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd, 1994), 55–67.

11
experience to include the phenomenon of longing for a culturally remembered past that may have
occurred before one’s birth and, hence, not have been experienced personally.”
9

In the book “The Artificial Kingdom,” Olalquiaga argues that nostalgic kitsch works
through "nostalgia," which sacrifices the intensity of experience in order to achieve a sense of
conscious or fictional continuity.
10

Furthermore, in Stewart’s book “On Longing,” the author states that the things that
people usually feel nostalgic about does not exist at all:
Nostalgia is a sadness without an object, a sadness which creates a longing that of
necessity is inauthentic because it does not take part in lived experience. Rather, it
remains behind and before that experience. Nostalgia, like any form of narrative, is
always ideological: the past it seeks has never existed except as narrative, and hence,
always absent…
11

According to these studies, it may be said that people's nostalgic sensations are either
unrelated to reality or simply a collection of false memories of the past. Perhaps nostalgia is a
dreamy filter triggered or produced by discontent with the present reality. Yet, such conclusions
do not necessarily indicate that we have never experienced the past–– rather, we tend to forget
what we have genuinely experienced in the past as time passes and fill in the gaps with imprecise
imagination. In this case, having a specific reminder that preserves our instant recollections and
reminds us of what we have truly experienced in the past is essential. With that being the case,
souvenir, as a physical artifact that we collect to commemorate specific experiences, can help us
preserve the original experience and memory while also preventing us from creating a false

9
Kellee Caton and Carla Almeida Santos, “Heritage Tourism on Route 66: Deconstructing Nostalgia,”
Journal of Travel Research 45, no. 4 (May 2007): pp. 371-386, https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287507299572.
10
Celeste Olalquiaga, The Artificial Kingdom: A Treasury of the Kitsch Experience, First ed. (New York,
NY: Pantheon Books, 1998), 292.
11
Susan Stewart, On Longing: Narratives of the Miniature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the Collection
(Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1993), 23.

12
reality in our minds. As part of my design process, I will examine how and what kinds of
meanings or memories are commonly associated with souvenirs, as well as how those meanings
develop or change through time.

2.3 The Value and Meaning of Souvenirs
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word “souvenir,” originally a French
verb meaning “remember,” is described as “something that is given or kept as a reminder of a
place, person, event, etc.”
12
Souvenirs have the capability to hold meanings and memories.
In Morgan and Pritchard’s terminology, souvenirs are the “touchstones of memory” that
waken memories of places and human relations.
13
In their article, they found that souvenirs can
hold one’s life histories and “ideal sense of self,” represent our connections and serve as vehicles
for self-expression, and are an important component of our daily life.
14
They also claimed that
the fine grain of our own, private material terrains can reveal how we establish our sense of self
and build our self-identities. Further, they discovered that souvenirs have the ability to reflect our
present self by serving as "symbols" of the cultural capital gained via trip experiences, bringing
the past into the present and bringing past experiences to life.
15
Souvenirs also carry and evoke
memories of sense, especially sound and taste (smell).
16
Interestingly, a souvenir does not only
document the positive memories–– it can also recall unpleasant experiences even when the

12
"souvenir, n.". OED Online. December 2021. Oxford University Press. https://www-oed-
com.libproxy1.usc.edu/view/Entry/185321?rskey=ciQYWz&result=1
13
Nigel Morgan and Annette Pritchard, “On Souvenirs and Metonymy,” Tourist Studies 5, no. 1 (2005):
pp. 29-53, https://doi.org/10.1177/1468797605062714, 41.
14
Morgan and Pritchard, 37.
15
Morgan and Pritchard, 41.
16
Morgan and Pritchard, 42.

13
souvenir itself is a delight.
17
Sometimes, one will also assign serious meanings to his/her
souvenirs and take them as “special possessions.”
18

Nevertheless, the meaning or memories of a souvenir can change–– “meanings are
dynamic rather than static.”
19
In Julie Masset and Alain Decrop’s research paper “Meanings of
Tourist Souvenirs: From the Holiday experience to Everyday Life”, they investigated whether
and how the meaning contained by souvenirs alters or is influenced once they are brought home
from the store. They found that these meanings can be made or affected by personal beliefs,
personalities, people’s career, housing relocation and shifting interior design.
20
They specifically
highlighted the impact of people's souvenir placement on the meaning of souvenirs. If a souvenir
is not exhibited properly in the household, it may lose its value to people or even be forgotten by
its owners; on the contrary, if the souvenir is treated with extra care, the meaning of the souvenir
can be maintained or even reinforced.
21

The meaning of souvenirs can be preserved through treatment and placement. If we want
to use a souvenir as a way to keep our original memories and experience, then we need to put
them at an ideal place with extra care so that the meaning of souvenirs can last. This is also the
impetus for creating my own souvenirs and designing the way they are stored and viewed.

17
Morgan and Pritchard, 42–43.
18
R. W. Belf, “Been There, Done That, Bought the Souvenirs,” Consumer Research: Postcards from the
Edge, 1997, pp. 22-45.
19
Giana M. Eckhardt and Michael J. Houston, “On the Malleable Nature of Product Meaning in China,”
Journal of Consumer Behaviour 7, no. 6 (2008): pp. 484-495, https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.266.
20
Julie Masset and Alain Decrop, “Meanings of Tourist Souvenirs: From the Holiday Experience to
Everyday Life,” Journal of Travel Research 60, no. 4 (February 2020): pp. 718-734,
https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287520915284, 726–728.
21
Masset and Decrop, 727–730

14
CHAPTER 3: JOURNEY TO THE WEST

Fig. 8. Illustration by Fenghua
22

My project’s name is borrowed from one of the most famous ancient Chinese classic
novels, “西游记” (Xī Yóu Jì); the English translation is titled “Journey to the West.” The novel
was written by Wu Cheng'en during the Ming dynasty. It illustrates the legendary pilgrimage of
four Buddhist monks who traveled to the “West” (Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent)
seeking for Buddhist sacred texts (sūtras) and returned after encountering countless villains and
overcoming eighty-one great challenges.
Similar to the four monks in the novel, the trip that I took aimed to the “west”—from the
Eastern coast to the West coast of the US. Additionally, given by my Chinese identity, I am also

22
Fenghua, Zhong, “一张新练习,”Weibo, Feb 1, 2013,
https://weibo.com/p/1005052294356157/photos?from=page_100505&mod=TAB#place

15
traveling from the East side of the world (China) to the West side the world (the US). Therefore,
the name “Journey to the West” seems to be a perfect allusion for my Route 66 trip.
Figure 8 is an imaginary fantasy illustration done by a Chinese artist who devotes himself
to recreating the scene from the “Journey to the West.” We can see that the story of the novel
tends to be very intense and violent sometimes. My project shares the same name as the novel;
however, it does not share the intensity and violence. My version of “Journey to the West” is
filled with happiness and joy, excitement, and surprises, and that is why I wish to preserve these
profound memories through my design. The work I created is a deconstruction of the souvenir as
a way to recall my genuine Route 66 road trip experience and sensations.
3.1 The Virtual Space Design

Fig. 9. Gift Shop Design Process

16
As the previous examples implied, souvenirs are capable of working as an efficient
reminder of one’s past as long as they are being treated by the right placement and with extra
care. Accordingly, in order to maximize the value of the souvenirs that I collected on my trip, I
need to create a proper space to store them. Additionally, as Marcus said, the human brain does
not forget—the fact that we fail to recall something only happens because we are not in an
environment that is relevant enough for our brain to remember the subject matter.
23
Thus, it is
crucial to create the right environment in order to make the recollection start to occur.
Since my goal is to recall the memories of my Route 66 trip, the environment that I
design needs to have the similar aesthetic as Route 66—it would be even better if it were
somewhere that I have actually visited during my trip. This has led me to use Tom’s shop
environment and create my own gift shop. My gift shop will be similar to Tom’s aesthetically
and functionally. I want the gift shop to also be a space for personal collections like Tom’s,
instead of like other gift shops that are aiming for merchandise sales.
It is technically impractical for me to build a physical gift shop in real life, so I decided to
design a virtual gift shop as an alternative. It is not real. Yet, I believe it works better because it
allows me to be more creative and go beyond the bounds of reality. As a designer, I can create
things that are not likely to exist in the practical world. This is exciting.
The gift shop has a home-like structure—based on Masset and Decrop studies, souvenir’s
meaning can only maintain when it is brought to a home. So the gift shop that I designed is like
an alternative home for me to rest, enjoy, appreciate the souvenirs, and recall the precious
memories and stories from my Route 66 trip. This gift shop is like a vacation home for me.

23
Gary F. Marcus, Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind (London: Faber, 2009).

17
Like most homes, the gift shop has a living room, a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen.
It also has an open garage which is built for the special car that we used to drive Route 66. It is
my boyfriend’s Toyota Corolla Hatchback, which has the unique front plate I bought on Route
66.

Fig. 10. Plate from Route 66 Gift shop

The front plate says, “Get Your Kicks” which refers to the lyrics “Get Your Kicks on
Route 66”, by Nat King Cole. The phrase has become so popular among the travelers on Route
66 that almost every gift shop on Route 66 sells souvenirs that include this line, like the plate that
we got for our car. We did not simply purchase the plate for the famous quote; we also chose to
use it as a decoration to commemorate our trip.
Without the car, we could never go on, let alone finish, the trip. Also, there is a profound
connection between the development and popularization of motor vehicles and the development

18
of Route 66 as I have mentioned previously. I believe it is important to the gift shop that I
designed. It is not only the tool for us to travel, but also a unique symbol of Route 66.

Fig. 11. Vehicle Model

Additionally, the car is a piece of souvenir that we gained from the trip, since there were
so many precious memories and stories that happened in it. The car could remind me so much
about our trip. Whenever I see this car, I recall the time that we got pulled for went over the
speed limit at Arizona on an extremely hot day, the night that we saw our first movie in the
Route 66 drive-in theater at Missouri, the time that I spilled my apple juice on my seat, and we
had to clean it up quickly before my seat turned a bright green forever… Our car is such a strong
reminder of our trip. On that account, I designed the open garage for my gift shop to emphasize
the significance of our car.

19

Fig. 12. Getting Pulled Over by the Police in Arizona & Fig. 13. Tickets from Route 66 Drive-in Theater

Besides the open garage, there is another open area in the architecture—the open
balcony. I designed an open balcony on the second floor to make the place feel more like home
and more comfortable which also allows me to have a space to enjoy the sun and the weather—
just like how I enjoyed the sun and the weather on Route 66. More importantly, I wanted to have
a space to place some of the special plants that I met on Route 66. For instance, the prickly pear
cactus that I encountered at the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. I tried to hold one to
take a selfie because I was wearing a cactus T-shirt on that day, and I thought it would match
with my outfit. Yet, I got terribly cut from holding it. It might be a painful lesson, but the
memory is precious. In fact, now it becomes a funny story, and I am able to laugh about it.

20

Fig. 14. My Cactus and My Cactus T-shirt

Outside the souvenir shop, there is a giant figure of myself. There were many road
attractions along Route 66. One of the most common and popular kinds of attractions is the giant
figures. They are usually very large—up to 14 to 25 foot tall. I also noticed that all of them were
male figures. I thought I should create a giant figure of myself so that we finally have a female
representation as giants. Also, it would help complete my gift shop in the fashion of Route 66.

Fig. 15. The Gemini Giant in Wilmington, Illinois

21

In addition, besides the giant, I also designed a route sign and placed it on the street in
front of my gift shop. I did this because for each state that we have visited, there were historic
route signs along Route 66. The design of each state’s historic signs are slightly different from
each other. Yet, they usually have the shape of a shield and share the color of either dark red-
brown or denim blue. The text on the signs normally indicates the state name, “historic route”,
“US”, and sometimes they also put the number “66” on them.

Fig. 16. Historic Signs in Different States on Route 66

In that case, I also designed my own historic route sign based on the signs that I saw on
Route 66: I create a shield shape and wrote the number “66” inside the shape; I put down the
indicator “Historic Route” on the sign; however, unlike the signs that I saw on Route 66 that
display the state and the country, I wrote “Omnipresence” and “Memory” at the place where it
usually says the state and the country. In this circumstance, the “state” that my gift shop belongs
to would be “omnipresence”, and the country it belongs to would be “memory”. Clearly
“omnipresence” and “memory” are not usually referring to any state or country. The reason that I

22
made such decision was because the gift shop is a virtual object that does not exist physically at
all, so there will not be a “state” nor a “country” that it stays in.
Furthermore, I want to call attention to the fact that I hold my own memory—therefore,
wherever I go, the memory goes along with me. Accordingly, the gift shop, as a place that
preserves all the souvenirs and memories I have gained from the trip, will also accompanies me
to in both time and spatial dimensions.
Building on that, since the gift shop does not hold a physical existence, it can be put into
any geographic and climate environment. By being completely virtual, the gift shop exists
beyond physical limitations. It can be fully adaptable to whatever settings that I want to put on.
For example, the desert environment that we have experienced at the Petrified Forest National
Park with a heavy shower, the extremely high temperature with low humidity that we
encountered at Arizona, the night where all the landscapes were lightened up by a clear sky full
of stars, and the resplendent sunset that we saw at Dwight, Illinois. By applying the real
environments that I have experienced from past journey, I get to better immerse myself into
those memories.

Fig. 17. Sunset at Dwight, Illinois

23

On the outside of the gift shop, I decorated the building with neon lights. I also
highlighted the historic route sign with flashing neon lights. Neon lights used to be applied by
business owners on Route 66 to draw travelers’ attention at night and guide them in the dark.
Plus, it offers a pleasing aesthetic. In the movie “Cars”, Lightning McQueen got stranded at a
forgotten town in Radiator Springs on the Route 66. There is a scene where he helps everyone
reopen their business and lightens all the neon signs that have been off for decades. Today, these
old neon signs have become the icon of the road, and you can still find them shine with the stars
on the night of Route 66.

Fig. 18. The Neon Light Scene from “Cars”
24

Besides the neon lights, there is another iconic view along Route 66—murals. They are
most often found on the outside of a building. The subject matter varies from natural elements
like flowers and landscapes to artificial objects like cars and buildings—and of course, the Route
66 road sign might be the most popular pattern that artists love to show in their murals. Some of

24
Cars, directed by John Lasseter. (2006; DisneyPLus),
https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/cars/41KYquQjLwge

24
the murals also portray human figures. They are usually contributors to Route 66 or people that
are related to Route 66. I also created a mural on the outside of the gift shop so that it reminds
me of the murals I have encountered along Route 66. In the mural, I illustrate my boyfriend and I
as the main figures. I also depict our car. In the background, I highlighted some of my favorite
and most memorable places on our trip, like Tom’s gift shop, the War Museum and so on.

Fig. 19. Different Types of Art Pieces along Route 66

Moving on to the inside of the virtual gift shop, there is an open kitchen area. I believe
the kitchen is one of the most significant spaces of the house, because this is the place that
preserves all the great food that was experienced on our trip. Again, since this is a virtual space, I
am allowed to put things that are not possible to exist in a real gift shop. I have designed
everything that we had eaten along our trip in the virtual kitchen. For instance, I tried this
amazingly flavored barbeque at The Butcher BBQ Stand in Oklahoma. I remember that we

25
arrived there so late that they were accepting the last group of costumers, and fortunately, my
boyfriend and I made it to the last group. Both of us agreed that their dishes were by far the most
delicious barbeque that we had ever had in our lives. I recreated the barbeque dish that we had
ordered in that restaurant and put it in the kitchen of the gift shop. Additionally, I also put other
memorable food that we had on the road in the kitchen, like the hotdog that we had in the
restaurant that originally invented hotdogs, the ribeye from most famous steakhouse in Texas and
the Caesar salad with strange, yet amazingly flavored, green sauce we ordered in Oklahoma.
The living room is next to the open kitchen. I specially designed a glass-frame cabinet for
displaying all my souvenirs that I bought from Route 66: postcards, prints, kachina figures, etc.
As Masset and Decrop studied, souvenirs must be displayed properly in order to maintain its
value and meaning.
25
Instead of leaving souvenirs lying around the house at a corner of a table or
a cabinet surface that does nothing but collect dust like most families would do, I designed this
cabinet to carefully store them. I organized these souvenirs by the time and place that I acquired
them and arranged them in the cabinet accordingly. I intentionally designed the cabinet in glass
so that it not only preserves the objects properly, but also allows me to view and appreciate the
souvenirs at the same time.

25
Masset and Decrop.

26
3.2 Self-made Souvenirs

Fig. 20. Postcard Illustration Process

Besides all the existing souvenirs that I collected on Route 66, I also displayed a series of
souvenirs that I designed specifically for my trip. Again, Tom inspired me for the format of the
work. Aside from all the good stories and knowledge that Tom shared, he also gave us a free
postcard that he and his granddaughter designed and printed. He told us that his granddaughter
created the illustration, and he came up with the copy. The postcard depicted his family's good
wish of ending the COVID Pandemic with a sense of humor. The illustration shows that the virus
is locked up in the Two Cell Jail—an iconic location along Route 66 in Illinois.

27

Fig. 21. Tom’s Postcard

I was so grateful when Tom gave me this special gift that I wished I could give
something back to him in return. Therefore, as a designer, I created my postcard series—I made
a postcard for each station along Route 66 that had made a deep impression on me, and of
course, Tom's shop was one of them. I illustrated Tom and his dog, Rufus, for the postcard of
Tom's shop. I also depicted his adorable red house and decorated the postcard with his beautiful
stain-glass windows in the background. In the corner, I noted the time and place. Once I finish
the final polish, I will send the postcard to Tom and let him know how he has influenced me on
my design project.
Similarly, I created the rest of the postcards for other places on Route 66. Though, I will
not send them to anyone. Instead, they will be placed in my virtual gift shop. Like the other
souvenirs, these postcards will work as reminders of my journey and document my precious
memories from the trip. Since they are closely designed by me, they will have a heavier focus on
how I felt and remembered the places compared to the souvenirs that I bought which tend to
have more general representations of the places.

28
CHAPTER 4: SELF REFLECTION AND THOUGHTS
Through designing this project, I have learned the value of the souvenirs, even though
sometimes they are just small and simple objects. Yet, they represent our past experiences and
stand for who we are. As Morgan and Pritchard state, explorations of souvenirs' ability to
compress meaning and recall memory can reveal not just their relevance as tangible metaphors
for travel experience, but also unique insights into individual self-identity constructions.
26

Despite the fact that the whole Route 66 experience was amazing and rewarding, I was
initially very apprehensive about going on this trip because my boyfriend and I were about to
travel the entire country as an Asian couple. Partially due to the COVID pandemic and other
world events. Asian people are being unfairly treated at this particular time. Western civilization
holds us accountable for something for which we are not responsible. In the United States, Asian
people are being harmed. Just before our trip, several my close Asian friends were either yelled
at or physically assaulted by the locals on the street, simply because of their race. It is despairing
and overwhelming because it sends out the message of hatred specifically toward us.
Occurrences such as these make the United State a dangerous place for Asians currently. Going
into this trip I was nervous and anxious as to how safe it would be for my boyfriend and I on the
open road. I had imagined a good number of horrible situations that could have happened to me
and my boyfriend on the trip—especially in the rural area of America where people are not as
that open-minded as people in the urban cities. Perhaps this sounds very discriminatory, but I
often became panicked and on guard every time I thought about facing these types of rural
Americans who I might encounter on the road.

26
Morgan and Pritchard, p34

29
Despite my fear, once we began our trip, every single shop owner, volunteer and tourist
that my boyfriend and I met was remarkably kind and warm and no one treated us unfairly. The
people we encountered made us feel genuinely welcomed and comfortable. We met some of the
kindest people in our entire lives during this trip. In fact, the question of “Where are you from?”
did appear in multiple conversations we had with some people. At first, I was too scared to admit
my nationality, so I prevaricated and said “Indiana”, which was where we started the trip—even
though I knew that they were not asking where we started but where we originally came from.
Yet sometimes they seemed to see right through my trick and asked whether that was where I
was born. I gave up and admitted that I am Chinese.
Unexpectedly, people got excited by my answer and started sharing fascinating stories
and news that they had about my country. This demonstrated their interest and surprisingly, love
of China. None of them blamed us for the COVID pandemic—in fact, some of them even had
commended China on doing a great job of controlling the outbreaks cases and stopping the
spread of virus inside the country. I was genuinely shocked by their reactions. At the same time,
I felt deeply regretful and ashamed for assuming these people as evil without even getting to
know them. After that, whenever I was asked about my nationality on the road, I was able to
answer people with confidence and pride.
These amazing people that we met on Route 66 had taught me a profound lesson: they
taught me how stupid and absurd it is to prejudge a person without getting to know them first;
they taught me that we should always treat people with love and kindness, because love and
kindness have the ability to soothe and unburden oneself; they also gave me the courage to admit
my identity and be proud of it.

30
The trip had changed my life—I had become a much more loving, caring and confident
person after that trip. Now, whenever I see these little objects from the trip, I recall all these great
people on Route 66 and how they made me realize who I want to be and who I should be. In
addition, whenever I am disappointed by some people’s behavior, these souvenirs will recall my
memories of these people from Route 66 and remind me that there are still a lot of great human
beings that are offering their love towards the world unconditionally.
After the trip, I also realized that while I was assuming certain people were simply going
to be vicious because of where they live or come from, I was not different than the strangers who
hated Asians and hurt my friend. Racism and discrimination are caused by lack of understanding,
and no one should be judged by where they come from. With the COVID pandemic surrounding
us, we sincerely do not need any more trauma or hatred in our world.
The Route 66 trip was a shared experience between my boyfriend and me in which I
witnessed our love. Folks often say, “if you want to know whether a person is suitable as a
partner, just go on a trip with them.” If the saying is valid, then I believe I have fortunately found
myself a great person. Thanks to all the bumps and hardship specially offered by Route 66, my
boyfriend and I have never worked so closely together, and I had never imagined we could
overcome so many obstacles as a team.
Since I did not have a driving license, my boyfriend took charge of all the driving on
Route 66. Check our daily schedule, you will see that there were a lot of heavy driving days
during the trip (see Fig. 1). He drove more than 5 hours per day and never complained. I was
profoundly touched by that, and I felt grateful for that.

31
Journey to the West is not just a design project for me. It is also a project for him, or
should I say, for us. The souvenirs not only remind me that this was not a one-person trip but a
two-person journey.
A simple souvenir like a postcard can reveal one’s memory, but also pass the story of that
experience along to the next generations. These little objects are living evidence of our history.
The postcard that I had picked up at the war museum is a good example: during the Vietnam
War, the postcard was used by the soldier to pass his greetings and messages to his mom. Today,
it serves as a textbook to remind and educate us of the ruthlessness of the war and the history that
we shall never forget.
I am very happy with the outcome of my design; however, I hope I can investigate further
by bringing the virtual space to the real world. Currently, the project only exists in the screen as a
computer-generated graphic. For the next step, I wish to transform it into a project which allows
the audience to immerse themselves—perhaps by implementing the virtual or mixed reality
technologies. In this way, I can invite others to my gift shop and give them an opportunity to
visit the house and to interacted with my souvenirs. I look forward to hearing others’
interpretations of this space and these objects.
Researching and designing for this virtual gift shop project have made me realize what I
care about deeply and who I am. I believe that only after we understand our history can we live
better in the present and then create a better future.

32
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Belf, R. W. “Been There, Done That, Bought the Souvenirs.” Consumer Research: Postcards
from the Edge , 1997, 22–45.
Caton, Kellee, and Carla Almeida Santos. “Heritage Tourism on Route 66: Deconstructing
Nostalgia.” Journal of Travel Research 45, no. 4 (2007): 371–86.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287507299572.
Csikszentmihalyi, M., and E. Rochberg-halton. The Meaning of Things: Domestic Symbols and
the Self. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981.
Dann, G. M. S., “Tourism: The Nostalgia Industry of the Future” in Global Tourism: The Next
Decade, ed. Theobald, William F (Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann Ltd, 1994), 55–67.
Davis, Fred. Yearning for Yesterday: Nostalgia, Art, and Society. New York: Free Press, 1979.
Eckhardt, Giana M., and Michael J. Houston. “On the Malleable Nature of Product Meaning in
China.” Journal of Consumer Behaviour 7, no. 6 (2008): 484–95.
https://doi.org/10.1002/cb.266.
Lasseter, John, dir. Cars. 2006; DisneyPLus,
https://www.disneyplus.com/movies/cars/41KYquQjLwge
Marcus, Gary F. Kluge: The Haphazard Construction of the Human Mind. London: Faber, 2009.
Masset, Julie, and Alain Decrop. “Meanings of Tourist Souvenirs: From the Holiday Experience
to Everyday Life.” Journal of Travel Research 60, no. 4 (2020): 718–34.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287520915284.
Morgan, Nigel, and Annette Pritchard. “On Souvenirs and Metonymy.” Tourist Studies 5, no. 1
(2005): 29–53. https://doi.org/10.1177/1468797605062714.
Olalquiaga, Celeste. The Artificial Kingdom: A Treasury of the Kitsch Experience. 1st ed. New
York, NY: Pantheon Books, 1998.
"souvenir, n.". OED Online. December 2021. Oxford University Press. https://www-oed-
com.libproxy1.usc.edu/view/Entry/185321?rskey=ciQYWz&result=1 (accessed January
29, 2022).
Stewart, Susan. On Longing: Narratives of the Miniature, the Gigantic, the Souvenir, the
Collection. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 1993.
Steil, Tim, and Jim Luning. Route 66. Osceola, WI: MBI Pub. Co., 2000.

33
Zhong, Fenghua , “一张新练习,” Weibo, Feb 1, 2013,
https://weibo.com/p/1005052294356157/photos?from=page_100505&mod=TAB#place

Abstract (if available)

Abstract I often wonder how memories are shaped. Recently, I traveled Route 66 from Chicago, Illinois, to Santa Monica, California. I visited place after place and collected many souvenirs along the way. Looking at the souvenirs now, I recall specific reminiscences from my trip. These small objects hold different memories and help form my self-identity. My design project creates a way to properly store and view these souvenirs in order to let them remind me of what I have experienced during my trip. As a professional designer, not just an average tourist, my work not only documents the existing souvenir object that I had collected along the trip but also creates new souvenirs that hold my experiences, and more importantly it functions as a vessel that preserves my precious memories.

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

Bento: space design

PDF

Game character design and cultural export

PDF

Accept yourself, respect yourself, love yourself: a film letter to myself

PDF

The strain I am under: the human condition and its effects on my design process

PDF

Designing a personal narrative through collaged mass-market images: traditional collage and digital collage

PDF

Exploration and reflection: a precipitation of personal memory and experience

PDF

Design for the outdoor experience

PDF

Lost and found: escape from the longing past towards the uncertain future of art and design

PDF

Dark cloud cleaner: virtual reality interactive film production

PDF

Pushing design limits: expanding boundaries of graphic design

PDF

Using fantasy storytelling to raise awareness on environmental issues

PDF

Space/home: rethinking space in a 2D context

PDF

The application of photography technology in modern graphic design: the beauty of astrophotography

PDF

The daily life of nervous boy "Y": information visualization with multi-sensory design

PDF

Revving up: exploring the intersection of automobile racing and graphic design

PDF

A sense of joy

PDF

Growing up in a patriarchal society

PDF

Past imagination, present creation and the reality of tomorrow: explore the impact of Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), and Mixed Reality (MR) design

PDF

Mobile applications as a communication space: playdate application case study

PDF

Existence and response: living in quarantine during a pandemic

Asset Metadata

Creator Zhang, Qing (author)

Core Title Remember what you truly want to remember: souvenirs, nostalgia and Route 66

School Roski School of Art and Design

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Design

Degree Conferral Date 2022-05

Publication Date 04/16/2022

Defense Date 04/15/2022

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag memory,nostalgia,OAI-PMH Harvest,personal collection,personal memory,reminders,road trip,Route 66,souvenirs,Travel

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Wojciak, Ewa (committee chair), Ellenburg, Jason Fowler (committee member), Trujillo, Osvaldo (committee member)

Creator Email qzhang95@usc.edu,zqing9988@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC110964853

Unique identifier UC110964853

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Zhang, Qing

Type texts

Source 20220417-usctheses-batch-927 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu