Trailer for Sale
000 …or rent
Roger Miller Mural • Erick, OK • Day Four
Erick Oklahoma was established in 1901, six years before Oklahoma became a state. Its population was 686. By all measures, it quickly became a bustling community with over a dozen general stores, several grocery stores, two banks, half a dozen cotton gins, 5 meat markets and churches of multiple denominations. A brief oil boom pushed its population to 2,231 in 1930. As of the 2020 census, Erick was home to about 1,000 people. Like many cities and towns along Route 66, Erick embraces its place on that storied road and tourists like us passing through town.
Roger Miller Mural
The moment I saw the Roger Miller mural, I became an 8 year old boy again. It’s 1966, I’m riding in the back seat of my dad’s station wagon. King of the Road was playing on the radio. My dad is singing along with Roger Miller: “…rooms to let, fifty cents | No phone, no pool, no pets | I ain’t got no cigarettes.” If you are my age or older, you probably remember it fondly. It seemingly played constantly that year, garnering Miller 5 Grammy awards.
The Trailer
Flying Purple People Eater
Roger Miller wasn’t born in Erick, but grew up there from the age of three. The city honors him with this gigantic mural at 101 S Sheb Wooley Street.
Sheb Wooley, another Erick native, was an actor and musician who had a hit with the novelty song, Flying Purple People Eater. Sheb didn’t get a mural, but he did get a small Purple People Eater art installment in a small park, but he shares the location with Miller’s Trailer for sale (or rent).
Poor Sheb.
City Meat Market
Now Sandhills Curiosity Shop, City Meat Market is an iconic stop on Route 66. Along with other Mother Road locations, it was featured in the Pixar movie, Cars. It is maintained by Harley (Mr. Harley) and Annabelle Russell.
It was closed when we visited, but as we were photographing the exterior of the market, the oldest brick building in Erick, an elderly woman stopped her car to greet us.
Rick, working City Meat Market
She told us about Mr. Harley, the proprietor, and his collection of curiosities. She suggested we go visit Mr. Harley at his house, its back yard adjacent to the vacant lot next to the Meat Market. She said he’d be happy to open the shop for us. “Tell him ‘Sweetheart’ sent you. It was an easy sell.
We took Sweetheart’s suggestion to heart and went over to introduce ourselves to Mr. Harley. Like the old Meat Market, his house was adorned with old signs, the yard cluttered with spillover oddities — all guarded by a very large and not very friendly German Shepard.
Sorry we missed Mr. Harley.
Insanity at its Finest
Mr. Harley’s Yard
000 About This Series
From April 12 through April 20, 2025, I was on a Route 66 Photography Adventure (The Trip) with three good friends and like minded photographers. This series is recap of The Trip in stories and images.
All of the images were shot on that historic road or within a couple of miles of it. Neither the images nor stories are necessarily presented in chronological order.
Enjoying the series? Drop a comment.