'A beautiful life': The Arizona barber who saved Route 66 hangs up his shears for good

This is a little embarrassing to admit but my stomach has dictated much of my writing career.

My first book was about Route 66 and the role Arizona played in saving it. I originally stumbled across that story because I got hungry. While traveling I pulled off Interstate 40 in Seligman to grab a burger.

A sign declared Seligman to be the “Birthplace of Historic Route 66” but I didn’t know what that meant. What I remember is pulling into this speck of a town, in the middle of nowhere with no obvious scenery or attractions, yet four large tour buses were parked on the main drag.

Tour groups from France, Germany and Japan were unloading. As I stood there, a group of motorcycle riders from Belgium roared up. Everyone streamed into the small barbershop. Crowds that couldn’t squeeze inside stood on the sidewalk snapping photos.

“Holy cow,” I thought. “Just how good is this barber? Is Edward Scissorhands working?”

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Meet Angel Delgadillo, who saved Route 66

That was the day I met Angel Delgadillo, the small-town barber who changed the world.

Better make that former small-town barber who changed the world. On July 7, 2022, Angel finally and officially retired at the age of 95. No more haircuts, trims and straight razor shaves for an adoring public that travels from distant lands to this small shop on the high plains of northern Arizona.

Despite his long experience, it wasn’t just his barbering skill that attracted such an international clientele. People came in droves because they wanted to meet the man who spearheaded the preservation movement that brought Route 66 back from the dead.

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Route 66: America’s Main Street

U.S. 66 was established on Nov. 11, 1926. It opened with great fanfare stretching from Chicago to Los Angeles, over 2,400 miles of road passing through eight states. And it very quickly changed how Americans traveled across the country. Route 66 communities built their commercial districts along the busy boulevard, earning it the nickname “America’s Main Street.”

That was certainly true for Seligman, where 9,000 cars a day rumbled through town, right past Angel’s barbershop and pool hall. All that changed abruptly on Sept. 22, 1978, when a section of I-40 opened south of town and a deathly quiet fell on the main drag.

“One day there was so much traffic in Seligman, it might take 15 minutes to cross the street,” Angel said. “The next day you could lie down in the middle of the road and not worry about getting run over. It felt like the world forgot about us.”

With the expansion of the interstate system, there seemed to be no more need for the old road. In 1985, U.S. 66 was officially decertified. All signs were taken down and it was removed from maps. The highway immortalized by novel, song, film and television ceased to exist. America no longer had a Main Street.

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Angel Delgadillo: the 'guardian angel of Route 66'

Like many small towns circumvented by interstates, Seligman struggled to survive. Businesses shuttered, residents fled.

Angel had an idea to save his community by bringing back Route 66 as a historic highway. He knew that travelers longed for the more leisurely road trips of their youth. He promoted his plan for years but couldn’t generate much interest.

So he took to the road, traveling along the western section of Route 66 through Arizona, visiting businesses in Peach Springs, Kingman, Oatman and Topock, talking to anyone who would listen, winning them over with his vision and enthusiasm.

On Feb. 18, 1987, Angel organized a meeting at the Copper Cart Restaurant in Seligman. Fifteen people showed up. They formed the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona, the first of its kind. Angel was elected president. Their headquarters were in Angel’s barbershop, where customers often got a Route 66 history lesson with their haircuts.

The association lobbied the state to designate part of Route 66 as a historic highway. Now if you’ve ever lobbied the state to do anything you know what a Herculean task it can be. But through their tireless efforts, appearances and a massive letter-writing campaign, lo and behold, they succeeded.

In November 1987, Arizona designated a stretch of the old highway from east of Seligman to the California state line as Historic Route 66. That provided a blueprint for other states to follow. That’s how the Mother Road exists today, on a state-by-state basis as Historic Route 66. And it all started with one man.

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Seligman’s town barber became known as the “guardian angel of Route 66.” And with his gracious manner and beaming smile, bright as neon and wide enough to reach from Chicago to LA, he also became its most prominent ambassador.

Angel’s been interviewed more than 1,000 times, featured in magazine and newspaper articles all over the world. You can’t shoot a Route 66 documentary without including the “Mayor of the Mother Road.” He spoke for hours with John Lasseter from Pixar and that led to the creation of Radiator Springs for the animated movie "Cars," which introduced a whole new generation to Route 66.

More than just a highway, Route 66 symbolizes the very best of America. It transports us to a more innocent time and instills us with a spirit of freedom, a sense of adventure. That resonates with everyone, no matter what language they speak.

Bygone days aren’t gone at all. They still live on Route 66 among the small towns, the roadside attractions, and the mom-and-pop businesses. All because Angel and others like him stepped up when they were needed.

Angel hangs up his shears

Angel first retired as a barber in 1997. But it didn’t really take. Because by then people were flocking to Seligman like pilgrims. They came to shake Angel’s hand, to hug him and thank him for what he helped save. Naturally, plenty of folks requested haircuts. And the always generous Angel happily obliged.

He called it quits for real on July 7. His career spanned 75 years to the day. On July 7, 1947, Angel entered the American Pacific Barber College in Pasadena, California, which happened to be located on Route 66.

The Delgadillo family organized a little retirement party to mark the occasion. There was a moment during Angel’s speech that I remember. After talking about his time at barber college, his apprenticeship in Williams and returning to Seligman to open his own barbershop in the same adobe building where his dad once cut hair, he paused and gazed out over the heads of the audience, looking off into the distance.

“What a beautiful life I have had,” he said quietly. “A beautiful life.”

Then that broad smile twinkled on once again and he continued with his stories.

Every day is a good day

The day after his retirement, the barbershop, which is inside Angel and Vilma Delgadillo’s Original Route 66 Gift Shop, was converted into a museum. The following week, on July 14, Angel was inducted into the Arizona Tourism Hall of Fame.

It is the latest in a long line of accolades. Angel has received the John Steinbeck Award, given to recognize work that "captures Steinbeck’s empathy, commitment to democratic values and belief in the dignity of people who by circumstance are pushed to the fringes," according to the organization's website.

He's on the Route 66 Wall of Fame, was named an Arizona Culture Keeper and is a member of the National Barber Hall of Fame, just to name a few others.

The first time I interviewed Angel for an article, he said something that stuck with me:

“We were forgotten after the interstate opened and that was a sad time. Now people travel from all over the world just to visit us. Every day is a good day.”

It’s a philosophy I’ve seen him embody over the years as he moves through his crowded shop like a gentle whirlwind. He spins tales, poses for photos, signs autographs and greets everyone like long-lost friends. Smiles spread like wildfire through the shop. How nice to know one person can change the world in ways both big and small.

Every day really is a good day.

If we want it to be.

Route 66 in Arizona: Seligman

More than 200 miles of Historic Route 66 are still drivable in Arizona, as it stretches from Lupton to Topock. Much of the eastern half is submerged beneath I-40.

To visit Seligman, leave I-40 just west of Ash Fork at Crookton Road (Exit 139) and begin the longest unbroken stretch of Route 66 still in existence — a rolling river of pavement stretching 159 miles to the California border.

Enjoy the Burma Shave signs and curving two-lane road for 13 miles to Seligman. Or, if you’re absolutely in a hurry, take I-40 directly to the Seligman off-ramp at Exit 123.

Angel and Vilma Delgadillo’s Original Route 66 Gift Shop is at 22265 Historic Route 66 in Seligman. 928-422-3352, https://www.route66giftshop.com.

Roger Naylor is the author of "Arizona Kicks on Route 66" and his latest book, "Arizona’s Scenic Roads & Hikes." Find him at https://www.rogernaylor.com. Or follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/RogerNaylorinAZ or Twitter @AZRogerNaylor.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Route 66: How a barber from Arizona saved the Mother Road