Whale, hello there

By Kristen Hampshire

The Blue Whale of Catoosa pairs Route 66 nostalgia with a colorful new visitor center and gift shop.

Long before selfies and social media, travelers were pulling off Route 66 to see an 80-foot blue whale rising from an Oklahoma pond.

For more than 50 years, the Blue Whale of Catoosa has stopped travelers in their tracks. Built by zoologist Hugh Davis, the 20-foot-tall, 80-foot-long whale began as a playground project for his grandchildren. Today, it’s one of America’s most recognizable roadside attractions.

Jennifer Buchanan, director of visitor services for Catoosa, says visitors arrive by the tour bus load to photograph the whale, feed turtles and soak in a history that stretches well beyond the famous landmark.

Photos: Hanna Taylor

The attraction entered a new era this spring with the May opening of a 4,000-square-foot visitor center and gift shop, funded in part by one of Oklahoma’s largest Route 66 grants. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls now share the Blue Whale’s story, while a compact retail space offers visitors a colorful keepsake.

Buchanan believes the renewed interest in Route 66 and attractions like the Blue Whale of Catoosa is only just beginning.

“We don’t expect this to be the big year,” she says. “We expect this to be the beginning year.”

Q. What makes the story behind the Blue Whale of Catoosa so enduring?

A. It’s the people behind it. Hugh and Zelda Davis lived fascinating lives. They traveled the world collecting animals, doing conservation work and educating people. Hugh spent more than 38 years with the Tulsa Zoo, and together they operated an animal park here with everything from alligators to baby lions and bears. Zelda was this larger-than-life personality. She wore turquoise jewelry up to her elbows, had bright red hair and would pump gas for travelers on Route 66 with a macaw on her shoulder.

Then Hugh retired and got bored. He wanted to build something for his grandkids to swim out to in the pond. He spent two years hand-mixing cement in five-gallon buckets and applying it over a welded frame.

The day it was completed happened to be their wedding anniversary. He told Zelda, “I’ll give you something no woman has.” He certainly did.

Q. What has the Route 66 centennial been like for the new visitor center?

A. There has been tremendous excitement. We’ve been seeing tour buses, motorcycle groups and car cruises every day. On busy weekends, especially when there are organized cruises, we’ve seen anywhere from 7,000 to 12,000 visitors come through. Route 66 has always been iconic, but now people are rediscovering it. We really believe this is just the beginning.

Q. How did you approach creating the new gift shop?

A. I visited as many gift shops as I could and researched others online. What I found was that many Route 66 shops looked very similar. They might have different names on the products, but they were often carrying the same merchandise.

We wanted to do something different.

Many souvenirs combine the Route 66 and Blue Whale themes at the visitor center store.

The Blue Whale is already whimsical, so we leaned into that. We developed our first official logo, created our own color palette and partnered with Anne Bogie of a&b Identity to produce quality merchandise. I knew I could count on her for guidance and that we could partner and come up with some unique looks.

Q. What are visitors taking home most from your new gift shop?

A. Stickers are huge, especially because travelers are putting them on tumblers and coolers. Hats, apparel and T-shirts are always top sellers. We also carry magnets, postcards, ornaments, lapel pins, air fresheners and stainless tumblers. One surprise has been a heathered sage green T-shirt featuring our Blue Whale logo. Everybody loves it — young visitors, older visitors, men and women.

Our Richardson 112 hats have also been very popular, particularly in camouflage styles. And because we’re on Route 66, people love collecting magnets, patches and ornaments from every stop along the way.

Q. Tell us about Blue Whale Blue. Did you create a color just for the store?

A. We actually created our own color. It’s somewhere between Carolina blue and turquoise, and we use it throughout the store. The full logo contains 12 or 13 Pantone colors, but the whale itself is this bright, distinctive blue that has become part of our identity.

As for T-shirts, we intentionally avoided the grays, blacks and whites that we saw elsewhere. Instead, we embraced turquoise, coral, yellow, pink, ice blue and the popular sage green.

Q. What goes into merchandising at the visitor center store?

A. Our shop is only about 400 square feet, and one of the best decisions we made was rolling our T-shirts tightly and securing them with rubber bands to stock in cubbies instead of folding them. Visitors can immediately see the color and size, and the shirts stay neat even when tour buses arrive. Unexpectedly, travelers also love that they’re “travel ready.” They can toss them in a purse or suitcase without worrying about wrinkles.

We’ve also grouped products by color and placed impulse items like stickers, lapel pins and patches near the register. When space is limited, every square foot has to work a little harder.

Q. What does the Blue Whale mean to Catoosa today?

A. It means a lot. This place has been part of people’s lives for generations. At the end of the day, our shop isn’t the biggest part of the experience. It’s not the big star. The Blue Whale is. Our job is to tell that story, celebrate the history and give people one more reason to stop along Route 66.