Jack Rabbit Trading Post
Most of the trading posts that we explored on our trip along Route 66 in Arizona and New Mexico have been abandoned for many years. I had been aware of the bight yellow "Here It Is" sign for the Jack Rabbit trading post, but I didn't know until we arrived that the trading post is still very much in business.
The Jack Rabbit Trading Post was built by James Taylor (not the famous one) along Route 66 in 1949. Along with the owner of the For Men Only store, Taylor drove up Route 66 as far as Springfield, Missouri, erecting billboards on the way featuring hopping rabbits and dancing cowgirls. For more than 1,000 miles, travelers were urged to stop at the Jack Rabbit and the For Men Only store, with the billboards culminating with the iconic “Here It Is” sign (much like my very favorite roadside attraction, South of the Border, with its best billboard proclaiming "Where the Hell is South of the Border?").
Most of the other billboards are gone now, but the Here It Is sign remains. The sign still comprises most of the original boards from 1949, and each side is repainted every few years (a recent restoration took 27 days). A version of the Jack Rabbit Trading Post was featured in Disney-Pixar’s Cars in 2006, and Henry's Rabbit Ranch in Staunton, Illinois uses a similar rabbit logo with the tagline, "Hare It Is."
Taylor leased the trading post to Glen Blansett in 1961, and Blansett passed it on to his son and daughter-in-law. They eventually sold it to their daughter and son-in-law, Cynthia and Antonio Jaquez, who still operate the Jack Rabbit today. After a while most of the trading posts begin to blend together—we saw enough moccasins and petrified wood to last us a lifetime—but each of us managed to find several things at the Jack Rabbit that we couldn't live without.
The Jack Rabbit isn't as large or flashy as some of the other trading posts you'll come across, but it was definitely my favorite of all the ones that we stopped into (the ones still in business, anyway). I love the Jack Rabbit logo so much that I bought postcards, a pennant, a pin and a t-shirt and I've regretted not buying a mug every single day since.
Jack Rabbit Trading Post
3386 Route 66
Winslow, Arizona, 86047
