A Route 66 Space Oddity: Mary Beth Babcock

Mary Beth Babcock wasn’t always getting her kicks on Route 66. That may come as some surprise, given that she’s the owner of a souvenir shop on that storied highway, one that pays loving homage to the quirky energy of all things Mother Road.

And the person who is often the most surprised about that is Babcock herself.

“Route 66 has somehow pulled me to it,” Babcock says, sitting in the living room of Buck Atom’s Cosmic Crashpad — a bungalow-turned-Airbnb decorated in the retro-futurism western aesthetic of her souvenir shop Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios. Both interiors are cozy in their atmosphere, spilling over the brim with personality, Oklahoma-created art, gifts and cosmic tchotchkes.

Buck Atom’s Cosmic Curios is in the heart of Tulsa, located just a mile from downtown and a third of the way along the meandering, jerky path Route 66 takes through Oklahoma, starting in Chicago and ending at the Santa Monica pier. The appeal of this road for national and international travelers is well-documented. But what draws the proprietors of these businesses to the route? 

For Babcock, the answer is written in the stars.

There’s a Starman Waiting in the Sky

Throughout her early career, Babcock’s passion drove her successes. In 2010, her love of retail and Oklahoma artists led her to create Dwelling Spaces, a beloved Tulsa-centric retail establishment in the heart of downtown (coincidentally on the old alignment of Route 66).

It was during her time owning Dwelling Spaces that the concept of a space cowboy landed in her imagination as a potential mascot for the business. When she asked Tulsa artist and illustrator Jeremy Luthor to illustrate her idea, she loved what she received.

“It was amazing. And then it just sat on my computer,” Babcock says. So there the space cowboy mascot waited, collecting digital dust … until the time was right for his mission to take him out of orbit to Route 66.

Ground Control to Buck Atom

After a few years, Babcock decided to move on from Dwelling Spaces. The search for her next passion-driven business venture had begun.

“I woke up one day, kind of frustrated,” Babcock remembers after attempting a couple of business projects that her heart “just wasn’t in.” 

After fully recognizing that fact, Babcock took time to determine that she wanted a retail business worthy of her passion. What she did next is also etched in her memory: She spoke exactly what she was looking for out loud.

Just 30 minutes later, a real estate listing for the 350-square-foot ex-service station was posted to Facebook.

“I was like: That’s it! A souvenir shop on Route 66 in a gas station,” Babcock says. She jumped on the listing, and eventually, the property was hers. Now the time was finally right for her space cowboy to experience his true purpose.

“When I got this space, it had that futuristic space-like architecture, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, [my] space cowboy can be our mascot,’” Babcock says. 

She knew as she built the business concept that she wanted a roadside attraction. And what better way to utilize her space cowboy than to turn him into a 21-foot fiberglass sculpture?

Utilizing her Route 66 connections, she got in contact with Mark Cline,  the owner of Enchanted Castle Studios. Cline is an artist and engineer of fiberglass and mascot characters for attractions nationwide.

Soon, they got to work on the space cowboy christened Buck Atom. The process of fabricating Buck was extensive and took over a year’s worth of fundraising and artistic work (including shipping him across the country on freight trucks). He landed for his first (and only) mission and was installed on May 10, 2019, and was officially dedicated the next day.

Mothership and Mother Road Collide

When you drive down Route 66, you cannot help but stop and marvel at Buck Atom as he overlooks the Meadow Gold District. This district shines brightly with ample neon signs (thanks to a generous grant for authentic neon signage from the City of Tulsa) and cheery flourishes from hyper-local Route 66 shops.

“It was interesting to see how some people got it,” Babcock reminisces about a time before Buck was installed in the district. “Some people saw the impact [Buck] would have.”

What drew Babcock to Mother Road as a business owner also draws travelers there — looking for the friendly, the unique, the abnormal, seeking stories off the beaten gray interstate and cookie-cutter gas station exit ramp. 

“I just feel like that’s my point in life. I feel like Buck and I can provide some smiles to people,” Babcock says with a smile of her own. “There is a lot of serious stuff going on that’s hard to see and hard to watch. If I can just provide a little bit of ‘Everything’s gonna be okay,’ I feel like I’ve done my mission in life.”