The Real Mater

Since moving to Joplin, we have always heard that this area was the inspiration for the movie Cars. Of course, Joplin is on Route 66 and I am sure the Pixar folks did their research so it would not surprise me if they had used real places for their inspiration. I had always been a bit skeptical of this until I saw the movie for the hundredth time and heard Mater refer to the "Ghost Light." Well, Joplin is known to every mystery seeker as the home of the Spook Light. So they did use Joplin for at least some inspiration. But today we saw real proof!

Some friends told us that in Galena, KS (a couple of miles from Joplin) is the "Real Mater." Today we went driving around looking for him and this is what we found...

Just in case you think that they just dressed up an old truck to look like Mater, this neon sign is hanging in the window of the building. It certainly seems to predate the movie (or they would have been more accurate!)...
That was not the only thing we saw at the old gas station that might have given the Pixar folks a spark of inspiration...

In keeping with the general feel of Radiator Springs, you would never know that this was here. It is completely un-marketed and just sitting on Rt 66, which is now a side street, in a nothing town in the farthest corner of Southeast Kansas.