This cache is part of the Historic Route 66 Geocaching Project, a series created by the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona and designated as an official Arizona Centennial Legacy Project by the Arizona Historical Advisory Commission.
www.az66geocaching.com
From Joe Sonderman's book "Route 66 in Arizona"
About two miles east of the Twin Arrows Trading Post on the south side of the highway just east of the improved (for the 1950’s) road to Mormon Lake stood the Toonerville Trading Post. I'm not sure of the origin of "Toonerville". Could it have been named for the once-popular newspaper comic Toonerville Folks? The Toonerville Folks comic was a whimsical look at life in the rural hinterlands and featured the Toonerville Trolly and a myriad of characters. After nearly 50 years, and some early film shorts, the comic played out and ended its run in 1955.
The proprietors of this remote Arizona trading post may have adopted this name to present a friendly, fun image to the motoring public. This real photo postcard shows Texaco gasoline as the brand sold but a matchcover lists the brand as Shell at one time too. Toonerville was opened before World War II and was listed in Jack Rittenhouse's 1946 A Guide Book to Highway 66. It was still an operating enterprise in 1969 when Interstate 40 bypassed the area. I do not know when it closed but may have been soon thereafter. The Toonerville building still exists today as a private residence. The gas pumps are long gone and a new gable roof has replaced the flat roof on the front protruding part of the building shown in the RPPC here.