Tee Pee Curios

The Tee Pee Curios building was originally constructed in the early 1940s as a Gulf gas station — one of dozens of filling stations that served Route 66 traffic through Tucumcari during the highway's expanding pre-war and wartime use. By 1944, the property's owners recognized that the postwar tourism economy was likely to grow faster than the gas station business, and they undertook a conversion of the property to a curio shop targeting Route 66 travelers. The 30-foot teepee facade was added during this conversion as both a visual draw and a literal entryway — the teepee structure houses the shop's front door and creates a memorable entry experience.

The teepee was built of stucco over a steel-and-wood frame, painted in cream and adobe tones with red-and-yellow accent stripes that wrap around the teepee's lower section. The construction generally follows the proportions of a traditional plains-style teepee but is structural masonry rather than canvas — a permanent architectural feature that has survived eight decades of New Mexico sun, wind, and occasional severe weather. The teepee's tip extends above the building's flat roofline and is visible from both directions along Route 66 Boulevard.

The neon outlining the teepee was added shortly after the structure's completion. The neon tubing traces the teepee's vertical edges and circumferential bands in bright red, yellow, and white, producing an unmistakable nighttime silhouette that has been continuously operational with periodic restoration since the 1940s. Like the Blue Swallow's neon, the Tee Pee Curios sign requires ongoing maintenance — neon tubes fail and gas leaks develop across decades — but the sign's design and overall character remain faithful to the original installation.

Tee Pee Curios is fundamentally a tourism-targeted gift shop, and the merchandise mix reflects the typical Route 66 traveler's shopping interests. Route 66 memorabilia is the largest category — t-shirts in dozens of designs, postcards, refrigerator magnets, shot glasses, license plates, road signs, bumper stickers, books on Route 66 history, and miscellaneous branded merchandise. Prices are deliberately accessible, with most small souvenirs in the $3-$15 range and larger items (jackets, large signs, framed prints) running $25-$75.

The Southwestern crafts section is the shop's most genuinely substantive merchandise category. Turquoise-and-silver jewelry is sourced from regional Native American artists and ranges from inexpensive small earrings ($15-$30) to substantial belt buckles and squash blossom necklaces ($200-$500+). Authenticity varies — some pieces are clearly handmade by regional Navajo and Pueblo artists with attached authentication paperwork, while other inexpensive pieces are commodity production from broader Southwestern wholesalers. Tee Pee staff are generally honest about which is which when asked.

Sand paintings, hand-carved kachina dolls, and Mexican blankets round out the cultural-craft section. The sand paintings tend to be smaller decorative pieces from regional Navajo artists ($20-$100 typical price range); the kachinas are mixed-quality with some serious hand-carved pieces from Hopi artists and other commodity pieces. The Mexican blankets are brightly-colored saltillo-style blankets and serapes imported from Mexico and are popular practical souvenirs ($25-$75 typical).

Beyond the cultural crafts, the shop's vintage Coca-Cola signs, retro tin signs, and reproduction antique advertising materials are popular with road-trip decorators and Route 66 enthusiasts looking to bring some of the highway's visual character home with them. The shop also carries a substantial selection of New Mexico chile-themed merchandise — chile ristra decorations, chile-themed kitchen items, jars of red and green chile sauce — that capitalizes on the state's signature culinary identity.

Tee Pee Curios is, alongside the Blue Swallow Motel, one of the two most-photographed Route 66 stops in Tucumcari. The teepee facade with its bright neon outline produces an unmistakable photograph that immediately reads as Tucumcari and Route 66 to anyone familiar with the corridor. Photography from the public sidewalk and parking lot is encouraged and entirely free; the shop's owners welcome photographers and frequently chat with visitors who stop specifically to shoot the property.

Peak photography timing — like the Blue Swallow — is dusk, when the neon outline reads brightly against a fading blue sky. The teepee's east-facing position means morning light catches the facade well and produces colorful daytime photographs in addition to nighttime neon shots. The neon is typically illuminated from approximately sunset through closing time (6pm in winter, later in summer), with the sign sometimes left lit later during peak tourism months.

Visitors photographing both the Blue Swallow and Tee Pee Curios at dusk can typically capture both in a single evening — the two properties are about 4 blocks apart and the neon corridor between them produces an immersive Route 66 nighttime photography environment. The classic Tucumcari dusk photography session walks east along Route 66 Boulevard from the Blue Swallow at 815 E to Tee Pee Curios at 924 E, shooting both properties and the streetscape in between.

Tee Pee Curios is typically open daily from 8am to 6pm, with extended summer hours common during peak tourism months. The shop is generally open every day of the year including most holidays, though specific holiday hours can vary year to year. Calling ahead during winter months or around major holidays is reasonable; the shop's phone number is posted at the entrance.

Parking is available in the small lot directly adjacent to the building, with overflow parking available along Route 66 Boulevard itself (the curb parking is generally legal and frequently used by Route 66 travelers). Tour buses occasionally stop at Tee Pee Curios — the shop is large enough to accommodate a single bus-tour group without major disruption — and individual road-trippers should expect more crowded conditions when a tour bus is on site.

Most visitors spend 15-30 minutes browsing the shop and shooting exterior photographs. Serious shoppers — visitors specifically looking for substantial Southwestern jewelry or kachina pieces — may stay longer. The shop is small enough that thorough browsing of the entire merchandise selection is achievable in 30 minutes, but the volume of merchandise per square foot is high and rushed visits frequently miss interesting items.

Tee Pee Curios pairs naturally with the Blue Swallow Motel, Del's Restaurant, and the rest of Tucumcari's Route 66 corridor for a coherent half-day or evening visit. The standard itinerary for travelers passing through Tucumcari on Route 66 is: drive the full 2-mile Route 66 Boulevard alignment east-to-west or west-to-east, stop at Tee Pee Curios for souvenir shopping (30 minutes), have dinner at Del's Restaurant (1-1.5 hours), photograph the Blue Swallow and Tee Pee Curios neon at dusk (45-60 minutes), and either continue driving or check in to an overnight stay at the Blue Swallow or Motel Safari.

For travelers based in Tucumcari for a full day or two (longer than the typical overnight Route 66 stop), Tee Pee Curios is the natural starting point for any morning shopping or photography session. The shop's early opening (8am most days) makes it accessible before most other Tucumcari businesses open, and the morning light on the east-facing teepee facade is photographically excellent.

For families with kids, Tee Pee Curios is one of the most genuinely kid-engaging stops in Tucumcari. The bright colors, the giant teepee structure, the abundance of inexpensive souvenirs in the $3-$10 range, and the visual stimulation of the shop's densely-packed merchandise typically produce 20-30 minutes of engaged kid browsing. Most road-trip families end up with a small bag of inexpensive souvenirs (postcards, magnets, stickers, small toys) and a satisfying stop on their itinerary.