The Uranus Examiner staff caught up with Ron Jones, the Route 66 Tattoo Man, via email after he pulled out of Uranus to head to the Miles of Possibility Conference in Illinois last October. We asked, he answered! Thanks for letting us pack your fudge Ron!

Route 66 legends Jim Hinckley and Ron Jones enjoyed a sword-swallowing demonstration by the astonishing Katya Kadavera while they were in Uranus.

URANUS EXAMINER: We gotta ask ya Ron, since you are the Route 66 Tattoo Man, how many tattoos do you have now?

RON JONES, THE ROUTE 66 TATTOO MAN: I started collecting tattoos about 24 years ago when I was 51 years old. I didn't start until late in life to get started collecting tattoos. My total number of tattoos is, as of this writing, 204. That is a lot of ink for a short guy.

UE: What was your first Route 66 tattoo and who was the artist?

RON: My first Route 66 tattoo was the Route 66 Shield with the highway going on either side of it. I have it on my right leg just above my ankle. The artist's name was Magoo. As near as I can remember.

UE: Did you set out to become the Route 66 Tattoo Man or did that concept evolve over time?

RON: To tell you the truth I didn't expect it to get this involved but it kinda got outta hand.

UE: What is the thing about Route 66 that draws you in the most? Is it the freedom of the open road? The adventure? The people? The towns along the road? The road itself?

RON: There are so many things about Route 66 that draws a person in. The people are the best part of the whole road but the places are also interesting to see. Whenever I go anywhere I try to take Route 66.

UE: Tell us about your first Route 66 trip…

RON: As near as I can remember my first trip on Route 66 occurred when I was about 11 years old and my family took a vacation and some of it was on Route 66. That trip was about 64 years ago. Time flies when you are having fun.

UE: Tell us about your favorite Route 66 trip…

RON: The older a person gets it is harder to remember some things. Every trip on Route 66 is just as exciting as the last one. At least for me it is.

UE: You have a tattoo of our neighbor The Elbow Inn on your elbow. Do you have a Uranus Fudge Factory tattoo?

RON: I do have a tattoo of the "Elbow Inn" on my left elbow. Kinda silly to put it anywhere else. I also have a tattoo of the Uranus Fudge Factory sign.

Ron Jones wasn’t the only Route 66 legend to pull into Uranus. Here he is joined by Jim & Judy Hinckley and Mike Balluff. Thanks for picking Uranus!

UE: Dare we ask where your Uranus Fudge Factory tattoo is located?

RON: My Uranus Fudge Factory tattoo is on my right hip. As close to my Uranus as I wanted to get.

UE: We understand that you do have a few tattoos that aren’t Route 66 related. Tell us about those and how they came about.

RON: I do have several tattoos that aren't related to Route 66 but those happened in a different time of my life that is hard to explain. Some of it was my time in Vietnam. If I see something that looks kool I get it.

UE: Your ride is famous too. Tell us how you acquired your 56 Chevy.

RON: I have had my 56 Chevy for 48 years and 9 months. I bought it in January 1975 off of a car lot in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, which is where I am from.

UE: What inspired you to paint it red, white, and blue?  

RON: When I bought my car over 49 years ago it was red, white and blue. I have had it painted a couple of different times but it was always the red, white and blue.

UE: Your 56 Chevy was featured in the “Get Your Kicks” episode of Counting Cars. How did that come about?  

RON: At one time we were gonna have Chip Foose paint my car but it just never came about so when I saw an episode of Counting Cars that looked like a better choice. We got a hold of the Counting Cars team in January of 2013 and they said that it would be a 2-year wait. So I thought that it would never happen. About a month later they got in touch with me and asked me how soon I could get it out there. I was floored. They had my car a year before I got it back.

UE: Danny Koker did a beautiful job on your hot rod. When did you add the white stars onto the blue paint? How did you come to the decision to add those white stars?

RON: There is a company about a mile from my house that does wrapping or a form of decals. It took them just 3 hours to put all the stars on the blue part of my car and that is on the bottom side. Since my car is an All-American car so what is more American than the flag so I put the white stars on the blue.

Ron Jones, the Route 66 Tattoo Man, pulled his hot rod into Uranus!

UE: Tell us about the Purple Heart and Hamburger Hill illustration on your car. What do you want people to feel when they see those?

RON: I went into the Army in May of 68 and did my basic training in Fort Polk, La. I went to Vietnam in November of 68. On May 10, 1969 the battle of Hamburger Hill came to be and that is where I got my Purple Heart and about a month later I got Malaria. That is nothing I wish on anyone.

UE: For you, what is the best part of being the Route 66 Tattoo Man?

RON: The best thing about being the Route 66 Tattoo Man is that I get to meet a lot of people along the Mother Road and I have made a lot of friends.

*This article first appeared in the Holiday Edition 2023 of the Uranus Examiner. You can order the latest issue of the Uranus Examiner online at https://www.uranusgeneralstore.com/gifts-from-uranus/uranus-examiner