Always loved the “Sinclair” gas station sign with the brontosaurus when I was a kid.
Interesting, thanks. I remember buying gas at 19.9 cents/gal during a gas war in the mid ‘60’s... and worked at a Clark Super 100 station.
We still have drinking glasses they used to give away
They would wash the windows and check the oil at the ones we went to...remember $5 would fill up that 55 Buick
We didn`t even know what a Muzzie was
Appreciate this. One thing I always used to enjoy was the architectural variety of the decades, whether regarding gas stations, grocery stores, five-and-dimes or whatnot. From the 1920s to 30s/40s/50s/60s, everything from each decade had such a different, distinct style and ambiance. And when I was a kid, you could find examples of each all still around, co-existing. It just made for an endlessly fascinating backdrop from a visual perspective. But nowadays, that seems wiped away, taken over by a blocky Wal-Mart/quickie-mart style sameness as far as the eye can see, which I frankly find rather depressing.
In mid Michigan in the 60s there was a brand called “Bay”.
Supposedly their gas was a byproduct of some industrial process at Dow Chemical.
They always had the lowest prices and sparked “gas wars”.
Urban Blend Cafe in Oakland, CA (333 Broadway) and Espresso Roma Corp in Berkeley, CA (1549 Hopkins Street) are both former service stations converted to coffeehouses. The Espresso Roma one appears to date from the 1930s (still has that streamlined Art Deco style).
One of the coolest memories I have of the gas stations of the 60’s was the stuffed-animal-like tiger tail that my mom got with a fillup at Exxon??? was it? It had a loop that you placed around the neck of the gas tank fillup and closed the door on the loop, leaving the tiger in your tank showing.
Up until about six or seven years ago, there was a 1940s style rural gas station along Highway 395 in Walker, California with dirt driveways next to the pumps. I filled up there many times in the past. The building is still there but the pumps are gone.
Hey buddy, where’s my Green Stamps?
Steak Knives...
Inflatable Dino toy?
Cleaning the windshield with Coke (while travelling South of the Mason-Dixon Line).
Free Air for your tires.
Uniformed attendants.
Toothless perverts eyeing your mother’s legs while they cleaned your windshield...
All gone...
bttt
Can you remember a time when you could trust your car to the man who wore the star?
Pretty cool. Bookmarked for later.
This guy put some time into compiling these pictures and descriptions.
Brings back memories.
Do a search on “Woodland street bash.” It’s June 11th.
I remember that friendly sounding bell, “ding ding”, as the car would drive over the rubber air hose near the pumps.
I had a model texaco station made of metal with a lift, parking on the top of the station, little oil cans and cars and a little texeco man
I also had Roy Rogers and Dale Evens’s farm with all the characters and Tinkerbelle the Jeep. Tinkerbelle often filled up at the Texeco station.
I had a blessed childhood.
“You can trust your car to the man who wears the star...’’ I remember when a ‘’gas-station’’ was called a ‘’filling station’’ and they gave Green Stamps.
We used to call them 'filling stations' which may have been a colloquialism.
