Average Cost Gallon Of Gas
1930 10 cents , 1940 11 cents , 1950 18 cents , 1960 25 cents ,
1970 36 cents , 1980 $1.19 , 1990 $1.34 , 2009 $2.051 , 2013 $3.80 http://www.thepeoplehistory.com/70yearsofpricechange.html
In the 1960s, Regular was 94 octane, and premium was 100. A few companies sold a mid grade at about 97.
There weren’t any Sunoco stations around my part of the world, but my recollection was they had a ‘pick your blend’ pump with 5 or so choices.
You might want to overlay average wages, or minimum wages, in those same years.
Almost all of the increases are merely devaluation of the dollar (and some state/fed tax increases)
When, in 1945 (I was 12), I got my drivers license, I could caddy Saturday & Sunday making 15 cents for 18 holes. This gave me enough money for gas, fun, dates, etc...As long as I got the gas at the Jenny station...Had to manually pump your gas for 13 cents a gallon...
By my senior year in high school (1951), gas had gotten really expensive. However I could pump Jenny for 16-17 cents...In fact, most of my buddies pumped Jenny too...After graduation didn't worry about gas prices for a pretty long time since I went to Parris Island 2-weeks later...
“Average Cost Gallon Of Gas
1930 10 cents , 1940 11 cents , 1950 18 cents , 1960 25 cents ,
1970 36 cents , 1980 $1.19 , 1990 $1.34 , 2009 $2.051 , 2013 $3.80.”
An inflation rate trend line would need to be plotted along with the cost for the data to be meaningful.