Posted on 03/20/2011 1:33:45 PM PDT by P.O.E.
(snip)...I thought it might be fun to relive that long past era when gas stations were truly “service stations” with a look at some of the major gasoline brands as seen through some of their old marketing photos. Gas station architecture is a fascinating genre unto itself, ranging from crude, early stations with curbside pumps to the elaborate mini-Roman temples of the 1930’s. Our focus here will be on stations from the 1960’s, for two reasons – first, a decent number of them still exist, albeit with heavy modifications and rarely under their original brands, and secondly, I’m sure that some of you remember these great stations in their heyday. (snip)
(Excerpt) Read more at pleasantfamilyshopping.blogspot.com ...
bttt
According to the inflation calculator at the Federal Reserve Website for Minneapolis, $0.20 in 1954 prices comes out to $1.64 in 2011 prices. We are getting socked for gas.
Can you remember a time when you could trust your car to the man who wore the star?
I worked at a Gulf station after I got out of the service in the 80s.
Full service, and that meant washing windows, checking oil, transmission fluid, tires and what ever the person wanted checked.
It was a good job. Pay wasnt bad, got tips and free auto repair advice the the mechinics. Learned alot about cars and how to care for them. Plus in the summer, we got a peep show when the women came in for gas and washing the windows.
If the woman was good looking enough, she could have her window washed three times by three different gas pumpers.
Pretty cool. Bookmarked for later.
This guy put some time into compiling these pictures and descriptions.
Brings back memories.
We are the Men from Texaco
We wear the Texaco Star We like to think at Texaco We’ve got everything for your car
We’ve got wipers for your windshield’ Plugs n’ Belts n’Tires, too Lubricants and Batteries and polishes for you All the things to keep your engine up to par We’ve got everything for your car
That’s why you can trust you car to the man who wears the Star for the kind of products that can take care of you car At every Texaco Station, clean across the Nation You can trust your car to the man who wears the Star The big bright Texaco star!
Remember me, I was the little kid who asked for a quarters worth of gas and a pack of pall malls for my dad.
Do a search on “Woodland street bash.” It’s June 11th.
That used to be me! :-) I worked at one of the last full-service Gulf stations. Other posters are right - mostly cash, you had to do math and make change in your head, keep your bills straight in your pocket... Pump gas, wash windshields, check oil, check windshield washer fluid, quick kick/look at the tires (I can still spot a low tire from 20 yds away)...and yes, enjoy the view of all the young ladies that came in and didn’t want to pump their own gas... Those were fun, simple days. The only bad parts were cleaning out the restrooms - particularly when the previous shift had blown it off, and pulling doubles when the following shift blew off work entirely.
Right after I came home from Vietnam I was over in Birmingham visiting my girlfriend. Her brother was getting married the next weekend so I helped out by driving his fiance around to order flowers, etc.
She was, in today’s vernacular, “smokin’ HOT” and we were in a loaner Corvette. We stopped for gas and immediately had THREE guys cleaning the windshield. They kept staring at her and then glancing at me, probably thinking “What is she doing with him?”
In the interests of Truth, I came close to saying, “Hey, guys, this is NOT my girl and this is NOT my car.” But I didn’t! ;-)
(My girl was a wonderful, completely beautiful, blond whose cards, letters, cookies and steadfast encouragement got me through Vietnam.)
I can still see in my mind’s eye, the pained expressions on my mother and sister’s faces, as they hurriedly emerged from a Gas Station Ladies Room, purses in hand, and the UGH, as they sat down in the car.
Men are different. They can “relieve’ themselves ANYWHERE.
But for women, the Gas Station ‘Rest Room’ experience is still extant, to this day...
I remember that friendly sounding bell, “ding ding”, as the car would drive over the rubber air hose near the pumps.
I think the Federal inflation calculator is low, and that the true inflation rate would make gas over $2 a gallon. With an average of 53¢ per gallon fuel tax, that means gas is up, but that if we could drill here and break the Arab oil cartel (fat chance, with the oil sheiks paying off Greenpeace and a ton of politicians to block drilling everywhere except the middle east) prices would go back to pretty much the inflation rate of around $2.50, including taxes.
My grandfather owned a Texaco station. Grew up there on weekends. Neighborhood folks would stop by and chat for hours.
I still love the smell of gasoline.
(Super Chief was 35 9/10 per gallon)
This is from before my time, although I've seen a couple of working models. There was a hand pump, and you pumped the gas into the clear container at the top. You calculated how much gas you were purchasing by looking at the gallon markers on the side, then it used a gravity feed to drain into the car's gas tank.
I know a lot of older Freepers know how it works, but some of the younger ones may never have seen one, except one that's been repurposed as a gum-ball machine or aquarium.
I was a little kid traveling with the family and saw it in Missouri for 13 and 9 myself. Probably ‘62 or so.
Long time ago.
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