Old Filling Stations

:no:I don't remember any of that as I am way too young to remember such things.
 
I can remember my Dad giving some quarters and the two gallon can and having me walk up to the corner to get it filled up and remind me to bring him the change.

Also remember putting $5 in the car and having it damn near filled up.
 
Service at a gas station??? Not in these modern enlightened days...

They make me feel like a criminal when I pay in advance with cash and pump the fuel myself...and it's their stinking rules.
 
My great aunt just shut down her full service station about a month ago. Though I think there was a high demand for it, especially amongst the older crowd. I think her decision to go "cash only" was the deal breaker.
 
I am way too young to remember that! If only gas and service like that were that cheap now.
 
I recognize some of these. The first one, with the B-17, is now a restaurant just south of Portland. The airplane is still there, though in a pretty sad state of repair (Google Map image here).

The Chevron station on Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, CA, was called "Casa de Petrol" because it was next to a swanky car dealership named "Casa de Cadillac".
 
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I've been to at least two of those stations. I think I've been to another one but it's been a looooooooong time. Sweet memories.
 
Unfortunately I was guilty of providing full service as a teenager working my way through high school. My step up in the world was lineboy. The airport manager stopped a couple of us from a disaster when he refused to let us empty the sanitary tank on some old tricycle round engine charter. We already had the pickup with a ladder and a 55 gal. drum parked under the rear end of this thing.
One would ask , what were you thinking? We were thinking about that $10 tip. That would be $5 each!

:rofl:
 
1958 I worked a Shell station on Rt 17 in NJ and Pumped hightest at 15 cents per gal, and regular at 9 cents. did the whole full service thing too.

farm gas delivered to my dad tank on the farm, was 8 cents per gallon.
 
Yes I remember it well. Regular was 29.9 cents and ethyl was 34.9 and my first job paid $1.15 / hour.
 
As I was getting gas today in -15 degree weather I wondered if the full service station couldn't make a come back?

If full service was say .25 more than self service would you pay it?
 
ronnieh said:
Yes I remember it well. Regular was 29.9 cents and ethyl was 34.9 and my first job paid $1.15 / hour.
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So an hour of labor (pre tax) would get you 4 gallons of gas. Around here 4 gallons of gas costs 12 bucks, which is not much above above minimum wage, ant not an unheard of starting wage.
 
Alexb2000 said:
If full service was say .25 more than self service would you pay it?
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Not a chance. Some bored under trained drone worker is likely to screw things up more than get it right then it would be vehicle maintenance in addition to jacked up prices.

Besides, $0.25 cents is less than the current deviation in fuel prices over a 10 mile daily drive nowadays - on the same day. (Prices along that drive today was $2.93 to $3.59 - WTF????) I use to be able to fill the Cherokee 180 up for less than I pay for a tank of gas in the jeep now and until they bring the prices back down to a civilized level, they can take a running leap if they expect me to voluntarily pay more for the same ethanol contaminated fuel.

And what the heck is up with the xx.9 cent price anyway? There is no way any part of the financial system in this country is set up to pay partial cent prices on anything that you buy. Everything will be rounded up, so why lie about the price being 1/10th of a penny cheaper other than some marketing ploy.
 
Mason said:
My Dad did that and ended up coasting empty into a place where it was 50 cents.
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I did that myself... The cheap one, a Good Gulf, was at the bottom of a hill on the opposite side of the road. I coasted down the hill, crossed the traffic, and stopped about 10 feet shy of the pump. I think gas was around 20 cents.
 
My very first job was at my dad's Enco station. Full service! Enco was formerly Esso and later became Exon.

Great photos that bring back very fond memories! Thanks for posting!
 
When I was young, before I was driving, I remember there being an "ethyl" type of gas (guessing this was the old name for the "premium" of today) and "regular". I only took notice of gas prices once I started to drive and remember it going over $1.00/gallon around 1980. Geez... some of you guys are really old. :eek:
 
When I was in college (and on a very limited budget) I would always say, "Fill it or $5, whichever comes first." I always got change back. :sigh:
 
In addition to the bomber station, the next few pictures have another aviation tie in. The Gilmore Gas company sponsored Roscoe Turner's barnstorming. As part of this promotion, Roscoe travelled with Gilmore the lion. Initially a cub with his own parachute, he eventually became a full grown lion. When Gilmore died he as stuffed and the Turners kept him in their house until he was donated to the Smithsonian.

There's a cardboard cutout of Gilmore near Roscoe's RT-14 at the Udvar-Hazy Center. Gilmore is in cold storage awaiting the funds to construct a refrigerated display case for him. They did trot him out for some photos at one point:

WEB10861-2008_640.jpg
 
Amusingly the 26 cent gas appears to be about 1953 or so (just by eyeballing some of the cars there). A Chevy Belair in 1953 would run you about $1800. A 2013 Chevy Impala will run you about $30,000. If you index the price difference in cars the gas price in today's $$ would be $4.30.
 
There was a fantastic old Exxon or Mobile or one thing station in Truro Mass what a great old station white painted cedar shake shingle building, two older guys a dick and ray sat out front of the building in thier lawn chairs, signs hand painted on wall and they sold these great frozen Milky Way or snickers bars out of the old freezer. The state enviormrntal people helped kill it along with the fuel company who demanded they modernize put a new canopy up etc. it is missed.

I'm told station owners can make any money on fuel as the margins are insanely low and that's why so many are now attached to convince stores, doughnut shops etc.
 
flygirl34q said:
When I was young, before I was driving, I remember there being an "ethyl" type of gas (guessing this was the old name for the "premium" of today) and "regular". I only took notice of gas prices once I started to drive and remember it going over $1.00/gallon around 1980. Geez... some of you guys are really old. :eek:
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Ethyl is short for the Ethyl Gas Corporation (formed by GM and ESSO). Yes, it became synonymous for premium gas. They sold an additive to raise the octane of auto gas that was a combination of tetra ethyl lead and ethylene dibromide. The higher grade gas was called Ethyl as a result. The company still exists today, as part of the NewMarket Corporation.
 
A little thread drift here. In 1972 an ounce of gold would purchase about 17 barrels of oil. In 2011 an ounce of gold would buy about 19 barrels of oil. As you can see oil is cheaper now than in 1972. People seem to think oil is way too high now but, in reality is is quite a bargain. The problem is not the price of commodities but, rather the decline of the dollar which is used to price most commodities. If you think commodities are high now just wait untill we borrow another 2-3 trillion dollars and print the money to pay the interest.
 
slacktide said:
So an hour of labor (pre tax) would get you 4 gallons of gas. Around here 4 gallons of gas costs 12 bucks, which is not much above above minimum wage, ant not an unheard of starting wage.
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Don't confuse 'em with facts.
 
As a youngster, we traveled a lot by car. Every summer we were on the road for at least a month, and sometimes more. Many of those old stations in very remote areas lasted well into the 60s. I recall one in Big Pine CA on 395 that said 'next gas east 181 miles'. We went past it a few times and each time the mileage was crossed out and a higher number was there.
 
Geico266 said:
Remember when 4 guys would come out and wash your all your windows, check your oil, tire pressure, and fill your car with gas for free?

Remember when gas was $.26 a gallon?

http://hipspics.freewebspace.com/gas/gas.html
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The one gas station in the town I live in still has full service. Only one guy, though. And it's not very much more expensive than the cheap station in the next town.

That $0.26/gallon price is comparable as a fraction of wages to today. It still costs 2-4 hours (median) salary to fill a tank.
 
flyingron said:
Ethyl is short for the Ethyl Gas Corporation (formed by GM and ESSO). Yes, it became synonymous for premium gas. They sold an additive to raise the octane of auto gas that was a combination of tetra ethyl lead and ethylene dibromide. The higher grade gas was called Ethyl as a result. The company still exists today, as part of the NewMarket Corporation.
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And where did EGC get that name?

That gasoline had extra tetraethyl lead additive. Ethyl is a chemical group (HC3-CH2-??). Gasoline not called that anymore because TEL has been banned for decades, and first started phasing out in 1973.
 
fgcason said:
Service at a gas station??? Not in these modern enlightened days...

They make me feel like a criminal when I pay in advance with cash and pump the fuel myself...and it's their stinking rules.
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Those rules aren't their fault. It's society's fault, a society that indulges kids so much that they grow up with an attitude of entitlement that, for some, becomes an attitude of take-it-and-run. Their insurance companies also have a dim view of letting folks have gas for nothing, and hate having to pay for attendants that confront the thieves and get maimed or killed. In BC, Canada, the law requires pay-at-the-pump or pay-before-pumping, simply because a couple of people got killed trying to prevent gas and dashes.
 
Alexb2000 said:
As I was getting gas today in -15 degree weather I wondered if the full service station couldn't make a come back?

If full service was say .25 more than self service would you pay it?
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Move to NJ ;)
 
Remember all the free stuff the gas stations would give you with a fill up? Green Stamps, a set of drink glasses, free car wash.
 
Geico266 said:
Remember all the free stuff the gas stations would give you with a fill up? Green Stamps, a set of drink glasses, free car wash.
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My first full set of silverware was collected from Standard stations.
 
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