OLD GAS STATIONS

Many Americans remember when there was full service, service stations.

There would be a shabby wood framed screen door on a shabby office with a worn out cluttered desk. There would be the kind of magazine's mothers would not allow in the house (or at all).

There were old balding tires,stacked along a wall waiting for a derelict wheel to be mounted on.
The work area would have open wood beams with old fan belts of every size hanging from the rafters.

There would be greasy wood workbenches with peanut butter jars with all sorts of nuts and bolts to search through. There would be long lines of license plates nailed along the outside wall siding.

There were racks with oil cans, remember those? The attendent plunged the spout into the metal top forming a perfect funnel.

Off the original topic but in keeping with the last posting, petrol prices are quite extraordinary here in Australia. A quick conversion with current prices here at AUD$1.50 per litre, would be approx US$5.25 a gallon. Still, we're both getting ripped off - I saw a guy fill up a chevy in Dubai last year for the equivalent of around $20...

Those "visible" gas pumps are worth a fortune now.

See the lever on these pumps? It is an actual hand pump. By pumping the lever it would fill the beaker. No electricity needed.

The operator would fill the glass beaker at the top of the pump. It had a ruler that was marked in gallons with the large numbers at the top. When the auto took on the fuel from the beaker the gas level could be seen lowering on the ruler.

It may start with five gallons in the glass top and as it drained from gravity you could stop at say, 3 gallons and you could figure you had an honest 2 gallons.
I would not want to be around if someone hit and knocked one of these pumps down with an out of control auto.

The fuel would spill from the broken glass beaker onto the station floor, a lot more people would smoke in those days so there could be lit cigarette embers.
A huge inferno could result. It was before my time but I remember as a child there was one on the farm.

I do remember the pinwheel that would be in the small glass globe about the size of a golf ball on the more modern pumps in the fifties.
The pinwheel would spin during filling and it seemed so much more natural to see the golden liquid make the pinwheel spin.

In 2008 we have quartz diode numerals to read and magnetic strip cards.
I think it a Dodge or Plymouth from the forties under the awning.

This place is in my town. It was a Chevy dealership for a long time, now it sits vacant. I've always thought I'd like to do something with it; a 50's style diner, a Duesenberg dealership (lol) or maybe a combination diner and hot rod consignment shop. It was built in 1912, 22,000 sq. ft. its for lease.

Could you still get your car serviced at that station?

People have been complaining about the rising price of gasoline recently, but I have always thought that gas was a good value (especially if you were to take the $0.30, $0.40 per gallon tax off at the pump)! Obviously others need a little convincing. So the article in this week's "Auto week" magazine brought it all to light. What if you were to buy a gallon of . . .

- Diet Snapple 16 oz for $1.29 = $10.32 per gallon
- Lipton Ice Tea 16 oz for $1.19 = $9.52 per gallon
- Gatorade 20 oz for $1.59 = $10.17 per gallon
- Ocean Spray 16 oz for $1.25 = $10.00 per gallon
- Quart of Milk for $1.59 = $6.32 per gallon
- Evian (water) 9 oz for $1.49 = $21.19 per gallon
- STP Brake Fluid 12 oz for $3.15 = $33.60 per gallon
- Vicks Nyquil 6 oz for $8.35 = $178.13 per gallon
- Pepto Bismol 4 oz for $3.85 = $123.20 per gallon
- Whiteout 7 oz for $1.39 = $254.17 per gallon
- Scope 1.5 oz for $0.99 = $84.84 per gallon

So next time you're at the pump, be glad your car doesn't run on Nyquil or Scope or Whiteout!

Did you hear the one about the woman who begged her husband to take her somewhere expensive for a change? He drove her to the corner gas station.

"FILL-ER-UP, nnn, check the oil to, and not thru the cowl fillers please"

I would like to point out some of what I thought was of interest . The stairs at the right lead up to the second floor waiting room. It is reminiscent of a airport observation room ; note the sloping glass windows to cut out the reflections. There were also M&L rest rooms up there! 31631F Henry

National chain,

A Cord gassing up at a Wright-designed station. Very appropriate.

A pillarless pillar station, very FLW. And very cool! <!-- s8) --><img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_cool.gif" alt="" title="Cool" /><!-- s8) -->

August 2007, enroute to Auburn --- Moonshadow is gassing up at the only gas station ever designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. (Obviously, many liberties have been taken since it was designed in the 1920s.)

It's in Cloquet MN. Henry Portz watches the pump.

We did Route 66 last year from Chicago to LA. and saw many along the way. Didn't take a ACD car but a 67 corvette. Next April 09 we are going to do it in a L-29 Cord.
CORDially Mike

I always try to photograph vintage gas station buildings when I run across them. Here are a few from around northeast Ohio:

That Gilmore station came about in large part by the efforts of our very own Dick Saddler. He lives very near there and was on the Gilmore Museum Board at the time.
CORDially Mike

I think the Gilmore Museum should run it as a working station. Even if they have to charge more than national chains (BP, Marathon, etc.) it'd be cool to have a working "old-timey" station on the property.

Hey, that station looks familiar. There was no gas.



Just a neat photo op.

Three generations of gas pumps at that island.

I love this. I remember doing the same thing. Jumping on the hose to get the bell to ring!

GAS STATION GALLERY