Off Topic but The "Medicare Mob" will enjoy.

For those of you who are old enough to remember how it was before "pay at the pump" became the norm.

http://groups.msn.com/harleytechtalk/general.msnw?action=get_message&mview=0&ID_Message=1068974&LastModified=4675610316038248307

I like the station thats looks like plane. The one wearing a hat is cool too.

Yes, very neat....I have even bought Gas at a station like that for as little as .17 cents a gallon. And that was during what else, a GAS WAR in the good old '60's

Jim Pollock

the lowest i ever saw it was 11.9 cents at the harbor gas station main & sepulveda in wilmington ca in 1958/59 (it was a self serve)...sign said we serve ladies only...filled up my old 50 ford for less than 2 dollars

I recognize two of them right away. One is in Arizona and the other Florida.I also have a large picture collection off gas pumps and stations.
Ed

>Yes, very neat....I have even bought Gas at a station like
>that for as little as .17 cents a gallon. And that was during
>what else, a GAS WAR in the good old '60's
>
>Jim Pollock

You must be a lot older then me! the least I ever paid for a gallon of gasoline was .19 cents, but the station gave away dishes.

Rich_I

Does anyone remember when the ".9" on the end wasn't automatically part of the price per gallon?

Larry Fulwider

>Does anyone remember when the ".9" on the end
>wasn't automatically part of the price per gallon?
>
>Larry Fulwider


Nope. I sure don't. But I got my license in '86.

>Does anyone remember when the ".9" on the end
>wasn't automatically part of the price per gallon?
>
>Larry Fulwider

You bet! In Stanford, KY at the intersection of US 27 and US 150 there was a station on each corner. I remember one weekend when we were visiting my Grandparents near Somerset, and Dad stopped to fill up the '49 Merc; pretty sure it was 1951 or 1952, and they were having a "price war". The highest price was 11.7¢ and the lowest was 10.8¢, and Dad just naturally got the Gulf Regular at 10.8¢. Anyone else remember that the Gulf gas always smelled "different" from the other brands???

That same year, I can remember Mom complaining to Dad that hamburger was up to 13¢ a pound, and she didn't know how she was going to stretch the food budget. (You found a penny on the sidewalk, you !@#$ well gave it to your Mom!)

That does raise another interesting comparison. At least as far back as the early '50s, there's been a very close correlation of the prices of Regular Gasoline and 15%-fat Hamburger. So the next time you're tempted to bash "big oil" for price gouging, check the price of good Hamburger at your local supermarket.

No, I am not and never have been in the employ of a major oil company, and I get just as provoked as any of you when some !@#$ Arab sneezes and the price of gas jumps 30¢!!!

>Does anyone remember when the ".9" on the end
>wasn't automatically part of the price per gallon?
>
>Larry Fulwider

Or better yet,

Does anybody remember a price like 9.3 cents, 11.7, or anything other than .9?

To me, it seems like at some time in history, there actually were tenths of a cent other than 9.

The big question is, now that the tenths are in the 4th digit, isn't it time to phase it out? Maybe we can do that along with the word "unleaded", which became universal over 30 years ago.

I remember. I actually remember gasoline at $.10 a gallon, and during a GAS WAR (another thing of the past), it got down to $.07.. That was in Jerseyville, Illinois, in 1957, a mere 50 years ago!

Those quaint "filling stations" had gas, oil, cokes, candy bars, and cigarettes. No nachos, no beer, no frosties, and NO LOTTERY TICKETS!

And when I got my first Porsche 914 in 1972, I could fill the tank for $7..

Dang, I'm SO old.

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"The infinite is a concept which corrupts and upsets all others." -Jorge Luis Borges

Larry,
Jerseyville Ill had a beautiful grass strip that I used to fly in & out of. Some of my aerobatic friends had airplanes there. They had a logo on their airplanes called the "Brew Angels" It was a fun bunch, foR sure!

Tom,

Amazing. I was born in Carrollton and lived in Jerseyville until 1957 when we moved to New Mexico. I don't remember any model flying field there, but I do remember my Dad and I watching some CL flying at the fairgrounds.

I don't know how long ago you were there, I still have relatives there. I've Google Earth'd it, tracing my steps walking to school, playing baseball, putting pennies on the train track, etc. My aunt Melba tells me the Green Leaf Inn I remember is long gone. There was a "filling station" (as we called them) right opposite the Green Leaf, and that is where I remember seeing the 7 cents a gallon gasoline..

I really like the photos linked to in this thread and have to thank CircleJerk for pinging us old folk with some pleasant memories.

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"There comes a time in every man's life and I've had many of them." -Casey Stengel

Which company was it that had blue gas? Was it Skelly or Sunoco?

>Which company was it that had blue gas? Was it Skelly or
>Sunoco?
///////////////////////////////////

Sunoco

mk

>>Which company was it that had blue gas? Was it Skelly
>or
>>Sunoco?
>///////////////////////////////////
>
>Sunoco
>
>mk
>

True, and it burned quite well in the old Chevy "Blue Flame Six".

Hey,

Don't laugh - the first Corvettes had the Blue Flame Six - essentially a GM truck motor. ((Well, also a Biscayne motor too..)) That idea did seem to work pretty well, my Austin Healey 3000 had a six cylinder Austin truck motor, which at least made a pretty sound.

Here's another grin for you. My dad was a Nash man, and owned several. I liked the 53 Ambassador the best, it certainly was a quality car:

[photo not recovered: 22200.jpg]

And IT had a JetFire Six! Dad used to refer to it as a BelchFire Six.

[photo not recovered: 22201.jpg]

[photo not recovered: 22137.jpg]

"If a cat spoke, it would say things like 'Hey, I don't see the *problem* here'." -Roy Blount Jr.

My high school sweetie's mom had a 1952 Nash. The seats folded down to make a bed. Her mother wouldn't let her use the car after dark.


Little did she know.

Lowest price I can remember is 10.9 or 11.9. The gas tax was either 10 or 11 cents even back in the early '50's here in NC, so the gas was actually .9 a gallon!

I could always buy gas at Service Distributer for 24.9 when I first started driveng. Gas wars drove it down sometimes, but not too many in this particular area.

Big Bear <><
Character: It's what you do when no one else is watching.

Remember pulling in for "a dollar's worth" (which dang-near filled the tank) while at the same time having some guy wash your windshield and check your oil?

Tank full, it was then off to McDonald's, sweetheart-of-the-month at your side, for 15-cent hamburgers and 10-cent fries. (Unless you were rolling in dough; then it was Bob's Big Boy for 50-cent double-deckers.)

Mike Keville

>Remember pulling in for "a dollar's worth" (which
>dang-near filled the tank) while at the same time having some
>guy wash your windshield and check your oil?
>
>Tank full, it was then off to McDonald's,
>sweetheart-of-the-month at your side, for 15-cent hamburgers
>and 10-cent fries. (Unless you were rolling in dough; then it
>was Bob's Big Boy for 50-cent double-deckers.)
>
>Mike Keville

When the "rare" opportunity presented itself, and I had $5, I would fill up the tank, get the 17 cent CHEESEburgers w/fries, and shakes, then take her to the movies and get Cokes and Popcorn, Mike and Ikes, Goobers, Raisinettes, etc., ! At the end of the weekend I still had money!

On the "off" weekends, it was the Drive In, only $1 a car.

Big Bear <><
Character: It's what you do when no one else is watching.

You guys are making me smile a lot. Yes, WHO stops and gets a dollar's worth nowadays. You couldn't start and stop the pump fast enough!

In the early 60s my brother Lewis had a paper route; initially he was doing it on a Cushman Eagle. Soon he got a Honda Dream (250cc I think), which was jewel after the Cushman experience.

One morning I got up at 3 AM, helped Lewis roll papers, and rode on the Dream with him on the paper route. But first we had to get some gasoline. Lewis made a route to a couple of closed gas stations in Tularosa, and filled the tank simply draining gas from the nozzles! I was amazed, and he said that he did it regularly, getting almost all his gasoline that way.

[photo not recovered: 22137.jpg]

"The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism." -Wole Soyinka

11.9 gas war in Chicago in the 60's, engine heated up from it though. I think it was mixed with white gas that was cheaper then automobile grade. Paid 13.9 in Boston right across from the entry gate at Fort Banks anti aircraft missle base, special price for enlisted grades only in the fifties. Also bought Hess at 11.9 in the seventies but that was when they were selling by the litre after they first came top the US. How about high prices. I paid 1.75 per gallon in Germany in 1951 to fill my Zundap 750 cycle. That was 7.47 Marks.
By the way used to go to Nantasket beach in the rumble seat of my uncle Edward's Ford. He was the guy that drank two raw eggs for breakfast every morning.
Jon Ramsden
<@_@>

One of my three after school/weekend jobs was at a Standard Oil Station (1949 - 53) that looked exactly like one in the pictures.

Hot rods and girls soaked up everything I made at the three jobs.

I sure remember the gravity feed pumps. My dad had a feed mill, but also sold gas and coal oil. We had pumps for regular, ethyl, and white gas; then an above-ground tank for coal oil. One of the pumps would dispense one gallon with each rotation of the handle. The others had the glass container with the calibrated markings. I remember that some people would stand on the running board of their vehicle so they could eye the graduations more accurately and make sure we weren't cheating them Those were the days.......Glen

> ... some people would stand on the running board
>of their vehicle so they could eye the graduations more
>accurately and make sure we weren't cheating them ...
>//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
>
>Now we'll get some inquiries from the younger folks:
>"What's a 'running board'?"
>
>Mike Keville

Uh, Uncle Mikey........ any experience with a rumble seat???????



Big Bear <><
Character: It's what you do when no one else is watching.

Once.

MK

I remember as a kid in the early 50's som e gas stations that had two glass tube / tank affairs, one either side at the top of the pump. The guy would pump (by hand) one would fill, then empty into the car and the other would fill.

Hmmm - LONG time ago!

Charles

Strangely enough, I remember some gas stations having the glass tank thingies when I was in grade school (late 60s/early 70s), but they were a lot smaller, and I think they were for motorbikes. Made it easier to mix in the 2 stroke oil accurately. These days, it seems, most of the little bikes have on-board oil tanks and mix-on-the-fly, so the glass things are gone. Sometimes the ratio is wrong and the bike looks like its fogging for mosquitoes. Once in a while I see someone riding an old Vespa. Those things used to be everywhere.