Life at the Gas Station - 1950s & 1960s America in Color
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- čas přidán 20. 07. 2021
- Take a road trip down memory lane to the local gas station for some fun and fuel. During the 1950's and 1960's gas stations started popping up all over America due to ever increasing car ownership. American's needed somewhere to fill up all those cars right? From the big city to the rural countryside just about every American got to experience this newfound car culture and with it the rise of the gas station.
1950s #1960s #americana
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#1950s #1960s #americana - Zábava
I wish I had a time machine to travel back to that era , then break the time machine and stay there for the rest of my life
I think that would be a regrettable decision as you will then reexperience all the bad things about the bygone era, and you will miss the good things about the present era. We like to see the past with rose colored glasses. But we forget that the frames were made of thorns.
I like brads position. I hear people at work constantly saying they thought things were better in the 50s and 60s.and these people are barely 20 years old. Even if you look up figures on google the standard of living average was far higher back then. People one third my age tell me our generations music was better. Which i find bizarre.
Brad James - great idea! Or how about living in a small town with no Walmart, McDonalds, etc.?
The good old days the grass was greener winters were warmer memories 🎤
Back then in the 60”s in the summer we never locked the doors at night and had screen doors on the front and back porch to let the night breezes flow through the house. Back then you knew every neighbor , what the head of the household did for a living and if you went away your neighbors would watch over your house till you came home. And in the coal mining areas there was a bar and a grocery store on just about every corner
I was born in 1966 and grew up in a small town (population 3000) in the Texas panhandle that had a Conoco station. It was family-owned and operated. They continued offering full service into the 1990s. I can remember going there with my dad to get the car serviced, watching the attendant use the old clothes wringer on the chamois he used to clean the windows, getting a Frostie root beer from the pop machine (glass bottles at 25 cents), and dad getting a pack of Belair Kings out of the cigarette machine (50 cents a pack). They would add a quart of oil
(Quaker State) from the cardboard can you used a punch-in spout to pour from. Once I got my 10-speed bike, I would go up there to get my tire patched when I had a flat. Never charged me for it. When I got my first car (1960 Ford Falcon sedan), that is the only place I went to get gas (when they still had regular leaded gasoline).
Watched gasoline go from 39 cents a gallon to $1.29 a gallon. Mom and Dad called it highway robbery.
It is a downright shame these places don't exist anymore. We have become a society of instant gratification seekers. We don't have time to wait while someone services our vehicle because we are in such an all-fired hurry to go to work, go home, go to the grocery store, go to the restaurant, go anywhere, but we don't have time to stop and have our car serviced and engage in a little friendly conversation.
I don't know if you'll see this. When I started driving (1980) gas was $1.21. I remember the round oil cans. And I remember two types of regular gas. Always burned the cheap stuff. My first car was a '65 Chevy Impala, 4-door! Was like a tank.
Yep they cleaned your windshield, pumped your gas, checked your tires and oil. And those old Coke machines kept bottles so cold. Great memories. Thanks.
Worked at a Standard Oil Station in the early 70's. One of my life's lessons... These truly were Full Service Stations. Elderly people would bring their license plates in. They were regular customers, we would put them on for free. One old guy, very well to do, but also a great guy, tried to tip me. I said, oh, thanks but no, just doin' my job. He gave me allot of free advice, but this time he put his hand on my shoulder and said, "kid, when someone bothers to give you money for something you did for them, you take it. You might think you are just doin' your job, but they obviously think you're doing more than that. If you refuse their tip, you are insulting them, taking away their ability to show their appreciation. Take the money." I took the tip, and I pass the advice on to this day. Man, those were great times! P.S. When a kid initially refuses my tip, I know he/she was raised right.
Please tell me about 60s
@@gregoryryan3088 All I can tell you is I wouldn't trade my time there with any other decade. The cars... I could distinguish and name every make and model from 61-70, still can. And the Good Humor man... Wow, great times.
"It's better to give than receive." That means that sometimes you have to be the receiver so that the giver can feel better.
@@ROGER2095 True enough.
So true!
I always remember riding into a Texaco with my dad and he'd say "fill-er up". I always liked to get a state road map too...My dad lived from 1934-2020 and always believed that he saw the best years that this country ever experienced. I am a firm believer in the fact that he was absolutely correct!! I am 66 years old..born 1955.
I agree! I was born in '51, and grew up in rural countryside of north California, and southern Oregon. We swam and fished in mill ponds. Camped for free at the lakes. Most gas stations throughout the '50's and early '60's would leave the air and water on, free to use, at the pump islands and the restroom doors unlocked!! -Every grocery store had lots of cheap candy, and lots of cheap great comic books for elementary/grade school age kids (not violent/action stuff geared for adult collectors!!). At the local gas stations during the summers, kids could sometimes get 50 cent or dollar patched-up tire innertube for swimming at the lake. The openness and freedom we youngsters had then is a thing of the past. I was in the high school cadet corps (like ROTC), and was able to bring my 22 rifle to the corps campus shooting range. Schools usually didn't interfere with kids making money after school, so we learned better work-ethic, were able to buy our own beater cars while in high schools, and the school parking lots were always full. -Now only about 1/3 full at same school.
You are absolutely right. We all lived in Mayberry
Yes he was the good times are gone forever.
The Greatest Generation.
@@wilobrien9731 Indeed!!
With the way things are nowadays, I sure wish I had a time machine. I grew up during those times and I really miss them. Kids these days have no idea what they missed. Thanks for the memories.
I miss everything about this time,at least we had gas!
I'm hoping after I die I can go back and relocate to 1956.
I was born in 1949, so I got to live in the best times, ever. The 70’s were good too, I’d go back in a heartbeat if I could! 🥰
Was the greatest time to be alive born in 54 I remember when the world looked like these pictures and what great cars. I forgot about the bell that would ring when you ran the hose over. Even worked in a couple growing up.what great memories these flashbacks bring
53 here. Indeed the BEST times!
I worked some of these gas stations while in high school. We gave away everything from dishes, cups, glasses, Coca Cola, S&H Green Stamps and Blue Chip Stamps. A really good time in life. Too bad it went away.
My sisters and I loved getting the international dolls that were offered by our local station. They also provided green stamps!
Back when life was simple and family mattered,I remember when you’d pull up to a full service station and the attendant would have his keys on a retractable cable on his belt and would open the cashbox that was on the end of the island.
Family matters today, just because they don't look like your family doesn't mean they matter any less.
@@dorseykindler9544 Figures the white guy would be the first to get all snowflakey about m
my comment.
@@Jmodderator We've found the resident Woketardian racist in the comment thread.
Beautiful picture, children dressed very nicely, men dressed like men, good manners still existed.
As a child in the 60's I caught the end of this era...That short window between the end of Korea and the beginning of Nam was an amazing era in America...Station wagons, Drive in movies, Sock hops, CYO sports, baseball on the radio...It wasn't a perfect time but it was a fun one...
ROB-IN-PHILLY, you have it right..I was born in 1955 and the years you described are the same ones that I grew up in. We just didn't realize how good they were, until we got where we are today and have to put up with the challenges of today's life..at least we got here..lost a cousin in Vietnam who had been on the ground two months..he was only 21.
@@alanhumphrey4198 The wars we were close to, and lived through i.e. WW2, Korea, Nam were so horrible to the human psyche, I don't think we've ever recovered...Trauma based mind control.
To think they were all based on lies hurts me deep...I'm a USAF vet and I go to the VA now and then, Seeing the guys from the Nam era, is sometimes sad to see...Being a neighborhood guy, I lost family and friends to all those wars...
I am glad we got to experience a great America, even if it was an illusion...Good health and freedom to you and yours.
Well stated IT, you summed it up very well. No decade or time period was perfect and all good and without Social Problems but some stood out as better in many ways. During the 1950s thousands of WW 2 Veterans were home from the War and were married and raising families. The 50s Decade also enjoyed a booming economy and the standard of living was rising. The life saving Vaccines for Polio and Small Pox were developed in 1954-55 to help stamp out those two killer diseases .
Who remembers stacking up 76 Union orange balls on the antenna to the top?
How about the Esso tiger tail also?
I remember seeing "76" orange balls on antennas, but only one, not a bunch of them stacked up.
Oh yeah, I remembered, but I don't think we ever had one
@@benrodeheaver701 - that had to be the best advertising gimmick.
I still have one, never used.
My father had a Texaco station in Tennessee back in the late 1950’s, early 1960’s. It was a great time to visit dad at work for a young kid.
John Parker - gas stations had a certain atmosphere; sort of like a barber shop. with a dear head hanging on the wall. Must have been a guy thing.
John Parker: I'm happy for you. It sounds like you have some great memories. I don't know why, but for me as a young kid, gas stations were always cool places.
My dad had a gas station in the 40s and 50's....It was Shell then Texaco and later Richfield.....it was great fun visiting my dad at work....and there was a bonus...my grandparents lived next door......you were a lucky kid....@John Parker
Great memories for sure
My family had close friends who ran a Texaco station in Beatrice Nebraska at about the same time period. My brothers and I considered them our third set of grandparents. Great memories!
In 1968 I had new VW Beetle. Filled up the gas tank for $5 and ran it for two weeks. Great times!
German engineering!
I grew up then and it was better back then in this country. Actually, much better.
@Hh Bb At least Chicago wasn't a war zone then
Yes indeed! The people who argue with me call me stupid Boomer, say I (we) ruined their lives, times were so terrible in the 1960's. Well, they never lived back in those times and only believe the rewritten history spewed by liberal brainwashed teachers. As long as my draft number never came up, I was a happy cat. Class of 1969. I earned my trophies the hard way and never once got one for participation.
@Hh Bb Absoluely true, I was born in 1949. Life in the USA was not so good for minorities.
@@kimmer6I just found this YT slide show. I enjoyed seeing all the old photos of the way things were when I was young.
my draft number was 13, and my older brother was serving in DaNang, My father was a WWII Marine Vet who saw lots of "action" on many Pacific islands. I was a history major thankful to have a deferment. And , like you said, I like earning trophies. I believe a good work ethic came from winning and loosing, passing and failing, and behappy to earn the 75 cent per hour minimum wage.
@@waterheaterservices Nor were Dayton, OH, Richmond, VA, Kansas City, MO and 18 other cities in the U.S. which outrank Chicago in terms of deaths per capita from firearms.
If only gas stations and cars were like this today
I worked pumping gas from 1967 to 1973 so I know more about it first hand than you'll ever know. '60's cars had "hidden" gas filler caps so I had to know where they were. I had to know HOW to open every car's hood (VERY few interior hood releases) and where the oil and transmission dipsticks were. I had to know where your battery was and how to check it and your radiator and your windshield washer reservoir and fill it. I checked your tires and brought you an ice-cold soft drink from our ice-salt water cooler at 28*F and your "Pop" would turn into a "shlushy" when I opened it! (2 cents deposit for the bottle please!) I was too young (under 21 in OK) to sell you cigarettes but I'd get my driveway manager to bring them and I'd light them with my Zippo.
I was an attendant for quite a few stations and loved every minute of it.
Please tell me about 60s
It's crazy that you had to be over 21 to sell cigarettes when people in the 70's-80's only had to be 16 to buy them in many states
@@hippiebits2071 They even had Cig machines selling packs of your fav brands for 50 cents all over the place, Nobody seemed to care who used the machines.
@@mdnealy4097 Yes, I had forgotten about that. I can remember those machines from my childhood.
With the world getting batshit crazier by the minute I truly enjoy videos like this that remind me of my childhood. "You can trust your car to the man who wears the star." I remember Dad bringing home Texaco Fire Chief hats for me and my brother from the station around the corner. I especially liked the pictures of Boron stations. There was a Boron near us with a two-bay garage run by a nice elderly gentleman. He would fix the flats on our bikes for free when I was a kid. I am ashamed to admit I forget his name. I know there was a lot of craziness in the 60s but it was a great time to be a kid. Thanks for posting.
Glad you enjoyed will be uploading more soon!
Ding ding! That's the sound that rang in the gas station when you ran over the rubber hoses that signaled that a car was pulling in. The attendant washed the windshield, checked the coolant and oil, and tire pressure if you asked. That's why it was called a Service Station. I liked the smell of the sweet smelling gasoline vapor that would waft into the car. It smelled like perfume at times, not like the toxic solvent we have today.
Things were better back then.Politicians we’re still thieves but they hid it better
@@djusmc4764 For sure!
@@djusmc4764 - lol.
I was born in 1972. I watch this and smile and feel a sense of comfort. Some of those ole gas stations still remain sitting derelict. I drive by them and think about a bygone era.
I remember those days as a kid traveling across the country with my mom and dad. My dad was in the military service so everytime he was transferred to a new military base, we got on the road. Was able to see the whole country that way. Life was simple and less chaotic. I wish I could leave the chaos of today behind and go back to those wonderful times.
i, too, was an army brat.
we had little money, so no extras. i loved the free highway maps. my folks liked them, too- probably because they kept me quiet. i scoured them for tourist traps- daniel boone's cabin (tennessee), painted desert (arizona), grand
canyon (arizona). 'can we go see...?' 'no! we can't afford it'.
we did live in tombstone for 2 years, right downtown/uptown (it was and is a very small village) from '59-'61, at the
height of tv westerns. had a mattel fanner 50 and holster; was always on the lookout for bad guys.
Locating one of these old stations in towns across America is one of my favorite pastimes. You won't see them on the Interstates, but drive the US highways and "Old/Historic Route" roads.
Finding one that's still operating is a real thrill - this is Americana at its very best.
We have one still operating in Versailles, KY.
I found one in Maine a few years ago that was an old octagonal Texaco station from the 1920's. The attendant came out with his khaki uniform and police hat and I said to fill 'er up. I released the hood and he checked the oil, washer fluild, and cleaned the windshield. Then he checked the air in the tires. The prices weren't from the 1920's.
Back when everything looks better than it does now.
People certainly dressed nicer that’s for sure.
Cleaner, no graffiti, no rif-raff...
It was called pride.
It not only looked better it was better.
I agree with all of you. I never really thought about things looking nicer but now that you mention that..i know that back then style was an important element with car design. Where it seems to be lacking today. I was born in 1957. Its good to hear good things about the generation i grew up in but in another way its sad. However i know my parents had things much rougher.
In the 50s,my late father owned a Gulf gas station and auto repair shop in Jensen Beach, Florida.
I started driving in the late 70s and just about everything was self-service by then. But I was born in the early 60s, so I do remember a lot of the things mentioned in the video -- especially the universal DING-DING! whenever you pulled into a gas station.
Yes, me too, I was born in 1961 and I got my restricted in 1977 at 16. Wow, times fly's when you are having fun, lol. I think gas was close to about 36 cents a gallon by then.
Sometimes I question if all the "progress" in the last 50 years has been an actual improvement.
Regrading data, it's _definitely_ an improvement; the ability to have the internet and virtually all of human history at your fingertips.
But in almost every other respect, I'm not as sure. Back then we had full service everything, now we have self-service everything. Back then, it was a perfectly FINE job to work at a gas station or a grocery store-all work was admired.
The internet will be the downfall of society. Rather be back then with no computer or cell phone. We lived, were outside a lot, had to think and not just Google it, and when work ended...it ended.
@@ps_nyisgone Social media is probably the most dangerous thing on the web in today's society. Divide and conquer. Never in mankind's history has it been so easy for extremists to align with one another and create havoc. This has taken place on every side that has an angle and just manufactured concern over problems that otherwise wouldn't exist. Will be interesting to see how things turn out I guess.
Back when money had value and an average job could support an entire family. The golden age of America is over. It was a nice run though. America did more for the world than any other entity in history. There was something admirable about the mentality of the atomic age. It was defined by the space race and it permeated every aspect of society from politics to art, to science and industry. People looked up to the sky and questioned rather than looking down to the ground content with the dirt under their feet. Now the west no longer looks outward and to the stars. The youth are lost and led by charlatans and counterfeits capitalizing off the fact that we no longer believe in ourselves as the creators of our own destiny and writers of our own history.
@@Alexandra-zp3gr That is a lovely and well written comment. I think the last sentence you wrote is particularly true. However I think it's been the loss of
tens of thousands manufacturing jobs along with the breakdown of the American family that have played a MUCH bigger role in what we see today rather than it being an issue of inflation. People's expectations have also changed. Most people today wouldn't accept a 1950's lifestyle.
Lets break that down-
Get married STAY married...for better or for worse.
Work your way as a couple to a VERY modest home -Tiny kitchen, no microwave. One shared bathroom for the entire family. One phone on the wall for the household. One TV per household, no cable. Record player in the main room, radio in the kitchen in case the power goes out.
One car per household.
Family trips by car together.
A HUGE percentage of today's population would feel a simple lifestyle revolving around needs rather than wants is equivalent to punishment and repression. Life has gotten expensive because people's expectations of what a good life is have changed. Self esteem is now largely based around what one can buy vrs what they are contributing to society.
@@hippiebits2071 i prefer today
I remember going to the Arco Gas Station close to my house with my dad. As soon as we pulled in Mr. Buddy would come out fill up my dads truck talk with him while cleaning the windows , checking the oil , air presssure and my pop would also buy us a ice cold pepsi. It was still sold in bottles and they were so cold as soon as he pop the cap off ice would form and it was the best tasting drink on a hot summer day. We always called him Mr. Bud and my dad always made sure we said thank you to him. It was the late 1960's and early 70's and things stayed this way up until the gas shortage in the late 70's and things changed. You never had to prepay the gas you filled up first then paid or the employees would pump the gas for you. They were always in uniform and every gas station also had bathrooms and a garage for repairs. My Dad always paid with his charge card that was not electronic and was just manually run and they gave you this see through receipt. It was the greatest time to be a kid then . I miss those days.
Loved it when the gas stations were full service..checked the oil,tires and. Cleaned the windshield...also put gas in the car.We always got a Coke or other snacks...
I make deliveries with my car 8 hours/day 6 days/week. Not ONCE have I had a gas station attendant clean my windshield, and I go to many different stations all over my state. It's pathetic and pisses me off. Im only 34 and grew up in the 90's but I remember my dad getting gas and the windshield would be cleaned every time as well as the tire pressure checked. There's no more personal service. Low standard work ethic.
I'm sure you could have a full service station today, but then again everyone is sue happy these days. I'm sure some a hole would say you scratched their car or did something to make it run bad, and try to sue you.
It's true
Thats when kids were kids...road their bikes
played ball played outside....🇺🇸
Checking the fluids, tire pressure and cleaning windows had a 2 fold purpose. Good service for the customer plus letting us check tire condition, wiper blades, and oil and coolant conditions for needed sales and replacement. It was known as TBA sales. Tires, Batteries, and accessories. And you would be surprised at the neglect of the average motorist regarding these things. There was no need to scam, it was there in abundance.
And to get a good look at the womens legs.
Wasn’t it Great!! Such a Shame what the people takin over are doin to it now.✌️
Everything's gone on a downward spiral.
Around the block from our house there was a different full-service Gas Station at all 4 corners of a major intersection. Texaco, Marathon, Shell, and a Standard Oil. Anybody remember Gas Wars?
We had a small gas station/grocery/hard ware store during the 50's, I remember we sold Mobil gas for 16 cents and Ethyl for 17 cents. Checked the oil, trans.fluid, brake fluid, pumped the gas, and cleaned the windshield. A dollar was a dollar back then.
ABOUT TIME WE GOT AMERICA BACK TO THOSE DAYS AGAIN.
Just not possible, silly boy, you'll never get THAT geni back in the bottle.
@@grantkruse1812 We must try!
I'm afraid there's already too much climate change to heat the planet momentum, we're a lost species. We're all going to go extinct. Not tomorrow, but we've sealed our fate already.
@@Mcfreddo Possibly, if we had a population reduction of about 80 percent man might have a chance.
Amen to getting things back to those days ! Best time in history ! 50s, 60s and 70s
In the Los Angeles/Glendale Burbank area I paid 21 cents a gallon for Shell gas. If you filled up, you got a free smoked glass drinking tumbler. That was around 1968. The expensive gas at other stations might be as high as 31 cents a gallon for ''Ethyl''. In 1971 my hot rod got 4 miles per gallon and 25-27 cents a gallon was what I normally paid. I cruised Van Nuys Blvd a lot back then.
So cool makes you wanna go back to those days
It was Wednesday night at Van Nuys Blvd., right? I remember the posters at Burbank High, "Cruise Cool."
@@josephgaviota I thought Thrs night but it was so long ago.
@@kimmer6 😀 Yes, it was a _long_ way back now !
949 University
Glassware was a popular giveaway item. We used them too! Found a box of Looney Tunes character glasses we got from who knows which station from the 70s.
Outstanding!! Love this time period. I wish I lived back then. Perfect music for the video.
I lived back then and I believe it was THE greatest decade in history.
I changed oil and filters, did lube jobs, changed coolant, did brake jobs 99.9% drum brakes and shoes, fixed flats (including patching TUBES!), replaced points and condensers, plugs and "wars", cleaned oil-bath air cleaners with spun aluminum elements you re-used, re-sealed leaking battery tops with a BIG heated iron, replaced wheel bearings and spindles. I didn't do exhausts or mufflers as I didn't weld, but we had a guy who did. Cheapest gas I ever pumped was 17.3 cents a gallon when they were selling off stocks of leaded regular in September of '75 with 10.5 cents State tax on it. I was part-timing then. We had gone from Hudson to Harbor to Champlin Oil in four years. I think the station closed in '76 thanks to Carter, along with 9 others close by.
This brings back so may memories of my childhood in the 60s and 70s - my dad's best friend and fishing buddy was Charlie, who owned and ran the local Esso station. Three bays, restrooms around back, nickle candy jars, (now) vintage candy/snack machines and 8 ounce sodas of any and every flavor. It was always humming with cars jockeyed in and out for repairs, tune ups, tires, oil changes, etc. I always remember when we would pull up in our Plymouth station wagon (midnight blue with the vinyl woodie panels) or my dad's Fury (he was a Mopar guy), "fill 'er up", the ding ding from the air hose stretching out from the service bay through both pump islands (each with three pumps) and the oppressive humidity or nippy cold air pouring through the windows. Charlie would always greet us by name and lean in the window, grinning and jostling us while handing each kid a piece of Bazooka bubble gum. Full service, of course, with a running patter of conversation, jokes and gossip. I always remember the smell of gas, oil and Windex (with a whiff of honest BO) and the cheery, social atmosphere. Charlie had a baby blue over white C1 Corvette that was always in a state of dis/repair and occasionally he would crank it up, shove all of the greasy rags and parts containers that filled the cockpit into the passenger's floorboard and take us kids for a hair raising spin around the block, Johnny Cash blaring on the am radio. It was a unique time to be alive and yes, automobiles were often the center of culture and social interaction. And me, 5 years old, in short pants and a blond crew cut, stuck in the way back seat in the station wagon, riding backwards and fighting car sickness and no AC or heat. You had to be there to understand it. It was the glorious age of autos and travel. This post brings it all back. Thank you - and the music is particularly good, by the way
I always will remember the Gulf Station my dad always brought his cars to.The mechanic was like family to us
@malthechal How often did he get invited to your house for supper?
Spent my first years in Bisbee AZ. So, when I was about four...so, mid 1960's.... (this is one of those earliest memory things) I recalled my dad worked at a Texaco station located on Highway 80 on top of the hill before it descends down to Bisbee proper. When I asked my mom about it she assured me I remembered correctly. He got a temporary job with that station during a strike (his "real" job was as a mechanic at the Lavender open pit mine in Bisbee) that he took to make ends meet. I remember the station being absolutely clean, orderly, well maintained, bright white with red accents, neatly stacked oil cans for sale, a maintenence/repair garage, and of course the obligatory and ubiquitous soda machines....the kinds with the narrow door opening to the glass bottled goodies inside. And none of that covers the full service you'd expect when you pulled up. Gas for the tank, windshields cleaned, oil and other fluid levels checked, all by the guy (my dad) working the shift. Different times.
When I grew up in the 50s & 60s they were called “service stations because when you pulled up not only did they pump the gas for you they would wash the windshield, check your oil tire pressure, etc. Some offered bonuses like free glasses and other things.
and trading stamps.
The Phillips 66 station in Pasadena, TX was operated by a guy named Rudy Phillips! He sold everything, could fix anything and it was the only place you could buy kerosene, varsol, white gas, and other fuels.
This is a great video! Brought back so many fond memories. It was great seeing all those old cars. To my eye, cars back then had great style and character along with great colors. Today's cars all look the same and are quite nondescript.
Ahh, the memories, the sights, sounds and smells. The cleanliness and friendly service was always homey. What a loss.
Everything looked better in the 50's to the 70's life was good and simple people were friendly and courteous and clean hardly see anyone dressed bad, we shop for grocery's on Saturday $20 you get 3 bags full of goods $5 fills up the tank of my car now you pay that just for one gallon but I tell you we still live in the Greatest country in the world, God bless America.🧡
Have you lived in any other country? I hear that people in many countries consider “theirs” the greatest country in the world. Is everyone right? ;-)
@@gwarlow Do you have any idea how tiresome you Woketardians are?
@@gwarlow No, only the Americans are right!
If I could go back to those times, I would feel like heaven on earth
I grew up in the '80s but have always had a fascination with gas stations from the 50s and 60s. This video was like a treat for my eyes. Good stuff
These were good times. The people at the gas stations loved their jobs, and were eager to do them. I miss those days. Today, people try to stay insulated against "people to people" contact. Back then, folks were always ready to meet you, and treated you like a good friend afterward. Good times.
Oh yeah, vividly remember pulling the early morning 6-10 shift in 1972 (a few years later than these photos), handling 4 aisles, 8 pumps solo, right at the beginning of the a.m. rush hour onslaught on the freeway into Philly. And the 3 bays better be spotless when the owner rolled in at 9. You hustled or you were history, all for $1.60 an hour. Eh, it was 50 years ago, and it kept gas in my VW.
Very cool to spot a '62 Chevy Impala in one of the photos!
Borned in the 60s but still brings back fond memorys.
Born in 65 but remember the full service at gas stations in the 1970s.
The old gas stations do bring back memories
I am 63 y/o and I remember my mom filling up the tank for .25 cents/gal then driving around the corner where she saw another gas station selling for .23 cents/gal and her complaining about it. Damn gas wars…..lol
In the early '60s, my [non-smoking] mom said when packs of cigarettes went over 10¢ a pack, it was just too much, and she'd no longer pick them up for my dad. Imagine, more than $1.00 for a carton of cigs. No More. (eventually dad _did_ quit, after two or three failed attempts)
@@josephgaviota Right now (2022) they are a few dollars from 100 dollars a carton
@@willie6185 _Right now (2022) they are a few dollars from 100 dollars a carton_
Wow, that's CRAZY !! 100-fold increase in my own lifetime!
@@josephgaviota according to my calculations (with help from Siri). In 1965 a carton of cigarettes were 2 dollars and 50 cents. Today (2022) that same carton of cigarettes are just about 100 dollars. So in 57 years that is a percentage increase of 3,900.00 per cent. 3 thousand and 900 per cent increase. Is that right?
There are places in Missouri (Dotties at exit 208 on I-44 in Cuba, Missouri) where you can still get a carton of cigarettes for $17.49 plus tax. So a carton of smokes for 20 bucks!
Missouri has the lowest cigarette tax rate in the nation.
There are also many places in my home town of Amarillo, Texas, where you can still get a carton for under 50 bucks.
Many service stations had clocks, and my mom would always have the kids check the time as we drove by. I loved getting Sinclair soap and toy dinos. I worked in a service station in high school, and the "ding ding" would put two attendants onto every car that came in - checking oil, tire pressure, washing windows. Even had the customer start their car so we could check the automatic transmission fluid after the fill-up.
very cool pics-in high school i worked at the last full service gas station in 1989 in my city- we had a full service lane on the front of the station and all the old ladies would pull up and the bell would sound and i went out there, filed the tank and cleaned the windshield. the gas station closed in 1990. so happy i got to experience that.
Worked at a Gulf station / car wash in the mid 70s. We were located in the auto dealer section of Bedford,OH. Got to see all the new cars every day for the few years I worked there. It was a great time, learned a lot on my first job. Thanks Jack!
From the blame '40s-'70s, my grandparents ran a full service station out of part of their house, in the tiny rural town they lived in. Grandpa also had a mechanic shop building on the same property that he did car repairs for people and sold tires.
When I first started driving in 1968 Pasadena, they still had the ding, and a gas station attendant came running out in his white uniform. Not only did he fill the tank, wash the windshield, check oil and tires, but he brought the credit card holder to my window where I signed and he gave me the carbon copy.
It was similar still in the 1980's in NJ, except no uniform and to get the oil and tire pressures checked a customer had to request it, which many did.
Pasadena, CA or TX?
I always liked to watch the three little marbles chase each other inside the glass dome on the side of the gas pump and the mesmerizing windshield cleaning the attendant would perform. Viewed from the back seat of dad’s 53 ford. I also remember wondering how that liquid made the car move and where it went,I asked my dad and he said that it gets burned up and I remember thinking why isn’t there any ashes to clean out.
You know, that's a good question to this day. Do you suppose that's where all the air pollution comes from?
I was born in ‘64 so yeah mid ‘70’s I still recall a lot of the stuff your vids show .. thanks !
I was born in 1970 and yes I agree, I saw a lot of these same things during the early to mid 70s.
My friends dad owned a gas station in Sanford, FL and we got to work the full service lane one weekend when I visited their home……it was a blast for a couple of 14 year old kids!
In 1972 I was paying 37 cents per gallon in California. In 1973 that almost doubled because of the shortage scam.
As a high-schooler in 1974, I was paying 42¢ at a 76 station in Burbank-and thought it was high. And that was after waiting in line for a half hour. Back when we first learned about OPEC.
As a boy, I used to get gas at Powerine for 23¢ a gallon. I used to drive up to the gas station just to get gas-even though I was like 12 or something. Just like kids would take a note from their mom to the liquor store to buy a pack of cigarettes for her (a neighbor kid, my mom didn't smoke).
I remember that gas shortage in CA. Long lines too! I graduated h.s. In ‘72
@@josephgaviota I lived in Ventura in 74; USA gas was the cheapest there. I think that year it went from 27 cents to 45 cents.
Those were the days the kids of today have no idea what they are missing.
I was born in 1962 and I have always felt like someone who was late to a very nice dinner party and was forced to make due with the leftovers. I have no doubt that life was no less complex then as now, but people dressed better and seemed happy overall and optimistic about the future (boy were they wrong.)
It seemed like with the space program and the 747 the sst although it was scrapped and the style of the 68 corvette the future was more exciting back then. The sky was the limit. Now its all about greedy profit margins and the gm lobby going from state to state with campaign money blocking electric cars and hi speed rail. And producing the mist butt ugly vehicles on the face of the earth and taking jobs overseas and destroying our standard of living.
Afterthought. My dad was a boeing engineer. He said around 1969 that the 737 was a piece of junk back then. Notice thats the only one still being produced from back then and its lately been crashing.
@@robertpolnicky3262 Ive flown old 737s and New ones (NG)...I enjoyed the older ones but everyone hates flying the newer ones!
I worked pumping gas to pay for flying lessons.
@@47colton i know next to nothing about computers and airliners but donald trump seems to make sense. Let the pilots fly the jets. Not the computers.
Yeah, full service even when you said, "gimme a $1 work of regular." As kids, we'd take our flat bicycle tubes to the station to use the water trough to find the leak and the air pump. Fixing our bikes was how we learned about tools and a bit of mechanics.
My uncle operated a Mobil station from 1948 to 1960. My favorite place to be on Saturday morning!
Back in those days, many Mobil gas stations had the flying red horse logo that was called Pegasus. Did your uncle's gas station have this sign?
That brings back a lot of memories. This also brought back the smells.
Well done and you hit all the main points. I live in a rural area and the general store / gas station duo is still alive and well here, In the earliest days (turn of the last century) it was pharmacies that often sold ga.
One minor point about your presentation. You mention that post-war prosperity plus the Interstates got people on the road in 1950s. While construction of the Interstates began in the mid-1950s it was about 10 years before they were well enough connected nationwide to make a difference. It was mostly the prosperity of the era that did it. Also, not one of your shots are from the interstates. All are from small towns
My dad owned a Mobil gas station in Detroit during the 50's, 60's and 70's. Sol's Car Care still exists in the suburbs just outside Detroit although my dad's been gone for twenty years now. Even though I was a girl :-) I still got to pump some gas, clean some windshields, and even check some oil. When I got older I did the books and wrote the checks. Thanks for bringing back good memories
Two things are really striking about this (and other videos from this 1950s time period).... how people are so neatly dressed, and also there are few overweight people and no grossly obese people.
We had class, back then.people actually got dressed up to get on a plane.
I've never seen so many beautiful automobiles in my life
As a small kid in the late 50s and early 60s I remember when the old gas pumps had the round disk on top of the pumps that lit up.
Those glass globes are beautiful pieces of art.
I remember my father would pull up to the gas pumps and say Give me a bucks worth
@@djusmc4764 Yeh...and $5 or less would fill your tank.
I'm from the USA and I just married a wonderful woman from Malta and moved here to Malta. Many of the gas stations here still have pump attendant's and you can still have a doctor come to your house if you're sick. There are still mom and pop stores in almost every neighborhood. I can walk across the street to a little family grocery store and a printer. In many ways I feel I have gone back in time while still being in the present time. Love and Light and God bless you.
50 'likes'!!
We had a Clark station by where we grew up . Us kids would ride our bikes to Clark and buy a 16 oz Pepsi , a candy bar and fifty pieces of 1 cent Bazooka bubble gum . All for a dollar that we saved from our allowance.. Those were the days to grow up in but those days are long gone !!
My father and grandfather ran a garage from 1946 - 1981. I remember pumping gas there in the summers and learning how to do brake jobs. I also remember him coming home from work one day, saying, "They (Shell oil) raised the price of regular to fifty cents. NOBODY is going to pay fifty cents a gallon for gas!" This was in probably '74 or '75.
Yep. I remember gas going to 50 cents. I think it was 75. Dad had a farm and had a 1k gallon tank and pump. He bought " drip" gas for about 20 cents. It was hard on the valves but we burned it in farm trucks.
I started driving in 1967, in 1968, an area of Port Huron Michigan had a "gas price war", I filled up my 63 Ford Galaxie 500 for $0.19/gallon.
Ha! I started driving in 1968 with a 1963 Plymouth Valiant. A junk, but the slant-six engine was easy to work on. Later I had a '66 Ford Custom 500, pretty much your Galaxie with less chrome. 😉
in my town in about 1974 a gas station had 25 cent fuel but more importantly the had a fuel pump set up to dispense " bulk " ( used ) motor oil for 10 cents a gallon . yea us poor / teen people drove worn out , oil slinging jalopies .
Most charming time of all.
Look at all the antiques! Haha.
Seriously, though....the clouds and the sky in general are SO DIFFERENT!
I loved it. Got my first beater car in 1967. At the local gas stations, I could buy seriously cheap patched-up tires and recaps, used car batteries they'd restore, charge and resell for really cheap!. Air and water were usually free and available at the islands when the stations closed (24/7). -Restrooms usually left unlocked after closing. -They considered the practice to be great customer service. High school guys could usually get part time work at the stations (without the schools interfering). Was almost always a well lighted phone booth at every station.
Another thing that was cool, was station workers usually knew most of the neighborhood people, so you could just drop off your car at the station late at night, walk the several blocks back to your house, then call them the next morning, and they'd have one of the guys look at it.
Wow!! Zimmerman's at 4:28, was a grocery store that pumped gas. It was on route 340 in Intercourse, PA. A scene in the movie "Witness" was filmed using the phone booth that was on the front stoop of that building.
I can still smell that wonderful Sunoco 260 that my Dad ran in his high compression Olds Rocket V8.
I was 4 yrs old in 1960 but still remember handing out free Texaco kites to the kids at my Dad's station in Oregon.
I used to get a RC cola at one gas station,some didn't have it
I had a paper route in the 60's and one of my last stops was a gas station. I remember fondly the cool shade on a hot day, and how nice and cold that 10 ounce Coke in the glass bottle was. 10 cents in the machine. I learned a little bit about cars there.
RC Cola is still available btw. Including, if I'm not mistaken, sometimes with sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Maybe just online though.
Most "gas stations" had one or two service bays and a good mechanic which was the real profit center. Gas mark up was usually .02 @ gallon. A good mechanic could make a gas station.
Dad had a Hudson Oil Company full service gas station in Galveston (6600 Broadway) from 1968 to 1985. I enjoyed learning how to be a gas jockey; pumping gas, checking oil and putting air in the customers tires while drinking cold soda with peanuts and pitching quarters during the slow times. Good Times.
Remember no matter what you could always get a job at a gas station and that would actually be a half decent job just so you can go inside sometimes.
Music is especially good on this one.
It was somewhere from 1968 to 1971 that I paid as low as 12-15 cents a gallon for gasoline. It was during one of the "gas wars" that would occasionally occur. Granted it didnt happen often but it did happen. Gas was usually 27 to 32 cents a gallon.
I remember the gas wars when I was a kid in the mid to late 60s. I recall seeing prices between 18 and 21 cents a gallon.
@@itinerantpatriot1196 Yes. It was usually only for a few days and then it would go back up. Seems like it was mainly the small independent gas stations/repair shops rather than the interstate locations of the Gulf's, Texaco's, Conoco's, etc.
@@kingforaday8725 Yeah, we had intersections with competing stations on each corner. Those were the frontline of the gas wars. I also remember when I got my first car, a 1972 Impala, the tank wouldn't even hold $10.00 worth of gas. Right around that time, my friends were all saying they would start walking or taking the bus when the price went to a dollar a gallon. Well, nobody walked or rode the bus, I can tell you that.
A blast from the past. I remember most of these gas stations, the style of the pumps and the Coke machines.
I worked in a Chevron station (Standard oil) in 1970. It was full service and had three grades of gas, regular, premium and custom. The custom blend was for high performance cars. I had a '63 Chysler with a 383 and 4 barrel carb. Bud who had the station said I should only use the custom to clean out the system about once every two months or it would burn the valves. Custom cost 36 cents a gallon.
Great times and many memories.
pumping gas after school in the late 60's, working on you own jalopy after work, cruising on Saturday nights.... man different world back then...
WOULD DO ANYTHING TO RELIVE SOME OF THIS,,,,,,MAN
Wow, thank you for this great video! This brings back fond memories of driving from NY to Florida with my parents in the late 1950s-1960s. There was no I-95 that went all the way down the coast. Instead, we wove a path south on Route 301, US 13, US 17, and US 1. There were rows of gas stations everywhere, often side by side representing all the major brands of the time. Many of these stations would lure customers in with signs that said "Mechanic on Duty", "Clean Restrooms", and "Good Eats", etc. There were also often free give-a-ways and Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper, and Pepsi vending machines. I even remember some stations with shacks on the premises selling fireworks. Brand loyalty in those days was really big, and travelers would seek out the brand of gasoline of their choice; Texaco, Shell, Gulf, Flying A, Sinclair, Humble, Chevron, Cities Service, etc. When my Dad pulled off the road to fill the tank it was always somewhat exciting as I got to get out and use the restroom, get a bottle of pop (soda), and perhaps even buy a souvenir. I really miss those days!
Thanks for an excellent recap! From a Southern boy of your era and I had forgotten some of what you shared.
I've always thought that it was neat to have U. S. 1 running through our county, Toombs County, GA where Vidalia is located...home of the sweet onions.
@@bparrish517 You are quite welcome my friend. I am a from the north by geography but a sourtherner in spirit and heart! Love Dixie..!
I’m surprised that someone hasn’t made the “ it was nice for some people “ comment yet. 😝😝😝😝
My parents would get us in the car and drive from Los Angeles up to Stockton where Grandma lived. I remember so clearly we would be in the back seat sleeping and then we would hear ...Ding Ding Ding Ding as we crossed the bell hose. While they were doing their thing Dad would let us get out and stretch our legs a bit before we were off again. Good times...
My dad was an owner/operator of a Standard Oil full service station from the 50's thru the 70's oil crisis and finally managed to get the hell out in the 80's after Standard Oil and a cut rate station down the street had made it impossible for him to make a living any more. I worked weekends at the station to pay off a drum set that dad had bought me when I was in 9th grade. He forgave payment on the last half of the "loan" and I realized later it was because my mom didn't like the "language" (including my dad's) that I was picking up at the station, and put her foot down about me working there any more.
The station became a barber shop after dad sold it, and it has recently been torn down for a hugely inappropriate apartment complex in the historic two-block long downtown district of our hometown. My father found work with the county works department in a union job with excellent heath, retirement and pension benefits and he never looked back.
"The Real McCoy's" cafe and Shell station, as seen at 4:39, was located in Black River Falls, Wisconsin on U.S. Hwy. 12. I stopped there with my parents for lunch while on a vacation to Canada in the summer of 1966.
Living back then, everything seemed pretty average, boring even, just normal days....now I look back and think some of the most perfect days of my life were some of those "boring" days back then.
I wonder if I am still experiencing peak moments right now, but I still am not realizing how good some of today's "average days" really are... Appreciate every moment! Every era is unique, has it's good and bad, but you can never go back, so appreciate the moment.
Many of the social changes over the years hasn't been organic. Marketeers and propagandists have been tilling the soil and planting many seeds over the years.
What beautifully restored photographs! I love these! Does anyone remember the movie "Pleasantville"? In that, Tobey Maguire went back to live in a 1950s sitcom and was amazed when he saw the Texaco men run out and surround the car to fill it up and make it gorgeous.
My dad used to lift me up so I could reach down in the big old red Coca-Cola ice chest on the porch of our local gas station. I would always pull me out an ice cold Strawberry Nehi.
Our gas station gave out dishes. The attendant was such a dear - he'd ask my mom what she was missing out of the set, and he'd go see if he had one.
I remember people used to tie those tiger tails around their car aerials to help them find their car in the parking lot. Our town was so little it was totally unnecessary, but back then I didn't realize that people ever left town to do any shopping.
Thanks so much for this. It brought back many memories. I had completely forgotten that "ching" when you ran over the hose at the station.
Worked at a Cleveland filling station before college in summer of '72; remember playing hunt the filler as a lot of cars from the 60's had them hidden behind the rear no. plate or disguised as a reflector. The worst fillers were on Rovers, Jags and TR's on the top of the bootlid deck area where they filled very slowly and blew huge amounts of fuel back all over the paint.Came full circle when I became a tanker driver in 2000 for BP and Shell.
I liked the smell of gasoline in the 1950's. It had a sweet smell. Somewhere in the 60's they started putting in additives and it changed the smell of gasoline.
Me too. & the smell of lighter fluid.
When you look at these photos or watch old movies look at all of the wooded areas, farm fields, vacant land. Virtually every one of these are gone, replaced by developments, malls, strip malls, vape shops, dollar stores etc Imagine not feeling congested all the time and having much more nature to look at. Yes, life was better.
We couldn't pump gas ourselves, and gas was 30 cents and we fill it up on five bucks, they'd check your oil and clean your windshield, too.
This brings me back, digging the blues rock music.
As a child in the 60's, it was a treat to go with my dad to the local Sinclair gas station. The friendly gas station attendant always had a treat for us. Sometimes a bar of green dinosaur shaped soap, a glass, plastic toy dinosuars or a sticker. These little giveaways made us kids very happy. Thanks for sharing this wonderful video and the memories it brought back.
The dinosaur was a popular emblem
In the early 80’s I taught in a Private school in NY . I asked one of the little girls what she did for the weekend and she said we flew on daddy’s jet..and I laughed and said oh how nice. Then another day for ‘Show & Tell’ she brought in a picture of her and her sister sitting at the bottom of a winding staircase
With a huge bronze statue of a Horse..I said where was this..she said at my house! I then went down to the Administrator and asked who the little girl’s family were..She smiled and said Oh Christine Sinclair..her father is from the Sinclair Oil Dynasty! My mouth dropped open..I never knew because her mother was always so personable and friendly.
@@JustMe-vo9bq That is such a nice story! I met an old timer many years ago at a car show and he said he knew Harry Sinclair. He also made mention of what a nice man he was. He passed the kindness down to his descendants.
@@gmpny3945 thank you for an equally nice story.. Over the years, I heard many nice things about them..
I always liked to see the Sinclair dinosaur...
I miss cars with the gas tank filler behind the license plate.It didn't matter what side of the aisle you are.
@ fred flame-- I bought a new Chevrolet Monte Carlo in 1977. This car had the gas cap behind the license plate, so it didn't matter that side the gas pump was on.
My brother lives in Oregon. It is against the law to pump your own gas. There are people hired to give you the same service as was available in the 1950s-60s.
Is that right
New Jersey is the same way. All of the gas stations there are full service.
I was 6 years old in 1950. I think the best thing for me was the Cold soda machine, you put a dime in and get your favorite soda pop. We sure don’t have any full service gas stations or if there are any they are few and far between.
Full service gas stations are still required by law in New Jersey and Oregon.