Old Filling Stations

I also found out after I hopped out and pumped gas at a couple of stations out there, that Oregon doesn't have self serve either (and I lived in NJ).
 
EppyGA said:
Move to NJ ;)
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Pilawt said:
Or Oregon ...
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The first time I ran into that silliness in Oregon in 1981 the attendant darned near broke my arm as I was reaching for the nozzle to fill up my car. I suggested that there wouldn't have been a problem if he hadn't taken so darned long to get there. NJ and Oregon are the only two states where I am incompetent to pump my own gas. Better gas station attendant lobby in the legislature?
 
Ghery said:
The first time I ran into that silliness in Oregon in 1981 the attendant darned near broke my arm as I was reaching for the nozzle to fill up my car. I suggested that there wouldn't have been a problem if he hadn't taken so darned long to get there. NJ and Oregon are the only two states where I am incompetent to pump my own gas. Better gas station attendant lobby in the legislature?
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Same thing happened to me back in 02 when I drove to Aurora Or to Pacific Coast Avionics to buy my panel.... I had NO idea there was such a law,, so, it is the middile of the night. I pull into a gas station, hop out and take off the gas cap and reach for the fuel nozzle on the pump.... HUGE mistake... this attendant practically tackles me and starts screaming at the top of his lungs... FREAKED me out completely..:yikes::yikes::hairraise:
 
N801BH said:
Same thing happened to me back in 02 when I drove to Aurora Or to Pacific Coast Avionics to buy my panel.... I had NO idea there was such a law
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Here's the law; fortunately it exempts aviation fuel:
ORS 480.330 Operation of gasoline dispensing device by public prohibited; aviation fuel exception. An owner, operator or employee of a filling station, service station, garage or other dispensary where Class 1 flammable liquids, except aviation fuels, are dispensed at retail may not permit any person other than the owner, operator or employee to use or manipulate any pump, hose, pipe or other device for dispensing the liquids into the fuel tank of a motor vehicle or other retail container.
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N801BH said:
Same thing happened to me back in 02 when I drove to Aurora Or to Pacific Coast Avionics to buy my panel.... I had NO idea there was such a law,, so, it is the middile of the night. I pull into a gas station, hop out and take off the gas cap and reach for the fuel nozzle on the pump.... HUGE mistake... this attendant practically tackles me and starts screaming at the top of his lungs... FREAKED me out completely..:yikes::yikes::hairraise:
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Now that's what you call customer service. :goofy:
 
I also remember cars that got 6-8 miles per gallon.

Cleaning my 170's carb today, it had red fuel in it. :)
 
Mercy me.

Cheapest gas I recall pumping was at the Shamrock self-service, $0.29.9 (three cents helper than the Enco /Exxon full serve next block); cheapest I bought for my own use, $0.41.9.

There was a traditional full service, service station (including full mechanical, tires, the works) very nearby, and I assumed they were in it for the long haul when they remodeled the place to be a Shell after Texaco ceased to exist as a genuine brand. I think the owner desired to retire, though, and it closed quite suddenly recently, and has become a dental clinic. Sad loss.
 
SCCutler said:
it closed quite suddenly recently, and has become a dental clinic.
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Our law firm's building was formerly a Humble Oil filling station going back to the 1940s. When I joined the firm in 1999, the restroom doors were still metal.

IMG_2035.JPG
 
flyingron said:
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.
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So... These are the good old days?
 
Pilawt said:
Our law firm's building was formerly a Humble Oil filling station going back to the 1940s. When I joined the firm in 1999, the restroom doors were still metal.

IMG_2035.JPG
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~Envy~
 
Pilawt said:
Our law firm's building was formerly a Humble Oil filling station going back to the 1940s. When I joined the firm in 1999, the restroom doors were still metal.

IMG_2035.JPG
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The colors in that picture are OUTSTANDING :yes::yes::thumbsup:
 
People only remember the cheaper prices "back in the day", but forget how much less they made at work.
 
cheap weenie said:
People only remember the cheaper prices "back in the day", but forget how much less they made at work.
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True, however there is something not right about the cost of inflation balancer formula that everyone uses to say the old prices were more expensive than today. I'm not sure what's wrong with it however it's not right either.

A 2 month road trip all over the country at 6-8mpg back then was more affordable than a 1 month road trip at 30mpg today even while maintaining a lower standard of living than before.

I use to pay for flying regularly by doing weekend jobs with no employment as a kid in the 80's. Scrounging $15 then was a lot easier than coming up with $100 today for an hour of flight including rental and fuel. A rake, a lawnmower, a can of gas, some plastic trash bags and no plan besides knocking on random doors in one day would pay for a 4 hour cross country easily. How many typical nothing special people, even if employed full time, can clear $400+ today?
 
fgcason said:
True, however there is something not right about the cost of inflation balancer formula that everyone uses to say the old prices were more expensive than today. I'm not sure what's wrong with it however it's not right either.

A 2 month road trip all over the country at 6-8mpg back then was more affordable than a 1 month road trip at 30mpg today even while maintaining a lower standard of living than before.

I use to pay for flying regularly by doing weekend jobs with no employment as a kid in the 80's. Scrounging $15 then was a lot easier than coming up with $100 today for an hour of flight including rental and fuel. A rake, a lawnmower, a can of gas, some plastic trash bags and no plan besides knocking on random doors in one day would pay for a 4 hour cross country easily. How many typical nothing special people, even if employed full time, can clear $400+ today?
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Here's a couple of numbers I found. 2011 average income approx. 43,000 and in 1951 3,515 vs a gallon of gas today 3.29 today (Georgia) and .20 in 1951. Looks to me like it tracks pretty well.

Here are some other things you can use:

Ford car: $1424-$2253
8.3 cu. ft. General Electric refrigerator: $330
Milk: $.92
Bread $.16
Postage stamp: $.03
1 lb. of buttered peanut brittle: $.25
14 oz. can of Hershey’s Syrup: $.17
Sliced Bacon: $.63 per lb
Coca Cola, 6 bottles: $.37
Canada Dry Ginger Ale, (2) 28 oz btls: $.39
 
N801BH said:
Love the old pumps...:yes::yes:..

Ps... Whats with the parking meter welded to to rim on the far end of the island?
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Not sure, but with the quirky sense of humor embedded in the town's residents nothing would surprise me.

I'll ask my wife she lived there for years.
 
Mason said:
My Dad did that and ended up coasting empty into a place where it was 50 cents.
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Price wasn't the issue but once I borrowed a pickup with an inop gas gauge. The owner said "don't worry about it" Yeah - Right!. It quit while rolling sown the freeway - approaching an offramp with a gas station just beyond. I rolled down the offramp, ran the stop sign (fortunately no one around), and rolled right up to the pumps.

Dave
 
Pilawt said:
Our law firm's building was formerly a Humble Oil filling station going back to the 1940s. When I joined the firm in 1999, the restroom doors were still metal. QUOTE]

In Asheville NC there is an old fashioned gas station that has been converted to a restaurant. It is called "The Universal Joint". They make good burgers (Haven't tried any of the other menu items).

Dave
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When I was in hs, 1970's, I paid $3100 for a new DODGE DUSTER car and gas could be bought for $.199 a gallon. $2.50 topped the tank. I made $1.65 per hr minimum wage. An hour and a half's' work bought a tank of gas.

Today 7 hrs work at min wage to buy 12 gallons of fuel. So fuel is 4x as expensive as it was 40 years ago.
 
I don't believe you. Gas could not be bought for .199 a gallon in the '70s, unless you were buying untaxed farm fuel or something. You'd have to go back to the '50s for that. National average gas price in 1970 was .36 a gallon an it went up from there throughout the decade. So 12 gallons would cost you 2.6 hours of labor at minimum wage. Locally, my gas is 3.15 a gallon for regular, and minimum wage is 9.19 an hour, so 12 gallons of gas would cost you 4.1 hours of labor. In labor-hour cost, gas is 57.5% more expensive than 1970, not 400% more expensive.

But wait, there's more. The above is all pre-tax. Income taxes are lower now than they were in 1970. If you do all the math, you'll find that in post-tax labor-hour cost, gas is actually 52.5% more expensive for minumum wage workers than 1970, not 400% more expensive.
 
slacktide said:
I don't believe you. Gas could not be bought for .199 a gallon in the '70s, unless you were buying untaxed farm fuel or something. You'd have to go back to the '50s for that. National average gas price in 1970 was .36 a gallon an it went up from there throughout the decade. So 12 gallons would cost you 2.6 hours of labor at minimum wage. Locally, my gas is 3.15 a gallon for regular, and minimum wage is 9.19 an hour, so 12 gallons of gas would cost you 4.1 hours of labor. In labor-hour cost, gas is 57.5% more expensive than 1970, not 400% more expensive.

But wait, there's more. The above is all pre-tax. Income taxes are lower now than they were in 1970. If you do all the math, you'll find that in post-tax labor-hour cost, gas is actually 52.5% more expensive for minumum wage workers than 1970, not 400% more expensive.
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I was born in 1956, I got my learners permit in 1971 that year I bought gas for 19.9 cents a gallon. The normal price was 24 cents but we had gas wars all the time until 1973 when the first oil embargo.. Buy then gas shot up to something like 56 cents but later settled back down to about cents.

Minimum wage now is $7.25. I doubt there is a significant change in taxes of either a minimum wage employee in 1970 or one today. But that is besides the point anyway. I am not sure what you are trying to accomplish but you clearly have trouble with numbers.

BTW-I could give a crap what you believe.
 
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Tony_Scarpelli said:
I was born in 1956, I got my learners permit in 1971 that year I bought gas for 19.9 cents a gallon. The normal price was 24 cents but we had gas wars all the time until 1973 when the first oil embargo.. Buy then gas shot up to something like 56 cents but later settled back down to about 36 cents.

BTW-I could give a crap what you believe.
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I was stationed at Pt. Mugu Ca. in 1969 and gas on base was 29.9 cents per gallon. when we left in 73 it was over a dollar.
 
Tom-D said:
I was stationed at Pt. Mugu Ca. in 1969 and gas on base was 29.9 cents per gallon. when we left in 73 it was over a dollar.
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I guess I was very lucky to live near the El Dorado oil refinery.

I go to California very regularly and I don't think I have ever gone where there wasn't at least a 60-90 cents a gallon difference.
 
Here's another tidbit. Your $3100 Duster in 1970 required 2100 minumum wage hours to purchase. You can get a 2013 Dart for $16,000, or 1900 minimum wage hours. The 1970 Duster got 17 MPG city, and 20 MPG highway (per Popular Mechanics, March 1970. Not bad for the day.) The 2013 Dart gets 27 MPG city, and 39 MPG highway. So a 1000 mile road trip would cost you 12.25 hrs of labor in 1970, or 9.58 hrs of labor today.

Truly, these ARE the good old days we'll reminisce over.
 
Summer of 1970 I had a Honda 90 motorcycle. Held 1 gallon on main and another .45 gallons on reserve. I was paying about $0.299/gallon that summer. Oh, and the bike got about 100 mpg. :D That, folks, was cheap transportation, even adjusted for inflation.
 
Tony_Scarpelli said:
Minimum wage now is $7.25. I doubt there is a significant change in taxes of either a minimum wage employee in 1970 or one today. But that is besides the point anyway. I am not sure what you are trying to accomplish but you clearly have trouble with numbers./QUOTE]

You are wrong. Effective tax rate for a single full-time federal minumum wage earner in 1970 was 10.87%. Today it is 6.19% for a federal minimum wage earner. 43% lower.

For a person who lives in state where minimum wage workers are treated as other than serfs (Our minimum wage is $9.17) it is still an ETR of 8.04% in 2012.

Whip our your slide rule and see who has trouble with numbers.
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slacktide said:
Tony_Scarpelli said:
Minimum wage now is $7.25. I doubt there is a significant change in taxes of either a minimum wage employee in 1970 or one today. But that is besides the point anyway. I am not sure what you are trying to accomplish but you clearly have trouble with numbers./QUOTE]

You are wrong. Effective tax rate for a single full-time federal minumum wage earner in 1970 was 10.87%. Today it is 6.19% for a federal minimum wage earner. 43% lower.

For a person who lives in state where minimum wage workers are treated as other than serfs (Our minimum wage is $9.17) it is still an ETR of 8.04% in 2012.

Whip our your slide rule and see who has trouble with numbers.
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I see you abide the rule if you can't dazzle them with brilliance baffle them with BS. I'm afraid your caught.
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EppyGA said:
My first full set of silverware was collected from Standard stations.
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I may still have a "tiger tail" (Esso) from the '60's in a box somewhere. There were the plastic dinosaurs (Sinclair) and the stick-on flowers and flower seeds (from Amoco, which at the time sold lead-free gas which they promoted as "environmental" by giving away plastic stick-on flowers and flower seeds). Hess gave away toy trucks & christmas ornaments. Mobil, Cities Service and Gulf each had give-aways, too.

There are still a few full-service places in the DC area. I know of one in an older neghborhood where they cater to senior citizens.
 
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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That's 37% above minimum wage in South Texas.
 
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Just the term "Filling Station" is pretty antiquated in itself. My grandfather who was born in 1908 used to use it all the time but he's the only one I've heard use it. For me it's always just been "the gas station".
 
wsuffa said:
I may still have a "tiger tail" (Esso) from the '60's in a box somewhere. There were the plastic dinosaurs (Sinclair) and the stick-on flowers and flower seeds (from Amoco, which at the time sold lead-free gas which they promoted as "environmental" by giving away plastic stick-on flowers and flower seeds). Hess gave away toy trucks & christmas ornaments. Mobil, Cities Service and Gulf each had give-aways, too.

There are still a few full-service places in the DC area. I know of one in an older neghborhood where they cater to senior citizens.
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Whoa, flashback! My bike, circa 1966, had Esso tiger tail hand grips. These were some sort of promotional giveaway, I suspect.

I remember cutting them off when we moved to the "big city" the following year, cuz the neighborhood kids made fun of them. lol!
 
slacktide said:
Here's another tidbit. Your $3100 Duster in 1970 required 2100 minumum wage hours to purchase. You can get a 2013 Dart for $16,000, or 1900 minimum wage hours. The 1970 Duster got 17 MPG city, and 20 MPG highway (per Popular Mechanics, March 1970. Not bad for the day.) The 2013 Dart gets 27 MPG city, and 39 MPG highway. So a 1000 mile road trip would cost you 12.25 hrs of labor in 1970, or 9.58 hrs of labor today.

Truly, these ARE the good old days we'll reminisce over.
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I thought something smelled funny about those prices, so I did a little Google searching. The 1970 Plymouth Duster could be had for $2547 -- 20% less than stated. Thus, you could buy one for 1725 minimum wage hours, using your (unverified) numbers.

That's 10% higher than today, which makes a helluva lot more sense, given all of the uber-expensive government mandated stuff on today's cars.

http://www.automobilemag.com/featur...c/0908_1970_1976_plymouth_duster/viewall.html

I remember lesser new cars selling for $1999.

Now, of course, those cars were trash at 60,000 miles, so there is no comparison. It took the Japanese to teach us how to build quality automobiles.
 
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