Gas Stations in the 1950s

[357magster]

There is a scene in the movie "Back to the Future" where Marty first walks into the town square in 1955. Bewildered, he slowly looks around, trying to figure out what the heck is going on.

He sees a car pull into the gas station and four impeccably uniformed attendants rush out and swarm the car, checking the oil, checking the tires, wiping the windshield, and filling it with gas.

I wasn't around in the 1950's, but knew there were service station attendants back then, but I always thought that scene was a bit "over the top" ... exaggerated for effect.

Boy, was I wrong.

Found this training film immensely interesting for some reason ... and wow ... those cars!

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyCnPexDVwI"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyCnPexDVwI[/ame]

 

[hittman77]

Neat video! Thanks for sharing that.

 

[Kinman]

I never lived in a city with that kind of service. There was usually a guy in some type of "uniform" that would come out and service your vehicle but in the cities I lived in that would only be at major brand name places like Texaco (green uniform) the Standard Oil boys wore blue from what I remember. I worked at a service station in Nevada during the late 60's, we didn't wear a uniform just jeans and a t-shirt but we fueled, checked under the hood, offered a car wash, etc. The driver never left the car unless they needed to use the clean restroom or was leaving the car with us for service or a wash, then they went across the highway to a casino. The station was the last stop before crossing the salt flats to Salt Lake City, we took advantage of that by hitting them over the head for belts and hoses, sold cheap re-cap tires at a premium, you name it.

 

[texmex]

I remember when there was service like that plus they gave you a free electric toaster and S&H Green Stamps with fill up. Competition was fierce when gas was 24.9 cents a gallon.

 

[DWalt]

I don't remember multiple attendants working on the same car, usually one guy did it all. Some wore at least a work shirt and work pants, don't remember anyone wearing a cap, not in my part of the world (Ohio). Many gas stations had a couple of service bays and someone who called himself a mechanic who changed oil, tires, fan belts, hoses, batteries, etc. At least in Ohio, at that time it was against the law to pump your own gas, the attendant had to do it.

In Ohio at that time, the big gas station name was SOHIO (Standard Oil of Ohio), now BP. My father would never get gas at anyplace other than a SOHIO station. They often had premiums for a fill-up, something like a plate or glass. I still have some of the old Sohio glasses, we had dozens of them. In some towns there were constant gas price wars. Back in the early 1960s, gas could be had for 15 cents during a price war. When I was in college, I drove through one of them every time I went home for a weekend, always filled up there both ways.

 

[Rpg]

There was a gas station my grandfather frequented in the ‘50,s that had uniformed attendants. Never 4 at a time, but sometimes two.

They had a coke machine (a fairly exotic thing at the time) and grandpa would give me a nickel to get a coke if I’d behaved myself that day. I was 5 or 6.

 

[Salty RI]

I worked part time at a Shell station after school, you washed the windows and asked if they wanted the oil and tires checked, if you didnt they got the gas for free and the pump didnt shut off when the tank was full, this was when there were gas wars, reg was .16 and Hi test was .18.

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[rkittine]

Gas stations were the McDonalds of my age. You could always get a job pumping gas, now it is flipping burgers. Extrapolate the gas prices of the 50s and 60s with inflation and gas is probably less expensive a gallon now.

Bob

 

[whitestang]

Neat video,thanks for sharing. There were several gas stations in the town i grow up in that had only one person come out and do all the things to your car like in the video. I recall kicking a lot of S&H Green stamps that my folks got for filling up the car or truck. I liked seeing the T Bird at the start of the video also.

 

[Salty RI]

The station I worked at didnt give stamps, some people would drive up and ask if we gave stamps, when you said no, they would drive off.

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[Onomea]

As Mr. Berry put it, “Workin' in the fillin' station, too many tasks
Wipe the windo', check the tires, check the oil, dollar gas”

 

[hogblue]

I remember my folks filling up the 63 bonneville with flite fuel. Phillips 66 equivalent to premium. 26 gallon tank under $5.00. Diesel delivered to the farm was .05 a gallon.

 

[Murdock]

"Should I check your oil, sir?"

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

My wife got her License a full year before I did. (I married up and that meant older too!) When she started, gas was 24.9 cents and when I started (May 1973) is was 31.9 cents. 11 Cents was road tax. Westerville Ohio was the King of the Gas Wars! We were in a owner operated Sohio one Friday night, and filled up (1968 Bonneville Station Wagon w/426 v-8, 32 gallon tank!) at 12.9 cents. The was a Sohio Company rep, telling the owner to "go on down", Dad ask him how low would they go? He said he just authorized them to charge road tax only! Sohio would not be under sold (on retail gas only) [they were making their money on Jet fuel and napalm for Vietnam].

Ivan

 

[Rustyt1953]

My little brother had one of these:

 

[df06]

I worked at a gas station in college, fall of 1970. Pumped a lot of gas, checked oil, aired up tires, etc. did not wear a uniform though.

 

[cowboy4evr]

I worked in a Standard Oil Station my senior yr of High School . My shift was 4-12 midnight . If busy I didn't get home till about 2 a.m. for doing all the cleaning up . I wore a white uniform and rode a 1951 Harley to and from work . I got pd $1.00 / hr , no commission . I used the $ to pay for flying lessons . Regards Paul

 

[LoboGunLeather]

I didn't get there until the mid-60's. Uniform shirts and trousers, caps were standard. I was a teenaged kid serving mostly veterans of WW2 and Korea, a lot of "yes sir", "no sir", and "how high sir". Every windshield was spotlessly cleaned. Every tire was checked. Unless the customer told us not to do so, the hood came up every time for oil and fluids check. Any time away from the pumps was spent cleaning the rest rooms, emptying the trash cans, other grunt work.

I worked the overnight shift, 10PM to 7AM. The regular guys left all the ugly jobs for me to do overnight, frozen wheel bearings, flat tire repairs, washing cars for regular customers.

I started at $0.75 per hour plus 50% commission on my labor sales. Worked 9 hours per night, 6 nights per week, usually took home $55 to $65 per week. My rent was $35 per month (1BR apartment, all utilities included). Always had cash in my pockets. Bought a new Ford Fairlane convertible in 1967 (year-end close-out $2752 including sales taxes, paid in cash).

Then I got drafted. Then I got married. Then I had kids. Haven't had any extra money since those days.

 

[crazyphil]

I think it was 1949 when I worked in a Phillip's 66 station. I was 14 at
the time. We would wash the windshield, and other windows if needed.
Check the air pressure in tires. Check under the hood, oil, water, etc.
Usually the boss would pump the gas while I was doing all of that.
I didn't have any kind of uniform. Just regular cloths.

My Dad wanted me to go fishing with him on the 4th of July. I asked
for the day off. Boss said he couldn't spare me. My Dad went to see
him and came back with my pay. He said your not working for him any
more. I was making $60 bucks a month. Went looking for another job
after the fishing trip.

 

[Bro. Dave]

That Sinclair Dino sure brings back memories. My dad worked for Sinclair as a retail credit manager, primarily dealing with wholesalers, but we always patronized Sinclair stations. One thing I remember Dad saying about the few company owned stations was that the gas sales might make the costs, but profit was made in the service bays.

When Atlantic Richfield bought out Sinclair, primarily to get the North Slope rights, Sinclair stations pretty much vanished here in Texas. I understood that Atlantic Richfield wanted to re-brand all their stations across the nation as Arco stations, but anti-trust action by the government wouldn't allow that to happen. When visiting relatives in Colorado, I still see the old Sinclair dinosaur and nostalgia flares up pretty strongly.