Old gas stations

[59Lark]

My parents were farmers and drove fords after the war and then switched to Studebakers there first new one a 3 tone blue 1955 commander with 259 v 8 and hillholder , they took their first vacation and went to Manitoba,, heaven know why , not much to look at and then they got a 58 golden hawk. Big huge v 8 , mother hated it, the heater didn't work well and the acc. stuck to the floor once and ma went to town at 100 and went in the supertest and jammend on the brakes and the acc unstuck and she looked like a stupid woman to them yokels and she was and she isn't one . She made pa trade it in for a seond hand buick and that was a fast car but my first known memories of a car is the red 59 lesabre buick with the fins. the last car my dad bought was used 66 buick le sabre , white with steel blue interior and my memories of the 3 shield medallion in the hubcaps. My mother drove that car till it died in 1975, she didn't want to part with it and replaced with a very nice 1972 chev Malibu . my 92 yr old mother last car 92 buick rotted in the lane , front wheel almost broken off as turning over the end of the lane, shame to rot away. 59 lark

 

[Fading Fast]

Rob

Thought it was worth calling attention to that awesome rocket on the sign with flames shooting out the back. If the world makes any sense at all, that sign lit up at night.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Fading Fast]

⇧ Always a happy moment when our dinosaur friend pops up.

 

[3fingers]

⇧ Always a happy moment when our dinosaur friend pops up.

I'd like to buy oil for 20 cents a quart. I do remember buying it for about 60 cents on sale.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Rob

A '58 Chevy Impala with the "continental kit" spare in the foreground. My father had one of those chrome-bedecked Impalas, though without the kit in the rear. I spy also what looks to be a '57 Chevy just beyond the signs. The one heading away from us on the right is a '60 Chevy (possibly bearing Bob Seger and his black-haired girlfriend out past the cornfield where the woods get heavy . . .?).

 

[David Conwill]

Here is a station in Texas, back in 1939. Fresh from Shorpy!

 

[LizzieMaine]

Note that it's only the "no-brand" gas that's 15 cents. Probably 10 percent water.

 

[2jakes]

Western Auto Supply Store, Main St. 1950s

Photo reminds me of “A Christmas Story” movie.
In the middle is Western Auto Store...home of the Western Flyer Deluxe X-53 bicycle which I got for Christmas.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Here is a station in Texas, back in 1939. Fresh from Shorpy!

I like the style of that little station.

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

"All you need is gas...
...gas...
...gas is all you need."

Rob

 

[2jakes]

"All you need is gas...
...gas...
...gas is all you need."

Rob

Dezo Hoffman photos!

Dezo Hoffman (1918-1986), war photojournalist from Slovakia, moved to London after the war, worked as a photographer for the Record Mirror magazine in 1955. In April 1962, because of a Beatles fan letter, he came to Liverpool Whitechapel/Sefton Park )to shoot the Beatles. He was hired to by their first official photographer. He had a good rapport with Brian Epstein and became friend with The Beatles from then to 1964. He earned international acclaim in the 60's, taking photos of pop stars and show-business personalities. After an argument with John Lennon in Miami in 1964, he worked sporadically with the Beatles till 1968. He was invited to take pictures at the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band Press Launch, April 19th 1967 at Brian Epstein place. *Photo: - Silver K Gallery. (100 pics) - Rex Features (1m pics) * Book: - With the Beatles. The Historic Photography of Dezo Hoffman PS. Photo collection acquired by Apple Corp.

 

[2jakes]

 

[2jakes]

I love the dresses that gals wore back then.

 

[2jakes]

Sometimes I get lost in an image with so many details like this photo
with the Esso gas station in the background
Makes me wonder what was going through their minds.

The lady jaywalking across the street heading towards the Fair Store,
perhaps doing last minute shopping for Thanksgiving.

Ford woodie station wagon which is all-time favorite,

Farmer giving his son or grandson a ride on the John Deere.
Wondering what went through the kid's mind seeing that car heading
their way.

The guy by the pickup truck.
Is he standing chatting with someone or did he leave the keys inside
the truck?
Are the traffic signals working?

The only time I see a tractor on the road today is on weekends when
I head out to the small towns and country roads that still exist.
Only thing missing are the Burma Shave signs by the side of the roads.

 

[2jakes]

19¢ Burgers & traffic signal on the corner.
There's only one street today that still maintains the traffic signal on the street corner instead of on top.
Makes it so easy when driving my 1939 truck with the small "art-deco" windows.

 

[Fading Fast]

Sometimes I get lost in an image with so many details like this photo
with the Esso gas station in the background
Makes me wonder what was going through their minds.
View attachment 94366
The lady jaywalking across the street heading towards the Fair Store,
perhaps doing last minute shopping for Thanksgiving.

Ford woodie station wagon which is all-time favorite,

Farmer giving his son or grandson a ride on the John Deere.
Wondering what went through the kid's mind seeing that car heading
their way.

The guy by the pickup truck.
Is he standing chatting with someone or did he leave the keys inside
the truck?
Are the traffic signals working?

The only time I see a tractor on the road today is on weekends when
I head out to the small towns and country roads that still exist.
Only thing missing are the Burma Shave signs by the side of the roads.

Great picture 2Jakes.

So was "Whites Drugs" a competitor to the Era's seemingly ubiquitous Rexall Drugs or was Whites just a local store or chain?

Further down, do you think that's an in-town Ford Dealership? I loved the feel of those versus today's gigantic car dealerships. Growing up, the town I lived in had an in-town (built in the '20s) Buick Dealership that, even before I knew why, I loved versus the modern late-'60s/'70s ones that were more common then.

How many Hipsters would give their right arm to walk into The Fair Store and check out the work clothes?

 

[LizzieMaine]

The Fair Store was a reasonably successful chain in the Midwest during the Era -- their flagship store in Chicago was responsible for putting radio station WMAQ on the air in 1922. In the cosmology of Golden Era department stores, if Marshall Fields was Chicago's Macy's, The Fair Store was Chicago's Hearns.

White's was likely a local operation. What made Rexall so prominent in the Era is that they operated on a cooperative franchise model rather than a chain-store operation: independent druggists banded together under the Rexall name to share in mass buying power while remaining independent operations. Western Auto used the same model for its hardware/sporting goods stores, and I G A used that system for groceries. Such operations had real power in smaller towns where big metropolitan chains feared to venture.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Fading Fast]

The Fair Store was a reasonably successful chain in the Midwest during the Era -- their flagship store in Chicago was responsible for putting radio station WMAQ on the air in 1922. In the cosmology of Golden Era department stores, if Marshall Fields was Chicago's Macy's, The Fair Store was Chicago's Hearns.

White's was likely a local operation. What made Rexall so prominent in the Era is that they operated on a cooperative franchise model rather than a chain-store operation: independent druggists banded together under the Rexall name to share in mass buying power while remaining independent operations. Western Auto used the same model for its hardware/sporting goods stores, and I G A used that system for groceries. Such operations had real power in smaller towns where big metropolitan chains feared to venture.

What ultimately did Rexall in - the big chains figured out how to beat them (probably via lost costs) or was it the decline of smaller towns or something else?