Old gas stations

[Braz]

That station, located in Los Angeles, was rather a famous one -- it was a spinoff from the drive-in restaurant idea then becoming popular in Southern California. The pump lanes were monitored by carhops on roller skates, who would collect payment from customers, making change from the coin dispensers on their belts and then rolling back to the station office to ring up the sale.

The two ladies (girls?) in the picture look to be the attendants, though not on roller skates.

 

[2jakes]

The two ladies (girls?) in the picture look to be the attendants, though not on roller skates.

It was 1943 & Americans got their first taste of recycling.
To aid the “war” effort, they were encouraged to salvage their tin cans, bottles,
odd bits of rubber, waste & perhaps old roller skates as well.

 

[Stearmen]

I like the different signs claiming Filtered Gas. I have had problems with that in the not to distant past!

 

[2jakes]

Gasoline ration during WW ll.

By the end of 1942, half of U.S. automobiles were issued an “A” sticker which allowed four
gallons of fuel per week. That sticker was issued to owners whose use of their cars was
nonessential. For nearly a year, A-stickered cars were not to be driven for pleasure at all.

The green “B” sticker was for driving deemed essential to the war effort; industrial war
workers could purchase eight gallons a week.

Red “C” stickers indicated physicians, ministers, mail carriers and railroad workers.

The “M” sticker was issued to motorcycle owners. This included delivery and other
messenger services who used motorcycles for their business.

“T” stickers was for truckers. The truckers supplying the population with supplies had
unlimited amounts of fuel.

The rare “X” sticker went to members of Congress and other VIPs.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The X card was eventually abolished because too many people thought they were entitled to one.

The sticker system was a necessary part of the rationing system -- without it, people could use any ration stamps they could get their hands on, regardless of whether they were entitled to that specific ration or not. The sticker had to match the stamps you presented to the gas station attendant -- if it didn't, no gas. And the sticker also made it easy for the OPA to catch people who were using their ration inappropriately. If you had wheedled a B card out of your ration board, and they saw your car parked at a racetrack outside town, you'd get a registered letter the very next day notifying you that your ration had been revoked. If the sticker wasn't clearly and properly displayed in the location specified by each state, a motorist faced a substantial fine and the revocation of their gas ration.

The small sticker next to the ration sticker on that windshield above is a Federal Motor Vehicle Use Tax stamp. Beginning in 1941, all motor vehicles were federally taxed at a rate of $5 a year, and had to display a tax stamp on the windshield to denote compliance. This continued into 1946.

The big sticker above the others is either a state inspection sticker or a validation sticker allowing the use of the previous year's license plates thru the current year, a common thing in many states which stopped issuing new plates due to the metal shortage. It became something of a national joke during the war era that so many stickers had to be displayed on your windshield that it became difficult to see around them.

 

[Fading Fast]

My dad owned a small appliance store in small town in NJ during the war and the way he described rationing to me is that there were essential services like doctors or something directly related to war supply or services that got more gasoline per week than he got being a small non-essential business, but that he got more than a family that had a car but no business. It is not clear to me from the above where he fit in - does what he said make sense?

 

[2jakes]

My dad owned a small appliance store in small town in NJ during the war and the way he described rationing to me is that there were essential services like doctors or something directly related to war supply or services that got more gasoline per week than he got being a small non-essential business, but that he got more than a family that had a car but no business. It is not clear to me from the above where he fit in - does what he said make sense?

Yes.
Your Dad makes sense.
He was providing a service perhaps below the essentials, but nevertheless above those that had a car but no business.

 

[LizzieMaine]

You qualified for a B card if your car was essential to your work -- whether you had a business per se, or required a car for daily transportation to a non-war-essential job that was outside the range of public transporation or your feet. The exact amount of supplemental ration you got above the standard A entitlement depended on how much you needed to use the car. You got only enough extra fuel to satisfy that requirement -- and no more, and it would be revoked if the ration board caught you using the extra fuel for non-work-related purposes.

Gallonage allocations changed repeatedly thruout the war period. An A card could entitle you to as little as three gallons a week, and any supplemental allocation gained from a B card, however much it was, was given in addition to that basic amount. If, for example, the ration board determined that your job was far enough outside town that it required an extra two gallons beyond the current A ration, you would only be issued enough supplemental ration stamps for those two gallions, and not a drop more. You had to carry proof that you were entitled to that extra ration in your car, in the form of a card issued by the ration board.

To get a C card, which allowed unlimited fuel, you had to fit into one of the specific categories listed on the sticker, and that full sticker had to be displayed, with your category clearly marked. Written documentation of need was required, and was subject to regular review by the ration board in your district.

As of early 1943, your tire inspection record became a part of your fuel ration documentation, and you were required to carry in your car, and produce on demand, a certificate documenting the serial numbers of the tires you owned -- no more than five tires per vehicle, any extras you had beyond that you were required to sell to the government -- and their condition, as described by a licensed inspector. Violations of the tire inspection law would cost you your fuel ration.

 

[Fading Fast]

Thanks 2 Jakes and Lizzie - sounds as if dad's business qualified him for a "B" sticker. Which fits in with what he told me. What threw me was the one-sentence description of a B sticker which clearly, as you guys have shown, doesn't capture all the variations and nuances. I remember my dad saying he had to show that he needed to go into NYC to get inventory to keep the store open.

 

[LizzieMaine]

The ration system was extremely complicated all around -- but it was also very local. Your ration board was composed of people who were from your neighborhood, who knew you and your situation, and could make precise determinations based on that. While the OPA caused a lot of grumbling from people over the inconvenience and confusing nature of it all, under the circumstances it generally worked quite well.

 

[2jakes]

Shell license topper patented in 1933.

Shell’s Safety Program. 1939

 

[Stearmen]

While motorcycles came out all right on the gas side, it was tires that sidelined most motorcycles by the end of the war. Talking to riders from the era, it was almost impossible to get tires, even worn out ones on the black market!

 

[2jakes]

Venice, California ~ 1930s

 

[Bamaboots]

2jakes, great photos. Spent over three years of my twenty five in L E on the back of a mc. Can't imagine doing it with the equipment those fellows are using. The bow ties are a nice touch.

 

[2jakes]

 

[LizzieMaine]

I used to be very disturbed by that cadaceus on the Sunoco stations, which promoted their "Mercury-Refined" motor oil. I thought it meant they had doctors working on staff.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It doesn't disturb me any more, although the Sunoco arrow always seems a bit intimidating.

 

[2jakes]

General store & railroad crossing, Atlanta, Ohio. 1938.
I have similar truck like the one on the right. Mine is a ’39 Ford.
The rear view mirror is a joke on these panel trucks, but I
love it nevertheless.

 

[Fading Fast]

2jakes, that truck is awesome. If you can sometime, please post a picture of yours. But don't include your address as my girlfriend will come and steal it - she really wants an old truck like that.

 

[2jakes]

2jakes, that truck is awesome. If you can sometime, please post a picture of yours. But don't include your address as my girlfriend will come and steal it - she really wants an old truck like that.

I can’t locate the current photo but it’s a Maroon or Burgundy color. I’m not that
fond of this color but it’s original.
Flat-head has been replaced with a 283 ci V-8.

I don’t believe your girlfriend will try to steal it. Besides, shooting them only
makes them angry & hungrier.