Old gas stations

[ChiTownScion]

Meanwhile, here is snazzy Soviet people's gas station.

Stop in and enjoy a delicious Volga-Cola, the new drink for the pro-le-tari-at. Only a ruble, you get a lot, Volga-Cola hits the spot!

What they were most likely to drink was a carbonated concoction called, "Baikal." Natural herbs, citric acid, sugar, and not really a cola. Until 1973 when Pepsi was first introduced. By the time that I first visited Russia it was no longer available.

My research is that Coca- Cola was viewed as Western decadence by the Soviet leaders: was Pepsi seen as something else, or perhaps the lesser incarnation of that evil? I'm trying to envision the Boys pitch that angle when negotiating marketing rights in the USSR.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It was Nixon. The Tricky One had been a lawyer for Pepsi during his years in the political wilderness, and during his detente-era negotiations with Brezhnev, he greased the wheels for Pepsico to break into the Soviet market as gratitude for the help they gave him. Quid Pro Quo, is keppitalist Amerikan way.

Nixon earlier had shared a Pepsi with Khrushchev during the famous "Kitchen Debate" in 1959, and it was that incident that caused Pepsi to take him into the corporate fold when he was looking for post-vice-presidential work.

Marshal Zhukov was a great fan of Coca-Cola, having been introduced to it by his pal Ike, and the US Army arranged with the Coca-Cola Company to have a special non-caramel-colored version of Coke, packaged in generic bottles with a red star on the cap, prepared for his consumption.

 

[Fading Fast]

Nixon "finding a home" at Pepsi when he needed it / Zhukov having specially packaged and delivered Coke via Ike's help.

When I've been out a job, I look for work in every ground-up way I can - call, walk in, follow up on leads, send out resumes, wait in lines, etc. / If I like a product that's hard to find, I just do without as no one arranges special delivery for me.

It ain't Keppitalism and it ain't "those Commies," it's what the powerful and connected always do - take care of the powerful and connected while the rest of us tooth and claw our way through life no matter what the system. Do I have a preferred system - sure, and you all pretty much know where I stand on that - but this isn't about that.

 

[2jakes]

1925. Washington, D.C. "Texas Co., Minute Service Station No. 8, Twining City." Pennsylvania Avenue at Railroad Avenue S.E. near the Sousa Bridge.
8x10 inch glass negative ~ National Photo Co.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

I wonder if it's still there?

Rob

 

[LizzieMaine]

"You're THERE with a Crosley!"

 

[dh66]

Somewhere near Eva, AL. Closed, pumps already gone, glad I saw it before it totally disappeared

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

 

[LizzieMaine]

Intersection of Sullivan Place and Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn USA, c. 1940

The Mobilgas station, known as "Dodger's Service," operated by one Adolph Friedel, was a popular spot for Brooklyn players to park their cars during games. Long hits over the right field screen, visible in the background, could place windshields at risk, so the status of any individual player, coupled with the occasional bribe of cash or tickets to Mr. Friedel, determined the security of his parking space.

The sign displayed in the middle of the screen indicates that the photo is part of a massive 1939-41 WPA project to photograph every single individual block on the city property tax rolls. Hundreds of thousands of these photos exist, and are the closest thing you can get to Google Earth with a Tardis.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And if you turn about 45 degrees to your right, this is your view. Note that even forty years into the 20th Century, Bedford Avenue -- then as now a major Brooklyn thoroughfare -- is still paved with bricks.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Or if you prefer a different brand, turn around and head about ten blocks down Bedford, and you'll find this snazzy Shell station.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[LizzieMaine]

Or keep going up Bedford, all the way to Williamsburg, and enjoy this high-class Tydol super-service station.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Or just up the street a bit more for an even more super-service Mobilgas dealer.
But be careful, Lou Zimmerman from down the block is keeping an eye on you, so don't get any funny ideas.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Helping out the old man.

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

An older plane station.

Rob

 

[LizzieMaine]

For a moment this Warner-Quinlan Oil Company station, at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and East 127th Street in Harlem, was the most famous gas station in the world.

Shortly after 10 o'clock on the morning of Saturday, September 15, 1934, a dark green 1931 Dodge sedan driven by a broad-shouldered, blond-haired man with a German accent pulled into this station, and received five gallons of fuel. The driver paid the 98 cent cost by handing attendant Walter Lyle a ten dollar gold certificate. Suspicious that the note might be a fake, Lyle surrepetitiously jotted the Dodge's license number on the back margin of the note.

The following Tuesday, a bank teller noticed the bill -- and found that its serial number appeared on a list of bills paid out more than two years earlier by Col. Charles A. Lindbergh to a man believed to be in league with the kidnappers of his son. The teller alerted the police, who noticed Lyle's scrawling of the license number -- which , when run, yielded the name and address of Bruno Richard Hauptmann of the Bronx. The following day, police intercepted Hauptmann and a search of his garage revealed $20,000 in ransom bills. He was arrested, convicted, and executed as the kidnapper of the Lindbergh Baby.

All because a gas station attendant in Harlem didn't want to get stuck with a bad bill.

 

[David Conwill]

Today's festive Sunoco brought to you by Shorpy! "December 1940. 'Christmas trees for sale at a gas station. Woonsocket, Rhode Island.' Medium format negative by Jack Delano."

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

That jack, tho.

Rob

 

[LizzieMaine]

The power must be out at that Calso station. An ingenious method of getting the pump to work. And that car is close to thirty years old.