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Old gas stations

Messages
13,672
Location
down south
Red Hot.
b0323ffd270a2dda69f21a0de7d96386.jpg


Rob
It's been awhile since I was last through
Meridian.....couldnt miss that one. Does anyone know if the sign is still standing? It outlasted the truck stop by a good little bit.

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Messages
12,017
Location
East of Los Angeles
"'To my knowledge, it's going to be a permanent landmark,' Miles said." Riiiiight. When a local bowling alley closed in 2015 the building couldn't be bulldozed because it was protected by the California Office of Historic Preservation, so the new owners gutted it and repurposed it as a combo Bev-Mo/Aldi's. The somewhat unique sign out front, however, was not legally protected and many locals were concerned about it until the new owners publicly assured everyone that the sign would be preserved as well. Then they tore it down, but assured everyone that it was merely undergoing some needed renovation and would be returned once that was completed. And it was...sort of.

p7qq1tn.jpg


o_O
 
Messages
13,672
Location
down south
"'To my knowledge, it's going to be a permanent landmark,' Miles said." Riiiiight. When a local bowling alley closed in 2015 the building couldn't be bulldozed because it was protected by the California Office of Historic Preservation, so the new owners gutted it and repurposed it as a combo Bev-Mo/Aldi's. The somewhat unique sign out front, however, was not legally protected and many locals were concerned about it until the new owners publicly assured everyone that the sign would be preserved as well. Then they tore it down, but assured everyone that it was merely undergoing some needed renovation and would be returned once that was completed. And it was...sort of.

p7qq1tn.jpg


o_O
I hit the button....but really not much to like about this. I guess it's better than just tearing it down completely.

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3fingers

One Too Many
Messages
1,797
Location
Illinois
⇧ I'm thinking the owner of that stately home behind the station could not have been too please when the station was built, basically, in his/her front yard.
I'd be kind of bent out of shape about that view.
Maybe the station belongs to the homeowner? That's gotta be a $30,000+ house. Hard to believe that someone of the means to afford that place wouldn't own the outlot. Stranger things have happened though.
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,755
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
"Sinclair U.S. Motor" was the cheapest grade of gasoline that could legally be sold under United States specifications for motor fuel -- it was basically what they used to call "Fighting Gas," a grade offered to be competitive in price wars. Most companies had a similar cut-rate brand with no lead or other performance addititves -- just a straight, plain white gasoline. Texaco had Indian, Shell had Green Streak, Gulf had Gulftane, etc. This dealer seems to be selling it for 11 cents a gallon before taxes, which is about as cheap as it gets in the late thirties.

In addition to selling it to price-conscious drivers, stations would also sell this type of gas as a cleaning fluid, and people would come up with cans or jugs to get filled. Segregating the pump off to the side like that made such transactions simpler.
 
Messages
17,215
Location
New York City
"Sinclair U.S. Motor" was the cheapest grade of gasoline that could legally be sold under United States specifications for motor fuel -- it was basically what they used to call "Fighting Gas," a grade offered to be competitive in price wars. Most companies had a similar cut-rate brand with no lead or other performance addititves -- just a straight, plain white gasoline. Texaco had Indian, Shell had Green Streak, Gulf had Gulftane, etc. This dealer seems to be selling it for 11 cents a gallon before taxes, which is about as cheap as it gets in the late thirties.

In addition to selling it to price-conscious drivers, stations would also sell this type of gas as a cleaning fluid, and people would come up with cans or jugs to get filled. Segregating the pump off to the side like that made such transactions simpler.

So are you saying our friend the dinosaur fronted for a bargain-basement gas purveyor?
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,755
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
And the surprising thing was, those cheapie brands were often of better quality than the higher grade stuff. Consumers Union ran scientific tests on from-the-pump samples in 1937, 38, and 39, and found Shell Green Streak the best value of all brands tested. You didn't read about that fact in any national advertising.
 
Messages
17,215
Location
New York City
And the surprising thing was, those cheapie brands were often of better quality than the higher grade stuff. Consumers Union ran scientific tests on from-the-pump samples in 1937, 38, and 39, and found Shell Green Streak the best value of all brands tested. You didn't read about that fact in any national advertising.

Good the CU was there for those who made the effort to read it.
 
Messages
12,017
Location
East of Los Angeles
I hit the button....but really not much to like about this. I guess it's better than just tearing it down completely.
I agree. Besides, as a business owner I'm sure it made no sense to have a sign that says "BOWL" in front of your retail stores and they could just have easily replaced it with a more modern sign. They also saved a lot of the wood from the bowling lanes and used it as "accents" inside the stores wherever they could. 50 years from now few will care or remember that it was a bowling alley, but by being sensitive about preserving the building's history as much as possible they generated quite a bit of "good will" within the community.
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,755
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
I wish I had a picture of my late aunt to add to this, in her greasy overalls, Army boots, and mashed-up cap with a cigarette sticking out of her mouth. In our station, as with most of the Era, the Ladies Room was entered from outside the building, while the Mens Room had an entry inside the office. She'd always use the Mens Room, grumbling, "I ain't goin' out in the cold just to take a piss." Ah glamour.
 

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