Old gas stations

[Ghostsoldier]

In a small town called McAlpin, Florida....

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

In O'Brien, Florida....the "Speed" sign looks to have been a Bay station, at one time...

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[dh66]

Those are great Rob!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Ghostsoldier]

In Ocala, Florida...

Rob

 

[LizzieMaine]

Top one is yet another former Shell station, shorn of its "chimney" top. Next to the Teague Texaco that's got to be the most common surviving type of "porcelain box" station. In the mid-sixties, Shell began a relentless campaign to either convert those to the "rustic ranch house" style, which involved cladding the sides and the "chimney" in fake brickwork and wood, or demolish them outright -- but they clearly missed a great many of them.

We have one here in town that's painted that same Silly Putty color over the porcelain -- it was converted to a Getty in the '70s after Shell pulled out of Maine, and ran without further alteration into the early 2000s, until the operator died. It was siezed by the city last year for non-payment of taxes, and will probably be demolished -- right now it's sitting there empty, a perfect restoration project for some gas-station buff who wants to haul it away and restore it.

 

[2jakes]

Superior,Wisconsin. August 1941.

 

[2jakes]

Service With A Smile!

Based on what Lizzie mentioned with regards to wearing ties while at work in gas stations.
This might be a publicity shot.
I don't recall service gas attendants smiling like that.
Unless I had my pretty sisters in the car with me when we drove to school in
my senior year.
Most of the time in high school, we walked or took the school bus.

 

[LizzieMaine]

That's definitely not a regulation Esso uniform tie -- none of the oil companies issued colored or patterned ties, and most discouraged the wearing of long ties under any circumstances because of the risk of entanglement in machinery. The most common issued tie was a black leather clip-on bow tie, but if a company did issue a long tie it was a solid black clip on, intended to be worn Army style -- with the long ends tucked into the shirt.

He's also not following standards for cleaning a windshield -- a dirty greasy rag is not going to get the job done. That's what the short-handled squeegee is for.

 

[Fading Fast]

Growing up in the late '60s / '70s, the only company that dressed their attendant with thought was Hess. From memory, those stations were very clean - green and white - and the attendants wore white pants and white shirts (maybe even a white jumpsuit). I have no recollection either way on the tie, but the Hess stations and attendants looked a world apart from every single other station.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I still have a Texaco uniform and station supply catalog from the early 1960s, which offers an interesting look at what the well-dressed filling station attendant wore -- regulation "forestry green" uniforms were available from several manufacturers, including Lion Uniform, Unitog, and Sweet-Orr, and included two-pocket shirt, matching pants, a choice between an eight-point military-style cap or a baseball-style cap, matching forestry-green leather belt and oilproof shoes, and leather clip-on ties. There was also an interesting assortment of outerwear, all in regulation "forestry green," including "whipcord Eisenhower jackets," raincoats, and winter parkas. My favorite item as a kid was the Russian-style trooper hat with fur trim -- my grandfather had one and wore it religiously during the winter. I would often steal it and wear it myself, until they finally got me one of my own which I wore until all the fur fell off.

My grandfather wore the shirt and pants, and had one of the military style caps, which he wore "crusher" style with the inner stiffener removed until it finally wore out, after which he switched to the baseball style cap. He also had one of the winter parkas, but I never saw him wear any tie, and he preferred to wear suspenders along with the belt, a combination which was strictly non-regulation.

He would never, as long as he lived, be caught dead wearing "forestry green" shoes, no matter how oilproof they were.

He continued to wear the traditional style of uniform for as long as he ran the station, even after Texaco had long since gone to "casual style" white pinstripe shirts. I think my grandmother drew the line at any kind of white shirt being worn in an environment where she'd have to wash grease and filth out of it. We had another station in town where the owner was of a similar view -- he continued to wear his old "Esso" branded uniforms for twenty years after the company had changed to Exxon.

I can recall the catalogs from the late 1960s and 1970s also offered uniforms for women, but in earlier years, female attendants had to wear male uniforms, which not being cut for their body shape, tended to fit poorly. This was a major complaint of my Aunt Edie when she worked at the station.

 

[2jakes]

From Office of War Information: June 1943

"Miss Frances Heisler, at one of the Atlantic Refining Co. garages in Philadelphia.
Photo by Jack Delano.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[52Styleline]

Just ran across a picture of this station from my old home town. Probably taken in the early 60's.

 

[BobHufford]

Not sure how this one has survived. I guess it's because it's in a residential area (and not a desirable one).

 

[2jakes]

Not sure how this one has survived. I guess it's because it's in a residential area (and not a desirable one).

As drive-in filling stations replaced curbside pumps in the 1920s, the new structures sought
to assimilate with the existing environment of the time. These pre-fabricated structures took on
a number of styles. This is the "bungalow" type, popular style of the 1920s.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[LizzieMaine]

Top's probably a former Gulf, and the bottom is a classic '30s Sinclair -- that serrated canopy design is one of the most unmistakeable brand features of the period. That specimen would be a very easy restoration back to the original design.

 

[Fading Fast]

⇧ that's a handsome looking station.

Nice info on the uniforms in your earlier post.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

This old survivor is outside of Ocala, Florida...

Rob