Old gas stations

[Fading Fast]

I was lucky in that we owned a Coke machine, I knew where the keys were, and I knew how to use them. Not that I abused this privilege, but I knew how to take advantage of it when I was really motivated to do so.

Water fountains today are as likely to be called "Water Bottle Refilling Stations" as they are bubblers or drinking fountains. I hated to use public drinking fountains because some fool had nearly always left a disgusting cud of spent chewing gum in the drain, and looking at it made me retch.

No one would accuse me of profligacy overall, but I won't go near a public drinking fountain now as, like you, I've seen too many nasty things over the years. "What's that you say, a buck for a bottle of water or you can use that possible cesspool of a fountain over there - here's my dollar, thank you sir."

 

[2jakes]

Kids today aren't spoiled because they don't live like this, but growing up, if we were "out" and thirsty we'd find a water fountain - a soda was a treat that I only got occasionally. To be even more fair to kids today, there were a ton of public water fountains back in the late-'60s/'70s when I was growing up, but today, I guess owing to the preference for bottled water and, maybe, sanitary reason, you don't see that many of them anymore. I can hear my father saying "water's good enough for you," when I'd ask for a soda - after awhile, I stopped asking and just looked for a water fountain.

I had no problem with the drinking fountains in school.
The spray was real high so I didn’t have to stick my face
down in it.
It was the mens room that I had issues with.
The standing urinals were ok.
The toilets was another matter.

Without a doubt, the worse pain in the annals of kid-dom
relating to blinding pain happened during recess period.

We were allowed only a short time to play outside.
The urge to pee came on strong. I rushed to the boys room to
get it over with so I could join the fellas outside.

I usually wore levi jeans with “zippers”!

I’ll just leave it at that.

I believe guys know what happens when you pull the zipper up
fast without checking that the tools are tucked in.
The wailing sound is still echoing somewhere in space!

Although being kicked in the “you-know-where” ranks up
there as well as far as blinding pain.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[2jakes]

Rob.
Your first photo with the products next to the gas pumps.
I wonder if they were left over night without worrying about vandalism.

Second Photo:
The gal with one leg on the running board reminds me of
Bonnie Parker.
*********************************************************

No bottled water or drinking fountain...oh my!

 

[2jakes]

Posted this a year ago and the water is still there.
Nice!

 

[David Conwill]

I love drinking fountains but these new aluminum jobs with the built-in coolers can't hold a candle to the old porcelain ones in my 1949-built elementary school.

 

[dh66]

I was lucky in that we owned a Coke machine, I knew where the keys were, and I knew how to use them. Not that I abused this privilege, but I knew how to take advantage of it when I was really motivated to do so.

Water fountains today are as likely to be called "Water Bottle Refilling Stations" as they are bubblers or drinking fountains. I hated to use public drinking fountains because some fool had nearly always left a disgusting cud of spent chewing gum in the drain, and looking at it made me retch.

Got a call once to check om a water fountain at the local psych hospital. (I'm a plumber by day, in case you were wondering why) Suffice to say a "cud of spent chewing gum in the drain" would've been a welcome sight.

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[2jakes]

Got a call once to check om a water fountain at the local psych hospital. (I'm a plumber by day, in case you were wondering why) Suffice to say a "cud of spent chewing gum in the drain" would've been a welcome sight.

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

Just got home . Getting ready to eat.
But after reading your post and with
my imagination going at full throttle.
...I'm going to postphone my meal.

Rob... can you post more gas stations?
Thanks!

 

[dh66]

Sorry for that mental image, Jake. It was every bit as bad as you're imagining.

I'll make it up to you with these. My baby girl has been on a dinosaur kick lately and we've been looking for pictures....

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[BobHufford]

Old station from my neighborhood as a kid (although by the 1960s I knew it as a liquor store). The green/white building on the left was a 7-11 and the building on the right was an insurance firm.

 

[DocCasualty]

Sorry for that mental image, Jake. It was every bit as bad as you're imagining.

I'll make it up to you with these. My baby girl has been on a dinosaur kick lately and we've been looking for pictures....

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Let's try and hit two birds with one stone. I was at the 1964 World's Fair in New York and a major attraction was Sinclair's DinoLand.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Hazel Park, MI. The bottom picture was labeled 1944, so the top one was obviously earlier.

*
*
I'm disappointed in the sign painter. I thought the rash of inappropriate apostrophes (try saying that 3 times fast) had only cropped up since the '70s.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Benzadmiral]

Rob

Marathon? Looks like it would be quite an endurance contest just to get to that station. . . .

 

[2jakes]

Marathon? Looks like it would be quite an endurance contest just to get to that station. . . .

I agree.
I stretched that gas pump hose as far as I could and it is still very short.
Very frustrating!

 

[Fading Fast]

Rob

Cool gas station (great truck), but I want to go to Lew Allens Drive-in. You got a love a place that serves cocktails, steaks and also has fountain service (you want it, we got it covered).

Also, do restaurants advertise "chops" that way and / or that much anymore?

 

[2jakes]

Also, do restaurants advertise "chops" that way and / or that much anymore?

It’s as rare as seeing this on buildings today.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[Fading Fast]

Sorry for that mental image, Jake. It was every bit as bad as you're imagining.

I'll make it up to you with these. My baby girl has been on a dinosaur kick lately and we've been looking for pictures....

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

The Fading Fasts would cross six lanes of traffic with a full tank of gas just to go to that station. I never drove Route 66, but in its day, it would have taken us forever as we'd stop at all the kitschy things along the way. Life is too short not to enjoy the whimsey.

 

[Fading Fast]

Rob

Love the coke machine out front, but it looks like it has some competition form a generic type soda machine in the actual garage area? Anybody (Lizzie) know what the second vending machine is all about?

Rob

Love the brick work and windows of that station.