Old gas stations

[3fingers]

They may bring back the name, but unless there's a roll towel and a borax dispenser and a glass bottle soda machine involved, it's still just another convenience store.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Various.

Rob

 

[LizzieMaine]

That bottom one is the last call for the Teague-style Texaco format -- they built those starting around 1960, and dropped them by 1964. Very hard to find them today without drastic alterations.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

It's a nice looking station design... clean and crisp.

Was it common for the owner to have his name on the building?

Rob

 

[Fading Fast]

Also, great contrast to the old house behind it. It drives the unform-zoning people crazy, but that's how things were in the old parts of the town I grew up in. I like it, but I get why it isn't popular.

 

[LizzieMaine]

It's a nice looking station design... clean and crisp.

Was it common for the owner to have his name on the building?

Rob

Yep. The letters were made of plastic, and were the same size and typeface as the "MARFAK LUBRICATION" letters you'd usually have over the grease bay. When we closed, the letters spelling out my grandfather's name were put in a paper bag and given to my cousin, who was his namesake. I hope he still has them.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Yep. The letters were made of plastic, and were the same size and typeface as the "MARFAK LUBRICATION" letters you'd usually have over the grease bay. When we closed, the letters spelling out my grandfather's name were put in a paper bag and given to my cousin, who was his namesake. I hope he still has them.

That's an awesome story, Lizzie. [emoji846]

Rob

 

[LizzieMaine]

I kept one of the red stars for myself -- our building had both the older porcelain steel ones and the newer molded plastic ones. When I took the steel one down off the front of the building I dropped it, and it chipped on the concrete below. I still have it hanging in the stairwell at home -- complete with that chipped spot in the enamel.

 

[tonyb]

... Was it common for the owner to have his name on the building?

Rob

I can’t recall if the Texaco station where I worked c. 1972 bore the owner’s name.

Lou Spurlock was a good guy. Fair. Honest. Even-tempered.

 

[tonyb]

I kept one of the red stars for myself -- our building had both the older porcelain steel ones and the newer molded plastic ones. When I took the steel one down off the front of the building I dropped it, and it chipped on the concrete below. I still have it hanging in the stairwell at home -- complete with that chipped spot in the enamel.

I’m guessing it matters not one whit to you that your porcelain Texaco star would sell for more than a little money these days, and that it would bring a substantially larger amount if not for that chip in the finish.

My modest collection of old commercial signage has been acquired on the cheap, relatively, and none of it is in anything approaching like-new condition. I actually prefer it that way, and that it can be had for a whole lot less than “finer” examples just makes it all the better.

I’ve noted a trend of late toward an appreciation of honest patina on vintage stuff — motor vehicles in particular, and especially pickups.

My fear is that this trend might extend to signs, and that deep-pocketed collectors will drive up prices. But then, it’s every bit as likely that old signs have had their moment and trendoids will soon enough flock to the next hot thing. Hope so.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Nope, it's never going to be for sale -- it's got a bit of fading from hanging in the sun for forty-one years, and it's got that chip, but it's a tangible piece of my family history, such as it is, and dollar value is irrelevant.

I also have the electric illuminated clock that hung in the station office all those years hanging on my kitchen wall. Even by the time I became aware of this clock in the 1960s, the sun had faded the red star on the dial to a sickly yellow. I could get it restored, but why would I?

 

[LizzieMaine]

This is our station in 1980, shortly before it closed. This is, in fact, the photo the real estate broker used to sell it for us...

My star is the one above the Marfak bay, and was one of the originals from when the place was built in 1940. The Washing bay was added in 1962, the same time the porcelain panels were added to the exterior, and the stars added at that time were the plastic ones.

This is the original 1940 configuration. One bay, painted clapboard siding, and no name over the door.

The building has been a lot of things over the past thirty-nine years -- a convenience store, a neighborhood pizza joint, and lately a cabinetmaking shop. It has recently been sold. I hope it doesn't get torn down to build something stupid.

 

[tonyb]

...
I could get it restored, but why would I?

No good reason I can think of.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Do you have any current photos of it, Lizzie?

Rob

 

[tonyb]

This is our station in 1980, shortly before it closed. This is, in fact, the photo the real estate broker used to sell it for us...

View attachment 205197
My star is the one above the Marfak bay, and was one of the originals from when the place was built in 1940. The Washing bay was added in 1962, the same time the porcelain panels were added to the exterior, and the stars added at that time were the plastic ones.

This is the original 1940 configuration. One bay, painted clapboard siding, and no name over the door.

View attachment 205198
The building has been a lot of things over the past thirty-nine years -- a convenience store, a neighborhood pizza joint, and lately a cabinetmaking shop. It has recently been sold. I hope it doesn't get torn down to build something stupid.

Is it still sided in porcelain panels?

 

[LizzieMaine]

Nope, the porcelain came off about ten years ago -- and by coincidence I happened to be driving thru town the day the panels taken off. The old 1940-era wood siding was underneath, and the outlines of the lettering were clearly visible from where the building had been painted and repainted many times without taking the letters down first. I wish I'd had a camera.

The panels were all heaped up at the side of the lot, and I assume they were sold for scrap metal. A pity, they were in very good condition and none were missing. It would have been an easy restoration for someone with the money and inclination to do it.

This is fairly recent, from when the cabinet place was operating there. The main entrance was moved around to the east side of the building when it was a pizza joint, and the bays were boarded over. The siding now is wooden panels, and I don't know if they left the original clapboards in place beneath them.

The street doesn't actually curve like that -- I think whoever took the picture must've used some kind of fisheye lens. Note the scar on the concrete where the pump island was removed.

 

[Fading Fast]

Nope, the porcelain came off about ten years ago -- and by coincidence I happened to be driving thru town the day the panels taken off. The old 1940-era wood siding was underneath, and the outlines of the lettering were clearly visible from where the building had been painted and repainted many times without taking the letters down first. I wish I'd had a camera.

The panels were all heaped up at the side of the lot, and I assume they were sold for scrap metal. A pity, they were in very good condition and none were missing. It would have been an easy restoration for someone with the money and inclination to do it.

This is fairly recent, from when the cabinet place was operating there. The main entrance was moved around to the east side of the building when it was a pizza joint, and the bays were boarded over. The siding now is wooden panels, and I don't know if they left the original clapboards in place beneath them.

The street doesn't actually curve like that -- I think whoever took the picture must've used some kind of fisheye lens. Note the scar on the concrete where the pump island was removed.

I'm sure you've told us before, but I forget - were all the right environmental things done regarding the old tanks and anything else related to it having been a gas station that has to be done to make the building compliant for other uses?

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Wow... just a ghost of it's former glory. [emoji25]

Rob

 

[LizzieMaine]

As far as I know they were. It pumped gas all thru its time as a convenience store, and the pumps were taken out at the same time they took down the procelain panels, which is well within the current regulations.

There may be a tank still buried on the lot where used motor oil was dumped -- I never saw any evidence they'd dug that one up, although the fuel tanks themselves are long gone. The lot has been repaved, and while I have a general idea of where that tank was, I doubt I could pinpoint it now.

 

[tonyb]

A friend owns a former gas station of a similar style. It had two service bays and an awning overhanging the office entrance and wrapping around the corner to cover the path to the restrooms on the side of the building.

It’s now a specialty retail space. I implored this friend to retain the awning and those big rectangles where the roll-up doors were. It just wouldn’t be right without those elements. He agreed.