Why were the 70s such a tacky decade?

[LizzieMaine]

I'm was trying to get into the oil business in the 80's, and there were no jobs. I couldn't afford gas, line or no line. One's perspective of the 80's vs the 70's vis a vis gasoline depends on which side of the supply chain you were.

We got put out of business by Texaco on May 27th, 1981. Over forty years in business and kissed off with a form letter. That was the final straw that put my grandmother in her grave. Hooray for the eighties.

 

[jamespowers]

I'm was trying to get into the oil business in the 80's, and there were no jobs. I couldn't afford gas, line or no line. One's perspective of the 80's vs the 70's vis a vis gasoline depends on which side of the supply chain you were.

Should have went into high tech. Gas is an old business.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Should have went into high tech. Gas is an old business.

Yeah, but at least in the 70's there were no iPhone lines, right?

 

[jamespowers]

Yeah, but at least in the 70's there were no iPhone lines, right?

But a long distance phone call would cost you a fortune. lol lol

 

[Stearmen]

All kidding aside, if you had a time machine, would you waist it on either the 70s or 80s?

 

[Stearmen]

The whole country sat in gas lines thanks to some idiot politicians idea of conserving. You just don't remember.

Now I remember why you are so bitter to this day! You all had gas lines in 73-74 and again in 79-80. And as if that wasn't bad enough, you had that God offal odd even refueling days! Man, I'm sure glad I missed that! The biggest line I ever waited in was in early 1980, two cars ahead of me. Man O Man, it was terrible! lol

 

[jamespowers]

Now I remember why you are so bitter to this day! You all had gas lines in 73-74 and again in 79-80. And as if that wasn't bad enough, you had that God offal odd even refueling days! Man, I'm sure glad I missed that! The biggest line I ever waited in was in early 1980, two cars ahead of me. Man O Man, it was terrible! lol

Yes, odd and even stunk too. Fortunately my father had two cars and we just alternated.
Gas was just the tip of the iceberg though. :doh:

 

[jamespowers]

All kidding aside, if you had a time machine, would you waist it on either the 70s or 80s?

80s in a second. I could get in on the ground floor of a lot of SUPER opportunities I originally missed. It would be GoogleJames now.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I remember paying about $1.40 a gallon for leaded regular in the early '80s, which, according to one of those online inflation calculators is about $3.65 in today's money. Which is about what I was paying for gas here up until the latest crash. Of course, in the early '80s I was working for $3.35 an hour and driving a car that got 12 miles to the gallon.

As for the time machine, I'd go back to the '80s for one purpose only -- to have a long and intense talk with my 25-year-old self about avoiding a very big mistake.

 

[ChiTownScion]

As for the time machine, I'd go back to the '80s for one purpose only -- to have a long and intense talk with my 25-year-old self about avoiding a very big mistake.

I think we all would like at least one of those Life Mulligans. I can think of at least one for every decade that I've lived through, starting with the 60's.

 

[jamespowers]

As for the time machine, I'd go back to the '80s for one purpose only -- to have a long and intense talk with my 25-year-old self about avoiding a very big mistake.

Mistake avoidance would be a good thing too.

$1.40?! You were getting ripped off big time! I was paying 77 cents a gallon to fill the 57 Chevy---probably 8 miles to the gallon in the 80s. I could get spendy and pay 88 cents a gallon if I bought Shell gas.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Northern New England had very high gas prices thruout the early eighties. It went as high as $1.50 in 1980-81, and spent most of the rest of the decade in the $1.30-1.40 range. Those high prices were what led Big Oil to weed out low-volume neighborhood dealers like us -- we were more trouble to them than we were worth.

Gas first topped $1 here in late 1979, and aside from a couple of weeks around 1999, it has never dropped below a dollar since.

 

[jamespowers]

Northern New England had very high gas prices thruout the early eighties. It went as high as $1.50 in 1980-81, and spent most of the rest of the decade in the $1.30-1.40 range. Those high prices were what led Big Oil to weed out low-volume neighborhood dealers like us -- we were more trouble to them than we were worth.

Gas first topped $1 here in late 1979, and aside from a couple of weeks around 1999, it has never dropped below a dollar since.

Wow! That was a huge ripoff! There was a huge oil glut in the 1980s so it would have made more sense for the prices to fall as they did out here. Oil went from $78 per barrel in 1981 to $26 in 1986. $1.40 per gallon regular gas was nuts!

 

[HudsonHawk]

Wow! That was a huge ripoff! There was a huge oil glut in the 1980s so it would have made more sense for the prices to fall as they did out here. Oil went from $78 per barrel in 1981 to $26 in 1986. $1.40 per gallon regular gas was nuts!

Those are inflation adjusted numbers. The nominal price of oil never got above $40 in the 80s, and got as low as $11.

As for pricing, a huge chunk of what you pay at the pump is taxes, which can vary greatly from state to state. For example, in California, you currently pay 46 cents/gallon in state tax, whereas I pay only 20 cents/gallon. Lizzie pays 30 cents/gallon. You pay this whether the price of the fuel is $1.00 or $5.00.

 

[2jakes]

Last week regular gas was $1.46 per gal.

It's now gone up to $1.76.

 

[jamespowers]

Those are inflation adjusted numbers. The nominal price of oil never got above $40 in the 80s, and got as low as $11.

As for pricing, a huge chunk of what you pay at the pump is taxes, which can vary greatly from state to state. For example, in California, you currently pay 46 cents/gallon in state tax, whereas I pay only 20 cents/gallon. Lizzie pays 30 cents/gallon. You pay this whether the price of the fuel is $1.00 or $5.00.

Quite true. I forgot to mention they are inflation adjusted figures.
I know how much I pay and am furious about it. Add to that the federal tax and you nearly double the price of gas!

 

[jamespowers]

Last week regular gas was $1.46 per gal.

It's now gone up to $1.76.

:doh: Does it snow there?
$1.46?! 1980s prices all over again. I could live with that.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Even the most foaming-at-the-mouth antitaxer knows better to complain about gas taxes here. Our state and local roads would be mooonscapes without them -- it's a constant battle to keep the pavement in repair after the continuous winter damage, and we all understand those repairs cost money. It's either pay the taxes or get a horse.

 

[jamespowers]

Even the most foaming-at-the-mouth antitaxer knows better to complain about gas taxes here. Our state and local roads would be mooonscapes without them -- it's a constant battle to keep the pavement in repair after the continuous winter damage, and we all understand those repairs cost money. It's either pay the taxes or get a horse.

It doesn't snow here and we STILL pay more. :doh:

 

[LizzieMaine]

You got them fancy freeways to maintain. Blow that mess up, go back to nice two-lane roads like the good lord intended.