Fifty Plus (50+) - Nostalgia: Remember when gas stations handed out free maps?

On at least a few occasions I stopped to get one, unfold it a bit, and put it under my jersey or jacket to block the wind. I still have a dozen or so of these I've saved over the years.

And they cleaned the windshield, checked the oil level and tire inflation and gave you savings stamps for using them. And gas costs about .15 a gallon during a "Price War"

Bill

And they spoke english.

I remember maps that were impossible to fold back up.

Gallagher did a little skit during a stand-up show, circa 1986, about the old days and gas stations.

"You could roll up in the gas station, DING-DING, here comes the guy, RUNNING! 'Lemme fill ya up, wash your windshield, air up your tires, vacuum your car, lemme do all the sh** I can for ya for THIRTY-TWO NINE!' NOW, you can't get the guy in the little house to open the DOOR! You gotta wave: 'HEY! TURN ON THE PUMP! EL PUMPO!' And they don't even sell OIL in the little house: 'Whaddayou, NUTS? OIL at a GAS station? GO to a grocery store where you belong!' "

I remember gas wars, seeing 23.9, and I remember my mother complaining about paying 37.9 for ETHYL! I also remember buying ONE tank of ethyl, and deciding that 57.9 was too much, I'd buy regular for 46.9.....

There were spinner racks FULL of maps; loved just browsing them when I went there with my dad.

I also remember comfortably sharing the road with cars back then, too, on my Schwinn 10-speed......

I'm almost 60 and I remember all the gas station stuff but the free maps.

There are free maps available from the tourist information booths in many states. The ones in Vermont, New Hampshire and New York are pretty good, widely available and free.

When I was a kid, we used to have a company called SuperTest Gas and they had a super station on one of our major roads. They provided the same major services that all stations did at that time, like check the oil, check the air in your tires, clean the windshield and pump the gas for you.

Unlike other gas companies that gave the S&H Green Stamps with your gas, they gave out SuperStamps which got you free rides at their fairly large amusement park next to their station. You would exchange your SuperStamps for ride tickets so the more stamps you had, the more rides you went on. My dad used to alternate between there and a regular station that gave the Green Stamps. I can't believe how much stuff my mother redeemed her stamps for. The location where the station and amusement park used to be is now part of the parking area for Raymond James Stadium. And the way the Bucs have been playing, I'd rather have the amusement park.

And they cleaned the windshield, checked the oil level and tire inflation and gave you savings stamps for using them. And gas costs about .15 a gallon during a "Price War"

And they actually pumped the gas. Outside of New Jersey, that's a rare event these days.

And they actually pumped the gas. Outside of New Jersey, that's a rare event these days.

Oregon won't let you pump your own gas and we have a number of stations in Canada that also offer this voluntarily.

Used to work as a gas jockey from time to time when a friend owned a full service station... back when gas was 29.9.

Outside of New Jersey, that's a rare event these days.

I worked for a company that had it's regional offices in New Jersey, to which I had to make several trips to work on their network. The first time I went there, after leaving the airport, I stopped for gas on the way to the office, got out the car and started filling up. This guy comes running out of the station and starts yelling at me to put the handle back in the pump. I'm thinking, "WTF is this guys problem?" He came and pumped the gas for me, I paid him and went on to the office. I told my story, and it wasn't until then that I was told that it's against the law to pump your own gas in New Jersey. We should have that here in Florida. Maybe it would help with the unemployment problem we have here.

Free glasses with fill up... or other dishes. Fill up for less than $10.00. I remember gas wars in Texas where stations were fighting over 19 cent a gallon prices.

Then '74 came... and the gas shortages. I thought for sure the nation was going to a carless day one day a week... we already had odd/even gas days.

I used to love riding my bike past the long lines at the gas stations. I just knew eventually everyone was going to ride bikes...

I remember getting a little inflatable dinosaur from the Sinclair station. And at the local Phillips 66 station my grandfather got me an LP record with accompanying photo booklet of Stan Musial giving batting tips for Little Leaguers.

I can remember the uproar when the local gas station hired a girl to ne a gas jockey, and the big toodo when her and and the next girl jockey decided to wear halter tops one hot day.

My mother stocked entire kitchen cabinets with drinking glasses and dishes that gas stations gave away with a minimum 8 gallon purchase. I remember the free maps--and, you could take a post card near the map rack, fill it out with your departure place and destination, if you were going on a trip, mail it in, and the oil company would send you a map with your route highlighted. I think that AAA may still do this, but I'm not sure. And you still have to join AAA to get it--the oil companies used to do it for whatever it cost to mail a post card.

It used to very common for the workers on the Pa Turnpike to slit your fan belt with a razor while they checked your oil... I never let them check the oil.

I remember my dad pulling in, asking for $2 worth and sending me running in to get a map. Those free maps were provided by the major oil companies and branded Conoco, Esso, Mobile, Texaco, etc... I think it was around the mid 70s that they started charging for them, and soon after the oil franchises quit publishing them and the ones sold were from Rand McNally or other publishers. I still have an Esso map from the mid 60s that shows most of the interstate network in NJ as being proposed. Only short disconnected segments of 80, 95, 287, etc, are shown as completed.

Now everybody uses gps or their smart phones.

I remember when it made sense to call them "service stations."

What's a map?

I also remember free windshield scrapers - maps don't do any good if you can't see through the frost.

Speaking of prices, I remember once my dad pulling up to a pump in an unknown town, and when the guy came out my dad looked at the digits and said
"HOW!?!!?! much is gas here?"
"38.9 cents per gallon sir."
"I am NOT paying 38.9 cents per gallon of gas"

and we drove across the street, where it was 33 cents or something.

Then '74 came... and the gas shortages. I thought for sure the nation was going to a carless day one day a week... we already had odd/even gas days.


My family was living over in West Germany in '74 (Dad was stationed there) and the German gov. banned driving of private cars on Sundays to conserve gas. It was pretty cool, it was quiet, the roads were all empty, and we had to walk to church. They had a great public transportation system tho, so people could still get around without too much trouble.

Remember when gas stations had pay phones? Or even a phone booth?

Then '74 came... and the gas shortages. I thought for sure the nation was going to a carless day one day a week... we already had odd/even gas days.

I used to love riding my bike past the long lines at the gas stations. I just knew eventually everyone was going to ride bikes...

Back then, as a student and cyclist, I was usually the only one in class with a perfect attendance during that time because many students missed a class if they couldn't get gas.

So how long is this "eventually" going to take? ;) Seems like I've been waiting for a while already.

What's a map?


It's a crude precursor to GPS, written in an obscure, arcane dialect that few could understand and that no translation was possible. Rumor had it, that they were created by a million monkeys locked in a room with a box of crayons.

It used to very common for the workers on the Pa Turnpike to slit your fan belt with a razor while they checked your oil... I never let them check the oil.

In Florida, the license plate showed what county it was issued in. If you were not in the county it was issued in, you were on your own for any number of scams.

In 1974 I took a 12 gallon gas tank from an Opel and put it in the trunk of my Volvo. I think the volvo already had about 15. I have no idea what the gas mileage was, but it was a 4 cylinder. As the Volvo tank started to get low on a ski trip, I would go into the trunk, turn the valve, and then as I drove the volvo tank would fill back up again.

Now, I have to pay money to get air in my tires. Even then, I seem to manage to run out of time and have to stick another coin in the machine. At least they should play some music with the air.

Nowadays, I just use my bike floor pump in the garage.

I remember getting a little inflatable dinosaur from the Sinclair station. And at the local Phillips 66 station my grandfather got me an LP record with accompanying photo booklet of Stan Musial giving batting tips for Little Leaguers.

Remember this:
http://sporeflections.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/video-snapshot-12.jpeg

I can still remember how it smelled (and it was not like gasoline).

Now, I have to pay money to get air in my tires. Even then, I seem to manage to run out of time and have to stick another coin in the machine. At least they should play some music with the air.

Nowadays, I just use my bike floor pump in the garage.

Discount Tire has a FREE aircheck anytime they are open, and you don't have to buy your tires there, and they do it for you. I just had it done tonight. I drove up to the sign that said "Free air check" and I immediately had an attendant check my tires - and they were each about 4 pounds low, which is why I had noticed a bit of wandering as I drove the car.

Presto - fixed, and the car is nice and steady.

Remember when gas stations had pay phones? Or even a phone booth?
Oh man. Pay phones are definitely on the endangered species list today. Can't tell ya how many times I've looked for pay phones at truck stops only to be told they don't have any any more. If they do, it's usually only one, and you're lucky if it works.

It used to very common for the workers on the Pa Turnpike to slit your fan belt with a razor while they checked your oil... I never let them check the oil.

I seem to remember a 60 Minutes story about this type of operation, back when 60 minutes did good stuff. But hey, all is not lost. Today, we have Jiffy Boob for scams.
And aren't outfits like Midas Muffler all commission shops?

I first learned to mount a bicycle tire and tube at a Flying A station. A guy named Johnny taught a bunch of us young males one afternoon. Johnny was way cool, and he was probably all of 19. Hey, that was grown up to us. The Flying A station is long gone, and lord only knows what became of Johnny.

I did the Gas jockey job for two summers, during the 70s. Certain very lovely female customers got their windshields washed. A lot. :D The pay sucked, and I smelled of gas and grease at the end of every shift, but the job did have its perks.

On a more serious note, the decline of gas stations is really representative of how this country has changed, in a very small amount of time. A lot of the gas stations around here have morphed into self service mini marts. Long gone are the free air pumps, replaced by those pay air stations, half of which don't work. Or, they are somehow rigged to dispense air very slowly. Often, some vending company owns the air station. Good luck with those.

I don't think you could get teenagers to work at gas stations anymore. Of course, why should they, when they can get a Mall job that pays a little better, and lets them hang with their friends while on the job?

Okay, done ranting.

...and your salary was $1.10 an hour?

Oh man. Pay phones are definitely on the endangered species list today. Can't tell ya how many times I've looked for pay phones at truck stops only to be told they don't have any any more. If they do, it's usually only one, and you're lucky if it works.

I was at a Python conference in the computer building at Texas A&M recently. There were three empty pay phone enclosures (the phones had been removed) in an attractive stainless steel finish. We decided that they should be converted to shrines for Einstein, Elvis and the Virgin Mary. ;)

Remember when gas stations had pay phones? Or even a phone booth?

And the station office had a cigarette vending machine.

Oh, I think there's still lots of guys like me who love maps, and they're getting better all the time. There's some cartographic masterpieces out there, including those classified as 'recreation' maps. And nothing can compare with laying out a map of an entire state or region and planning your next trip. It just wouldn't be the same on a 3-inch screen.

The maps were nice, but I miss the Shell Answer Man. Remember him? He seemed to mainly give tips about how to get better fuel economy. It was probably a way to deflect the complaining about any increase in the price of gasoline to the consumer: If you didn't drive like a lead-footed neanderthal, you wouldn't need to fill up so often.

Remember when gas stations had pay phones? Or even a phone booth?
When I ride to the coast, I pass a gas station/bar/store about fifteen miles from the ocean. I have never stopped at it, but this morning on my way back home I decided to stop and check on its hours. Not only had the pay phone been ripped from the wall (which was too bad since there is no cell reception for another fifty-two miles), but the gas pump was broken. To complete the trifecta, they didn't post their hours anywhere so I still don't know when they are open.

There is a Bureau of Land Management campground fourteen miles further inland that has a sign directing people to that hole in the wall as the nearest pay phone. I guess the sign needs to be updated.

I remember when we reached horror of horrors, $1 for an imperial gallon of gas, none of the pumps at any of the stations were set up for anything as ludicrous a $1 for a gallon of gas, they all topped out at 99.9¢, what a lot of stations did, was they set the price on the pump at 50¢ and you paid double what it read on the pump. A year or two later they moved to metric pricing, and reworked the pumps to work with litres instead of gallons. However as pumps were replaced, they were replaced with ones that could price up to $9.99, so when gas hit $1/Litre there was no problem, I passed a station today with the price posted as $1.189 that is $5.35 for an Imperial Gallon.

There are still a few full service stations, but service stations had an ulterior motive, if the attendant noticed your fluids were low, they could sell you those fluids, often at a premium price. If they noticed something amiss, they could direct you to the service bays for a repair. It also meant employment for thousands of young people, looking for that important first job, some of which later became mechanics.

You want a service "station" not being open, I went to an LBS today that had a sign on the door, "Closed until March" :eek:

More people smoked back then. We sold lots of cigarettes in addition to pumping gas.

Remember when gas stations had pay phones? Or even a phone booth?
I worked in gas stations for years. The busiest one had 4 full time mechanics, (I was one), and limited parking. The biggest pain we had was the phone booth and the steady stream of people who came to use it, leaving their cars blocking everything.
One day my boss got the idea to call the phone co. and have the booth removed. After that the biggest pain was the restroom, as it was at all the other gas stations I had worked.
People will do absolutely everything in a gas station restroom, including inject drugs and have sexual encounters of all kinds.

Remember when gas stations had pay phones? Or even a phone booth?
Yup. These days it's much harder to find a place to change into my Superman suit.:p

Back in the 60's I just knew I would be that jovial old semi-retired guy with the cigar and the push broom sharing stories and jokes with the mechanics and regulars and occasionally peeking under the hood with the rest of the guys while knowingly and slowly shaking my head in sincere disapproval of one thing or another.

Sigh.... Another dream dashed upon the rocky shoreline of life. :(

I can remember the uproar when the local gas station hired a girl to ne a gas jockey, and the big toodo when her and and the next girl jockey decided to wear halter tops one hot day.

Back in the summer of 1972 I pulled into a Mobile Station that had a pretty young girl on the pumps. While the tank was filling she enthusiasticly asked if I wanted her to check my oil. Not being one to decline an opportunity for some fun I said sure, and pulled the hood release. The rest of the employees, aware that this would probably be a memorable moment since I had already done the same thing to a couple of them, were in the office watching. She only had to fumble about for a few short seconds before locating and releasing the secondary hood catch. The look on her face whan she looked into the engine bay is permanently burned into my brain. The poor girl quickly recovered from her initial suprise and started looking things over. Finally she shouted over to the guys in the office "Hey, there's no oil things on top of this engine!" I thought they were going to fall off of their chairs!

Then they all came over to the car and I climbed out of that old '47 Ford and together we introduced her to her first Ford Flat Head V-8. She was a good sport about the whole episode and seemed to enjoy it as the station mechanic pointed out some of the differences from the engines she was used to checking. As I recall she was most suprised at the oil bath air filter. I doubt that she has seen many since.

More people smoked back then. We sold lots of cigarettes in addition to pumping gas.

Cigarette vending machines are illegal most everywhere now because you can't sell tobacco to minors. My mom used to send me to the store all the time to buy her cigarettes.

Is it true that airplanes still use leaded gasoline? I mean those non jet engines like Cessna.

Remember when gas stations had pay phones? Or even a phone booth?

Probably not worth maintaining something that might get used once a month.

I remember working night shift in a gas station. The owner told me "If you get robbed be as nice as you can, give them all the money, and offer to fill up their car with gas. Just be sure they take the bag where we keep all the bad checks."

I remember working night shift in a gas station. The owner told me "If you get robbed be as nice as you can, give them all the money, and offer to fill up their car with gas. Just be sure they take the bag where we keep all the bad checks."

:roflmao:

Is it true that airplanes still use leaded gasoline? I mean those non jet engines like Cessna.

Yup, 100LL - 100 octane low lead.

Remember this:

I can still remember how it smelled (and it was not like gasoline).
Sinclair Oh yeah

I remember working night shift in a gas station. The owner told me "If you get robbed be as nice as you can, give them all the money, and offer to fill up their car with gas. Just be sure they take the bag where we keep all the bad checks."

And make a note of the idiots plate number :D