Pumped Eythl in Albuquerque NM right on RT 66 just pased Tijeras canyon, thats coming in from the East, think it was an ENCO station, at the time in 1966. We used to watch movies, were right next to a drive in, from the top of the station! Was in the AF at the time, good times!
.32 when I got my license. Funny but, I couldn't stop grinning while I saw reading this thread. Beats tearing up I guess.
whatyoutalkinbout willis.... yeah, i remember. Fuel for 29.9 and we washed windows, etc. I remember one night, some clown pulled in, and as we were doing our thing, he opens his door & empties out his ashtray on the drive. Bud (the owner of the station) took great exception to this. He calmly walks over to the pile of ash & butts, sweeps them up, opens the back door of the car & dumps 'em on the floor. Turns on his heel & walks off... I thought i was gonna injure myself, trying not to laugh.
An excerpt from a new story of mine: For those of us brave enuff to drive our “Gassers” on the street, we had several drive-in hangouts to visit on a Friday or Saturday nite, including Denver’s famous Scotchman on Federal Boulevard. I could always find a street race there. Kenny and I would make a huge cruisin’ loop…from Denver’s 16th Street -- three lanes wide, one way, approx. 12 blox long to Arapahoe where we’d turn and go the 12 blox back up 15th to turn onto 16th and start all over again. That “loop” would take anywhere from an hour to over two hours, depending on traffic. Friday and Saturday nites was always bumper to bumper and we’d start with a full tank of “Ethyl” (premium leaded) fuel… once we’d made the whole cruisin’ “loop” -- to the Scotchman, the “Paper Tiger” on Wadsworth, the A & W on South Broadway and Taylor’s on East Colorado Boulevard, we’d be down to less than half a tank of gas…the 5:13’s in the Impala could suck some serious gas (Ethyl) fast…of course, putting a foot into the carb to “keep it cleaned out” didn’t help either and the whole big loop could consume about two-three hours. We’d go thru two full tanks of premium fuel a nite…but, at 33.9 cents a gallon, we almost couldn’t afford the beer that kept us going. R-
here's a pic of the local Gulf gas station in Birmingham that I used to go to. That's my old man's 61 Corvair in there getting gas. The picture was taken with a green stamp camera...the green stamps came from this gas station. I had to search for this one
How many books of green stamps did your folks need to get the camera...I remember it would take stacks and stacks of books to get something that you could buy for a few books but it sure kept the folks going back to that gas station or grocery store
Ah, I remember her well. Flying A gas station in Reedley, Ca., where a soda was .10 and a candy bar was .05. We also sold fishing tackle and bait. The Kings River was just down the street.
Pumped gas at a Chevron all through high school. Custom Supreme was the king of fuels. For a dollar you get get four gallons of gas....of course, I was only making about $.75/hr - but free rack time on Sundays for my own personal car....worth checking all them tires, and scrubbing those bugs off of the windshield. My youngest son (he's 25) just flat doesn't believe that gas was ever that cheap, or that we made it through life without video games or texting, or computers, and worst of all...had to GET UP to change channels on the TV (we only had four channels - three network from Spokane and one 'local'). "...Honey, I know...I got a few years on you, but if you're shoppin' around, let me tell you a thing or two..." dj
I do remember that gas was .25 cents per gal. at the Oak Gas Station in Birmingham Mich. when I was about 5 y.o. Shut up, I know I'm getting old.
as a young man,worked at the Marathon sta on N.High st,Col's,Ohio and sold many gallons of ethyl for .18c..Our big deal was to see who got to clean the windshield.. saw some interesting sights especially in the summer when the ladies were trying to keep "it" cooled down...remember no air cond then...
Don't forget about Richfield, It had Boron. Never did understand that. Customers that wanted all the windows washed and the tires check got it. Checking the oil and belts with a windshield wash was standard with any amount of .25 a gallon gas. Another benefit of having a cool station job was the uniform, aka, "discount clothes" at the local parts store.
The first price I remember for gas was 11.9 cents a gallon. When I started driving it was all the way up to 19.9 a gallon. I had a 48 Chevy at the time and we would scrape up 50 cents to buy enough gas to run all night.I paid 90 cents a carton for smokes for the regular size or $1.00 for kings. I can also remember DX Boron which was the premium gas and also the Clark Super 100. We also had the Hudson oil co stations at that time and you could buy re-refined oil for 10 cents a quart in a glass jar with a metal spout on it. Ar the time I was working for S.S. Kresge Co. as a stock clerk for 35 cents an hour and I always seemed to have enough cash to do what I wanted. A good hamburger was 25 cents and a heck of a sit down dinner was 60 cents. Times were good, but we did not have all the BS that we have now. We could go to the movie on Saturday morning for 7 7UP bottle caps. For this we got to see a news reel, a cartoon, a serial and a feature movie. I grew up in Sedalia, Missouri and times were darn sure simpler. This year I turned 67 and I think it's great that you young pups let us old farts try to remember . Later, Dick
Ha! You aint kiddin, loved to wash them windows in the summer and look at the ladies! Sometimes it took a long time to scrub them bugs.
I forgot to mention that all service stations were fullservice stations. There was no such thing as self service.Times were good! Later, Dick
1959 right out of high school my Dad bought a gas station in Tampa FL (Temple Terrace). It was an Amoco station. Down south they called it Hy-test. Back in the mid west it was Ethel. Sunoco had a bunch of grades. 220,230,240 etc up to 260. If you could find someone to do it they could break the seal and crank the handle all the way to "concentrate". That was the ultra hy-test. It mixed with regular to make the different grades. I think Amoco "white gas", hy-test was about 101 octane. People bought it to put in their Coleman lanterns too. Ahhhhhh, back in the day ...
POOR OL' EYTHEL---------If she had as many pumped into her as pumped out----She'd look like a porcupine!!!!!!!!!!
"How many books of green stamps did your folks need to get the camera...I remember it would take stacks and stacks of books to get something that you could buy for a few books but it sure kept the folks going back to that gas station or grocery store" Took 8 books to get a Kay flat top guitar... still got it.
I used to pump ethyl every Friday night, I allways volunteered to drive to Steak n' Shake, back into a space in my '63 Impala SS and watch everyone cruise the lot. I collected a quarter each from the 4 guys who rode with me, stopped on the way and pumped ethyl. At .19 a gallon and .16 cents during gas wars it gave me enough gas to drive on my Saturday night date and to school all week. Got green stamps or steak knives or water glasses. The good old days.
I used Sonoco 260 and Super Shell ('cause Old Man Ferrari insisted that Shell be used in his cars) in my car, a 1965 Corvair Turbo Corsa. I also worked at an Exxon in suburban Springfield, Virginia and Sears (Alexandria, VA) pumping gas, checking oil, tires, and cleaning windows. Evening rush hour was the best time to work full serve at the Exxon. There were several regular women customers coming home from work who would un-botton the top few buttons of their blouses, and hike of their skirts to give us pump jocks a thrill while we washed the windshield! During the winter months, we used to beg to check the oil, just so that we could warm our hands on the radiator hoses. By the way, historically gas prices when adjusted for inflation were at their all time low during the Nineties; the Clinton years, not the Sixties. They also historically have been at their highest during Republican administrations; Reagan (which had the highest prices till this past year), Bush the First, and Bush the Second. Even back during the Depression they were a lot higher than the Nineties! Notice how they have dropped recently partially because of the Wall Street crash, but also probably because a Dem is going to be in office.
Oh Ethyl! My dad used to always run Ethyl in his '55 and '59 Pontiacs. Regular was for ancient 4 bangers and such. Ethyl, Regular and "white gas" for the lawn mower. The oilfield types and poor folks would drive out to some well head and fill up with free "drip gas". I never did that but heard lots about it! We would drive out to the local airport and get five gallons of avation gas - cost about twice what car gas did. Run it in our single cylinder home made "go carts". And man ya could truly tell a difference! I still catch myself calling it Ethyl from time to time..................
Had an Annt and Uncle that worked for Ethyl Corp. as Chemists years ago, at the Baton Rouge, La. plant. I heard many stories about tests conducted by big time racers and engine builders using Ethyl gasoline and special blends of thier work. Some had funny endings, some were of success, others, well they got to see what came OUT or was left of the test.
If I am not mistaken, ethyl was short for Tetra-ethyl-lead an additive to reduce pre-ignition until the EPA put a stop to it in the mid-seventies.
i built a 55 gasser for a friend and i tried for months to get him to have Pump'n Ethyl (™ letterd on it...... haha....... but now im building myself a 55 and im gonna have it letterd on it........
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