History Remember when Service Stations gave Service?

I worked in a Mobil station from 59 to 62 while in high school in upstate New York. $.299 for regular and $.319 for high test all 4 years. It never changed. We did all sorts of serice work. Everything short of engine rebuilds. Not only did I learn a lot but I got to hang out with all of mechanics in town. What a great experience. I'll never forget it.

 

Not too long ago there was a Citgo gas station in Midland Park, NJ. Its gone now, but when I used to pull in there after work there were two teenage kids. They would ask how much you wanted and after they started the pump they would wash your windows. I used to throw them 2 bucks for doing it. Not only cause they did it, but to show them that good work ethic doesn't go unrewarded.

 

Hey remember when you could go to a gas station and get directions?

 

I worked at a gas station that had a full service island my senior year in high school and the summer following graduation. All my friends thought it was funny to pull up and pay the extra money per gallon to make me pump their gas for them. One time my buddy brought about ten dollars in pennies in a zip-loc bag. I refused service to him. That was in 1996 and the gas station is now closed and it is now a Smog only station.

 

Worked at a Sunoco station after school, 1971; reg was $.29 and we couldn't afford 260 grade, it was 49.9!! Got paid a buck an hour; anything I did in the shop was mine, got to use the garage, and made enough $$ to build my '63 Falcon Sprint, buy and build the 289 engine and insure. Always made sure the shop was spotless, washed all the tools in gas and put them away, etc...that was livin...owner was a great guy and treated me like family!!!

I have the original blend pump from this station!!!

gaspumpchas

 

i remember going to the sevice stations when i was a kid.i was born in 69 so they where on there way out by the time i could drive.there was one on peoria here is tulsa around 36 street.they where full service up until they closed up.about 10-15 years ago..man that seems like along ago......sad that those days are gone.....

 

I also worked in a few gas station in my days too . My granddad owned a Sinclair & Gulf gas station . They used to give away the coolest things for buying gas ! Toys , glasses and just about anything you could think of including SERVICE !
When I worked fir Exxon in the early 1970's we pumped the gas , washed the front and rear windows , checked under the hood and checked the air in your tires ! That was service .
We wore a uniform and even wore that damn red bow-tie too !Didn't bother me much at all because I had a job so I could save up and get a car !
Those were the good days when you went up in your car , with a nice loping cam and bought $2 Worth of gas and drove around all night and still had gas left over ! Use to buy Sunoco 260 for less than .40 a gallon ! 100 octane fuel !
Still remember saving the stamps so we could get free gas !
They were the best days and will never return !

 

In 1973 there were 5 full service stations in our little town of 800 people. Sunoco, Texaco, Mobil, Standard and Skelly plus the local Ag Center sold Phillips 66 but mostly diesel to farmer's. The Mobil was a "truck stop" with a diner in it on US 67 and was open 24/7, the others were usually open to 10, 11 or midnight and re-opened at the crack of dawn. Today we have a Caseys convenience store, it has good pizza and a couple cute cashiers but it's just not the same. There was something a whole lot cooler about a greasy old gas station with a bunch of kids hanging around while the local hot shoe serviced his hot rod occasionally firing it up with open headers and doing a couple burnouts across the drive to test out his latest mod. The town cop would even stop, have a Pepsi or Coke and BS about who had the fastest car in town when he was our age.

There were also numerous little stations along the local highways seemingly in the middle of nowhere, every little wide spot in the road or halfway busy intersection had at least one and they all made a living.

Damn I miss it.

 

man I have had the dream of restoring a station like that and giving the folks the service of the 'ol days .I cut my teeth in a gas station at age 13 , full service was the name of the game , it was great, it was my second real job 1.40 hr.gas was 28.9 up to 30.9 and when we had a gas war with the tenneco down the street it got down to 27.9 those were very formative years for me, loved washing the windshields

 

I would love to wear an old service station uniform, call me weird.

 

What a great read. The stories I have heard from my grandad and even my dad, sound all to familiar with what you've written. It's amazing, sad rather, to see how much we have fallen just in my life span. It is impossible to find great service anywhere these days, and even harder to find those who take pride in their
work....and those that do, you can generally find on the H.A.M.B.

-DMFB

 

When I was in High School (early 90's) I worked in one of the last stations around here that still had full service. I worked there for two and a half years, Sure beat the HELL out of flipping burgers. There was a lady that had been coming in there for years she drove a 56' Chevy and said I was the first one that worked there that knew where the gas cap was haha!!!

 

I work at a full service station now.. while I'm not at uni. We fill petrol tanks, check oil, do tyres, change windscreen wipers, light globes, etc.
The boss built the place as a car dealership back in the 60's I think. Used to sell Austins, Morris' Leylands, Mokes, BMC. Hes now over 80 and is still working 12 hours everyday.

 

I'm the janitor at our local Shell Mart, so I'm often the one who has to fill up old ladies tanks and such. I wish it was a full service station, checking the oil, cleaning windows, and putting air in tires for 5 hours would sure beat cleaning bathrooms and sweeping up cigarette butt's.

 

Right ,,anymore I think the people that work at gas stations need directions to get to work

 

" trust your car to the one who weres the star, the bright red texaco star" cant remember my grandkids names but i still can remember that jingle! loved those times. i miss all things i grew up with.sometimes change isnt for the best.

 

Worked at an Exxon station back in the mid sixties, $0.28/gal high test. It was a company station along the Interstate. Mandated by the company that you washed the windshield with any purchase amount of gasoline. Didn't mind at all, being on the Interstate in Florida I got to look up many skirts while washing the windshield, I think some enjoyed it and would make a point of providing a good view, life couldn't get much better. We always checked the oil level without asking, unless we were told not to by the driver. The radiator can, you know the water bucket with the long spout, was used to drain the hose after each purchase and when it nears full we would dump it in our car gas tank. Just about always had a full tank of gas at no cost. Since we got 10% of all accessories sold we learned to clean the dirt out of the air filter by tapping it on the ground where the driver could see it, then start talking about how the engine uses 10 gallons of air for each gallon of gas and when it can't get the air guess what it uses. They would normally ask if we had a filter that would fit their car. We were the highest selling station for air filters in the state, the company investigated why and then started requiring all stations to check the air filters. Tires were about the same, if you ever got a car up on the rack then you would locate the second worst tire and start talking about how its worn and may be a danger. The customer would find the worst and you would normally end up selling at least two tires.

 

Back in the 70's in Elizabeth, NJ I worked pumping gas at a Pathmark....that's right PATHMARK gasoline! One set of pumps and a small circular building in the supermarket parking lot . Just enough room inside to duck out of the weather with a small storage room for cases of oil and a rest room on each side. The whole building wasn't more than 15 ft in diameter. They used to sell Pathmark "Recycled Oil" in gallon jugs for a .89 cents. - perfect for that Pinto or Vega that burned a quart an hour. Pathmark even tried to get in on the fast food craze. In the same parking lot they built what was called "The Hut" -big building with a funny looking roof - served burgers, hot dogs, milk shakes....couldn't compete with the likes of McDonalds and Burger King and didn't last long. The goofy looking building is still there, it's a bank now....the gas station is long gone.

 

I remember in 71 pulling into an Exxon station and about 5 guys swarmed my new 71' mustang. I thought they were all eager to check it out, but come to find out they were in training. One of them even asked me to open the trunk so that they could check the air in my spare.

Unfortunately it's not just gas stations that you don't get the service you used to get.

 

I worked at several gas staions. Call them service stations, gas staions, it never mattered then why should it now? I worked at Sunoco, mostly.
Know why they don't do that anymore? Overinflated minimum wage laws forced on business owners by the government, lobbied and pushed by unions. That is a fact. Some states and municipalities with high union percentages, simply make it a law to have an attendant pump the gas, forcing the owner to pay high wages to some nose-picking teenage dweeb, or virtually useless adult who can't get a real job. Those places have much higher priced gas.
Back in the day, I did it just to be around cars, any cars, and meet people. I'd have done it for free. Can't do that in the good old "land of the free" anymore.

 

Hey thanks for politicizing this thread. And oh yeah, if you think minimum wage is too much to pay for pumping gas and checking air, think about how fucked up your hamburger order usually is and know most of those places pay above minimum wage. So yeah, the guy checking your mom's tires ought to be doing it for free. Man, put down the rose colored glasses and go try to live on minimum wage.

Edit- this was typed by a former minimum wage gas pumper, tow truck driver, tire installer, etc. That's not a job for volunteers or those with extra chromosomes. There's real human consequence to many of the duties.

Good times? Absolutely. Doesn't make the duties worth one penny less.

 

I had an attendant fill my tank and another wash the windshield last week in Challis, Idaho at a Phillips 66 station. Surprised but grateful! And they sold good clean ethanol free gas. Again grateful!

 

Are there any "full service" stations left ? I would love to own a retro gas station where the attendants still dressed like and attendant and perform all the old services. Make the place look like it fell right out of the 50's.

 

Rays Exxon in Yorba Linda , worked the islands, had to upsell, tires , oil changes, etc.. all of the time ... always remembered, theres $ under the hood ...if you ask....

 

My brother and dad owned a Sunoco in Pepperell MA from 1965 to 1980.I got to start working there at 15 and we really gave service-check under the hood etc.We also would always vacuum and wash the windows for anything from an oil change on up!The coolest thing was all the cool cars came in for the 260!We also had a motorcross track in town and the head of the Lowell MA Hells Angels so I got real good at not spilling gas on a bike tank!

 

what astounds me Is whenever I travel outta state and i'm lost in the middle of no wheres ville u.s.a. and the people at the gas station have no clue about where i'm going or what i'm looking for even though its "their neck of the woods". Then my destination useually winds up being 5 minutes away..

 

As a teen{1958-1959} i worked at a Richfield station near Disneyland. Ya had to check the oil, wash the windows, check tire pressue and of course put gas in for the customer. One of my dutys was to clean the bathrooms,which i hated,so i cleaned em when i came on duty, then locked em and put an out of order sign on both At closing i had to go around to each pump and record the numbers for the day then shut off the pumps. There was always gas left in the hoses, so id drive my car to each pump and tilt the hose up to get what i could out in my car.{hey i was a broke kid} When we sold tires, i would take the best of the takeoffs and put em on my car.Those were fun days and i learned some good basics while working there.

 

In the 80's I worked at both a full service Union 76 and Chevron station.

I remember being able to start the pump at the 76 station and being able to wash the front window/check the oil by the time it got to 20 bucks.

we would wash windows/check oil/check air in tires for people getting gas. We would also plug or patch tires, change head lights, change oil, tail lights, anything else that we could figure out how to do.

I remember at the 76 station we were the last place in town to have leaded gasoline so we were popular with the old cars and old harleys.

I am surprised no one has started a full service place now and cater to older people who do not want to pump and rich people that do not have to pump.

edit...oh yeah we had to take pump numbers each night, clean bathrooms and sold tires to. and yeah...i would keep the good tires that we replaced if I had a use for them.

also...one more bit of history trivia. Chevron stations are locally owned. Standard stations are company owned. IF the chevron station i worked at as a teenager had been a standard station that time would count towards my current vacation/retirement. oh well...

and there still are standard stations out there. Chevron keeps one in various areas so they can keep the standard name.

another edit...I told my wife about one old lady that would tap the inside of the window ANYWHERE i missed a bug...so now as I was the window when I am pumping my wife does that to annoy me.

and in NC my grandpa drove a shell fuel truck.

 

My father in law just sold his gas station in Temple, Texas to his employee. It's a ratty little place with a U-haul dealer on it, and it's always flooded by the elderly. He and the employee that bought it from him ensured it would stay a full service "Service Station" NOT a gas station. I think he only had drinks for sale there too. They could do just about anything automotive you wanted, they pumped gas for you (old mechanical pumps that needed to be reset before each use) and checked the oil, washed windshield etc. The whole routine for free. There is no self service there.

Exit 300 northbound I-35. You can't miss it, it's the rattiest looking gas station you'd ever seen lol. Friendliest people though!

 

That would be cool but the 6 or 7 bucks a gallon you would need to charge for all that service might turn some people off.
But as lotus said if they've got the money and don't want to soil their hands you might be on to something.. would need to be near a high dollar area...certainly not this grapes of wrath town,...