OT - Those were the days, my friend.....

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2012: OT - Those were the days, my friend.....
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 11:48 am:


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Gregush Portland Oregon on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 01:38 pm:

If I did my math right, that would be over $5 a gallon in today price.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve Jelf, Parkerfield KS on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 04:19 pm:

From the cars in the picture, I'm guessing about 1935. The 20.5¢ would be $3.43 today. When I filled up yesterday the price was $3.629.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Ricks - Surf City on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 05:07 pm:

7 cents tax is 35%.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Danial - Veneta OR US Earth Solar System on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 05:13 pm:

We're well over $4 per gallon here.

What's the "RR" fee?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Matthew David Maiers on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 05:25 pm:

railroad for transport?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gordon Byers - Rangely CO on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 05:26 pm:

Railroad?....Transportation I would assume.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Gordon Byers - Rangely CO on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 05:27 pm:

Matt beat me to it. :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Danial - Veneta OR US Earth Solar System on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 05:31 pm:

Ah yes...makes sense.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Matthew David Maiers on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 05:32 pm:

the funny thing is that gas stayed at around 20-25 cents up until the 70s.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Danial - Veneta OR US Earth Solar System on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 05:35 pm:

In the mojave desert when I was a kid from 69-74 it was about 35 cents. When we moved to Oregon in 75 it hit 50 cents a galloon that year...and hasn't seen it since.

We did have a gas war here a few years back and it got back down to less than a buck a gallon for a short time.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Dewey, N. California on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 05:36 pm:

And in the late'70s the dealer's cut was still about 4¢ to 5¢ and gas was just over $1 (I remember having to modify our pump 'computers" to display and count $1--they were only good to 99¢!).
T'
David D.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By William L Vanderburg on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 05:48 pm:

Yes, RR means railroad. Back in the day, gasoline was transported short distances by tank truck. But, long distance travel was by train.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By michael grady on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 06:35 pm:

The cheapest I remember gas is $.30/gallon ..

how about you guys?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Wayne Sheldon, Grass Valley, CA on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 06:38 pm:

When I was four or five, before the freeways were built, we drove through Tracy on the (now) backroads between San Jose and Modesto CA. They usually had a gas war going on. Gas in other places was about 22 to 24 cents. In Tracy, we always stopped to fill up because it was 17.5 to 18.5 cents.
Drive carefully, and enjoy, W2


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Rick Goelz-Knoxville,TN on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 06:38 pm:

18 cents in 1956.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Danial - Veneta OR US Earth Solar System on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 07:35 pm:

One of the things I find interesting about Dick's photo at the top, is that prices were stable enough for this station owner to have painted the prices on the sign.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Fred Schrope - Upland, IN on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 09:00 pm:

Texaco was 23.9 cents in West Lafayette, IN in spring of 1965. Co-op Gas was 31.7 off the tank wagon onto the farm in 1969.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Norman T. Kling on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 09:19 pm:

21.9 at a self serve station. 25.9 at a full service station. We high school kids learned a trick by accident. We used to get a few gallons of gas and then turn off the pump and open the nozzle and drain the hose to get the last bit of gas. One row of pumps was lower than the others and we found out that when we drained the hose it would syphon gas and we could fill up the tank free! Well the station owner caught on and soon that row of pumps were locked with "out of order" signs!
Norm


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Danial - Veneta OR US Earth Solar System on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 09:34 pm:

Norm, in the 70s, in the town I grew up in, one could still drain the hoses from the mom and pop stations and get enough petrol to get from one party to the next....jeez, I had forgotten about that...


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steven Thum on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 09:44 pm:

In the late 60's gas was at about 35 cents a gallon. A station not to far away from me would lower their price to 20 cents every so often. I would go fill two 55 gallon barrels at the 20 cent price and would drive on that when prices were back at 35 cents. I really thought I was saving money at that time.

Steven


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mike dixon on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 10:10 pm:

I GOT MARRIED IN 70, GAS WAS AROUND 35 CENTS, WE WENT TO BRANSON, ALL ALONG THE WAY FROM ST LOUIS, THERE WAS A GAS WAR GOING ON BOUGHT GAS IN SPRINGFIELD MO FOR 17.9 WE STOPPED EVERYWHERE AND FILLED UP ALONG THE WAY JUST 2 KIDS ON A 300 MILE TRIP IN A 200. DOLLAR CAR AND 200 DOLLARS IN MY POCKET. THOSE WERE THE DAYS I GUESS, I HAD A GOOD JOB AT THE CORVETTE FACTORY IN ST LOUIS


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dana A. Crosby in Glendale, Az on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 10:32 pm:

When I got out of the Navy in '70, I got a job at the Montgomery Wards pumping gas and doing service work. Most Fridays we pumped gas for 19.9 cents/gallon. In '71 I drove my brand new Chevy Vega from Florida to Upstate NY and spent $8.00 for gas getting there. The lowest I have ever seen it was in Bennington, VT in late '58. There was a "war" on I suppose, because gas was 12.9 and 13.9 cents/gallon. Now it costs nearly $100 to fill my Tahoe.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob McDonald-Federal Way, Wa. on Monday, September 03, 2012 - 10:36 pm:

In the mid 50's I worked at a shell station and was making $1.00 an hour,I hit up my boss for a raise. He looked at me and smiled then said my raise was all the gas that I drained from the hoses each night. Didn't ask again. I think gas was about $0.24 cents a gal. then.

Bob


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Craig Anderson, central Wisconsin on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 12:20 am:

The least I ever paid for gas was 1970, in Milwaukee, WI.
There was a gas war.
My roomie had a VW Bug and we got gas ONE TIME for 22.9¢ a gallon....... :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Aaron Griffey, Hayward Ca. on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 12:40 am:

I Wisconsin I worked at a 66 station in '55. It was 29.9 for regular and 31.9 for Flite Fuel (high test).
In the winter of '59-60 I went to work in a garage in St. Paul that had 66 pumps for that same price. A dollar got you 3.7 gallons of regular or 3.1 of high test.
I remember a gas war in the earlier 50's in Wisconsin that got down to $.11.
Usually gas wars were around 23 cents, that way the station owner did not loose money, he just sold a lot of gas.
When I (a student)worked in a hardware store in '54-55 I got paid $.50 an hour, same as a women. Men got 60 cents. We could buy 2 gallons of gas for 60 cents or less. A quart of premium oil was .$50, now it is around 3.50.

I think today a hardware store worker gets about 10 to $12 an hour. That will get you about 3 gallons of gas in my area of Ca. It is $4.15 here now. More in San Fransicko.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Aaron Griffey, Hayward Ca. on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 12:45 am:

In those days it was against the local laws some places to post gas prices on a big sign that could be read while driving by a station.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dennis Halpin on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 01:53 am:

"21.9 at a self serve station. 25.9 at a full service station. We high school kids learned a trick by accident. We used to get a few gallons of gas and then turn off the pump and open the nozzle and drain the hose to get the last bit of gas."

Norm, back when I was fixing gas stations for a living, there was a little check valve in the nozzle to prevent that because pump would jump a couple cents on the next guy while it re-pressurized the hose. With the prices these days, if the nozzle check valve didn't work it would probably jump a dollar. :-(
Aside from the advancement in technology, one of the reasons gas dispensers (they aren't pumps anymore) went to digital was because the increase in price was spinning the guts out of the price wheels in the old Veeder Root 2002E mechanical computers and we couldn't keep up with the repairs.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Matthew David Maiers on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 02:23 am:

the other thing that should be considered is how much did you drive back then?

and how much do you drive now?

most people commute a decent distance anymore, usually when i find work i have to drive one or two towns over.

ive had a job in town once barely spent any money on gas. especially in a T.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By mike bartlett Oviedo,Fl on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 06:54 am:

I filled my dodge diesel saturday.....$110.00


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By CharlesHebert on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 07:54 am:

The cheapest I remember was 17 cents in the fifties. My dad would give be a quarter to go get a gallon of gas and then I have the extra eight cents to buy baseball cards with gum inside along with licorice. Sometimes he would send me to the store to buy pipe tobacco, Edgeworth slice and ready rub. Came in a can with the match striker on the bottom.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Danial - Veneta OR US Earth Solar System on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 08:54 am:

Charles, I remember my parents sending my brother and I to the store with a permission slip so we could buy cigarettes for them.

How times have changed..


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By michael grady on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 09:28 am:

So 15 cents, 17 cents, 35 cents a gallon...that's pretty good. BUT,do you remember what you also received for that 3 bucks you spent filling your tank? Green stamps? Glasses? Beach balls? Oil checked? Some pumped the gas for you - and then tanked you?

What am I forgetting?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dan Schultz_Sheboygan,WI on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 09:36 am:

When I came back from overseas in 1970 I bought a Toyota Corolla and you couldn't get 3 dollars worth of gas in it before it would have a full tank, and it got 35 miles to the gallon.

I used to get sent to the store with the permission slip for cigarettes too, and we had a tavern on the corner of our neighborhood I would get sent to for jug of beer for my dad and his brother. Right across the street was a gas station I would get sent to for a gallon of white gas to light the charcoal with, to "fry out". Always bratwurst soaked in beer, butter and onions served on hard rolls.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dan Schultz_Sheboygan,WI on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 09:41 am:

And they washed your windows, and checked your tires.

Sunday I gassed up at a station where they pumped my gas and washed my windows. I never got out of the car, kind of a nice through back to the old days.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Robert Steven Robbins on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 10:00 am:

When I was about 15 and driving my '63 Corvair, gas at High Quality-Low Cost was 29.9 and cigarettes were 27 cents with gas wars getting the gas as low as 19.9 For 5 bucks we could fill up, get a pack of smokes and still have money for beer! Legal age was 18 then but I had a woman in the convenience store that never carded me until I went in on my 18th birthday and said how glad I was to finally be of age. She was so mad at me she never would sell me beer again. Glad I have matured since :-) Steve


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Henry Petrino in Modesto, CA on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 10:11 am:

Near where I grew up was a Chevron station owned and operated by a guy named Sam. It was just an old and run down place left over from the '30's. During the years when my friends and I were all 16-20 years old (mid to late '60's) Sam's station was a great place to go. He would get into gas wars with the station across the street and gas would get to under $.20 a gallon, but better yet was the fact that Sam always had a six-pack or two in the shop. He liked to share the beer and talk, so we'd oblige him.

Good thing our parents bought their gas elsewhere! :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Joe Van on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 10:26 am:

I'll chime in, just to kind of show the generational differences here. The lowest I ever paid was the summer I started driving (1997) at 69 cents. I worked at six flags making $5.25 an hour. My parents had gotten me a 1971 ford pinto for my 16th birthday, a car which I still have right alongside my model T now.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dennis Halpin on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 10:39 am:

When I was in my mid teens, I worked in an old Chevron gas station. One of my jobs along with pumping gas, checking water and oil, washing windows and checking tires was to fill up the 1 quart glass oil bottles in the display on the island, when they got used from the 55 gallon barrel of oil with the hand pump on it in the lube bay. :-) Must have been back around 1961-62.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dennis Halpin on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 10:53 am:

I miss my 71 Pinto, Joe :-( I bought one when the first came out in late 1970.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Joe Van on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 11:37 am:

That is really scary, mine is grabber blue as well. Still has the original paint on it. I have the runabout (3 door hatchback) which was introduced as a mid year model for 1971.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 12:00 pm:

Joe, when you said "Six Flags," it caught my eye and I looked at your profile. Son of a gun! You're in St. Louis. I didn't see your name in the roster of the local MTFCA chapter. Are you a member?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Joe Van on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 12:15 pm:

Yes sir, joined at the July meeting.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dick Lodge - St Louis MO on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 12:29 pm:

Guess I should read my Occasional more carefully... :-)

Anja and I aren't able to be as active as we once were, but perhaps our paths will cross sometime.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Charlie B actually in Toms River N.J. on Tuesday, September 04, 2012 - 12:43 pm:

Dennis, I had a Pinto too although I've never admitted it to anyone before now (LOL). I don't remember the prices but I do remember having a '68 T Bird during that former genius j. carter's reign. The only way to get rid of it and partially escape those gas lines was a trade in. Bought a '75 Granada new. 6 cyl. I recently picked up a garage kept '75 Granada Ghia and while doing some on line researching found out that 90% of Granada's sold in 1975 had the 302 V-8, which this one does. I guess (as usual) not every one was thinking as I did back then.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Stroud on Wednesday, September 05, 2012 - 03:54 am:

Dennis, your Pinto brings back a lot of memories for me. After I got back to the "WORLD" in '71, one of my good friends bought a used '70 Pinto hatchback. After he drove it for a couple of years or so, we put a hotrodded Boss 302 engine in it along with the appropriate drive train. It was quite a snotty rig, needless to say. Dave


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Dennis Halpin on Thursday, September 06, 2012 - 05:37 am:

I wanted to put a 289-302 in mine too Dave. My Pinto had the 1600 (Cortina) engine in it. I found a wrecked Ford Cortina in a junk yard and grabbed the Cortina Webber 2bbl, manifold and headers off it. Great gas mileage and peppy performance too. :-)
Sadly, my Pinto ended it's life the way many did, it was rear-ended and folded under like a whipped dog. :-( I might have been a member of the Pinto fire club if my idiot ex-wife could remember to put the gas cap back on after getting gas. After about 3 of them, I picked up a snap open cap off a Triumph TR4 and installed that. It was necessary to connect the TR4 cap to the filler pipe with a rubber flex hose, that was just enough to keep from pulling the filler pipe out of the tank. I drove it around like that until the day I drove it up on the wrecker (totaled) and said good bye to it. :-( :-(
Pintos got a really bad rap because of that o-ring filler pipe/gas tank connection, they were actually great little cars. They just weren't designed to wreck, that's all.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By grady l puryear on Saturday, September 08, 2012 - 12:00 pm:

My Mom's folks had a Store, Post Office and Express Office, all in one. We had a one pump station, hand pumped it to the top and dispensed it through the hose. You can see the price, .14 cents, and they made money at that price, they (Magnolia OilCompany, forerunner to Mobil) delivered it on a flat bed truck in what looked like the old style milk cans. That is me leaning up against the post, I think this was 1940-1941. The store was in business from very early 1900 till the 1970's, never had indoor plumbing, running water or electricity, the only water was from the hose in front which came from our windmill tank.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Danial - Veneta OR US Earth Solar System on Saturday, September 08, 2012 - 01:45 pm:

I owned a Pinto wagon for one day in 1981. The day I bought it, I pulled in to get gas and a guy there had a real nice 74 Monte Carlo with a rebuilt 400 in it. He offered to trade pinks and I did - came back the next day and the deal was done.

Great photo and great story, Grady!


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Joe Van on Saturday, September 08, 2012 - 04:55 pm:

Circa Fall 1999, senior year of high school. I have the original hubcaps, I only put them on for car shows.


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