There have been some wonderfully funny threads lately on what people say when they see your T. Perhaps this is a more serious question, but maybe not.
What do you say to the gas station attendants who are supposed to fill your car for you. ? Whenever I'm in Oregon it's a reminder that some people have to cope with well meaning attendants who would clueless about a Model T.
Dick
I generally just grab the pump and start doing it myself - they usually back off.
Pump attendants, the general public ... whomever ... it's a good way to promote the Model T and all its foibles. You just may run into someone who has some old parts or knows someone with an old T in a building somewhere. A smile and friendly conversation can go a long way - especially if yer broke down somewhere ! Some folk have long memories (good or bad).
Regards,
Garnet
Attendants pump here in N.J. so it can be quite hilarious. Especially when, after they have a look around at the car trying to find the filler, you pull the seat bottom out. They'd usually hand me the nozzle after that. At the local station they got to know me so I had to hit other stations for a little sporting fun.
Attendant? What attendant?
Remember free glasses, towels, or dishes with minimum gas purchase? Windshield washed and oil checked?
The store in the background is still there.
Not to worry in Florida if you can't pump your own and you are not a drop down gorgeous female you are basically stranded. I have seen people in wheel chairs and on crutches trying to fuel up their vehicles and if it weren't for me they would be there for a long time!
I haven't seen an attendant who comes out to fill your tank since the early 60's. Remember the movie "Back to the Future", when Marty McFly first arrived back in 1955 in the town square? There was a "service station" and when a car pulled up a swarm of four attendants rushed out to service his car. It was meant as a joke of something from a bygone era. I was not aware that some areas of the country still have "Service Station" attendants. I remember laughing at that part of the movie. I suppose if you lived in an area where they still serviced your car, checked your oil, checked your tires and cleaned your windshield, while presenting you with a free plate or glass, you would not get the joke in the movie. Jim Patrick
Two states, Oregon and New Jersey, forbid self-service.
The town of Huntington on Long Island, NY does not permit self service gas stations either and as a consequence gas averages 15 cents or more a gallon over the already outrageous price of gas.
Lol what? Oregon and New Jersey forbid self service . . . I never knew that. Gotta be some kind of state-wide ridiculousness to create a reason for some people to have jobs. That's just nuts.
Lay you $5 our gas is cheaper than yours.
Seth, somebody hired some exceptionally good lobbyists.
$3.28 yesterday here I just wish someone with intelligence in Florida would get rid of that silly law that says if I am selling gas I can't sell it for more than $.05 Less than you!
I would like to see one of those "attendants" check the oil in my T.
Here's a "heat map" of gas prices by county in the US. These are average prices by county so there will be higher and lower prices within the county. Out here in the sticks, it's $3.39.
It must really suck to live on the West Coast.
http://www.sanantoniogasprices.com/Price_By_County.aspx
Fred, I'd like to see him top off the oil with the T running.
According to Gas Buddy, the cheapest around here (St. Louis County MO) is $3.32, with a handful more at $3.33.
I live in New Jersey, and I've never had an attendant ask to pump gas in my car. It's been my experience that when they find out the tank is under the seat, they don't want anything to do with it.
The biggest reason I suspect, is because a lot of the nozzles have to be retracted just a bit to let the gas flow, and with so many people here, they just don't have the time to sit on one car.
New Jersey had self-service until 1949 with the passage of the Retail Gasoline Dispensing Safety Act.
Basically somebody decided that the general public was too stupid to pump their own gas. From the looks of some of the people pumping gas, it's a wonder they can stand upright. New Jersey Full Service is nothing like you remember full service to be.
I have often thought that since Jersey is a HIGHLY populated area, the state may have kept it as a way to deter "drive-offs". That, and to guarantee somebody a job. However, the technology exists to make the pump inoperable unless payment is made first by either cash, or card, so that reasoning isn't justified anymore.
Lucky you, G.R. and Mr. Lodge. It's $3.89 up here in NY. Guess we pay for the privilege of pumping it ourselves.
$1.48 for 93 octane, full service.
Oh Gary, don't get me started on that. Gasoline is still USA's number one export. That's why we pay more. Now the oil companies want to export crude. (Currently not allowed.) We should be paying $1.25 for gas.
Where most Model T Fords are concerned, New Jersey's no self-pumping law is dangerous. -A sizable splash or spill caused by a sleepy or stupid attendant could easily follow the shape of the cylindrical tank and drip off onto the hot exhaust pipe. -There, a flame could start, touch the bottom of the fuel tank and follow the trail of spilled gasoline up to the open filler-port.
While I'm on the subject of fire prevention:
I've been told by more than one flight instructor that filling a fuel tank which has no filler neck can be hazardous because it's possible to pump without the gas pump's nozzle making contact with the vehicle*. -In that case, a charge of static electricity can build up as a result of the fuel flow, itself. -It is important that the car's frame be "bonded" to the gas pump so electrical potential is eliminated. -Do that by holding the side of the nozzle firmly against the side of your tank's open fuel port as you are pumping. -I go one step further by tapping the nozzle against the car's frame before touching it to the fuel tank. -Around open gas tanks, a little obsessive compulsiveness ain't never hurt nobody.
*Before refueling an airplane, a cable is alligator-clipped between the gas pump and a metallic part of the airplane (usually the tip of an exhaust stack). Same deal if pumping from a tanker truck.
http://www.aboutflight.com/handbook-of-aeronautical-knowledge/ch-6-aircraft-syst ems/refueling-procedures
I guess eastern Ohio must have it better than most. I filled up an hour ago for $3.27 a gallon just outside Canton.
This thread is giving me a belly ache!
Ours is around 4 bucks.
MY gas is free..I just pull up next to another car and with this little rubber hose...
One time I was lost while driving in northern France, after midnight and with the low fuel light on. When I finally found a gas station, it was fully automated, totally deserted and dark. The pump couldn't read my card. Now that was real fun.
It's strange to find that gas is higher in areas where there are refineries and out in the sticks where its trucked in is lower. GO FIGURE. I do have a station within a quarter mile where the attendant pumps the gas ,.05 cents more and a car wash for $5.00 .
Bob
Here in the Oakland area it is from 3.79 today at a couple places to a more popular price of 4 to 4.07 for the 87 octane.
The 3.70 to 3.85 stations are hard to get into at most times.
It may sound a bit odd coming from me, but I like the fact that Oregon isn't self service. The smell of gas makes me nauseous. There have been a few times I did pump my own gas for various reasons, but other than that, I am quite happy with the status quo.
In High School I drove a 49 Caddy. Back then there were still a lot of full service stations. It was fun to pull up and tell the attendant to fill it up and then hide and watch them try to figure out where to put the gas. Most of them tried to pull the rear plate down. The gas cap was located under the left rear tail light. You had to push in on the small reflector under the light to release the tail light and then pivot it up to fill the car. LOL
I'll add that I have never been one to run around like chicken little shouting "the sky is falling" when gas goes up another notch. Would I like to pay a buck a gallon again? Sure. But when you get right down to the brass tacks, even at $4 per gallon, that is a big bang for the buck. If you drive a car that gets 35mpg, for 12 bucks you can drive 105 miles. Try getting into a cab or a Greyhound bus and doing that. Hell even a hitchhiker would probably eat up $12 worth of grub before he made it 105 miles.
Hey Paul, wasn't the 57 Chevy like that too? I didn't know the caddy had it. Cool.
When I was in high school we use to go down to the Standard Station where my friend Ted worked. 4 or 5 of us would sit in the office waiting for the cars to come in. Ted was the only one with the service mans coveralls and hat. We all kept clean shop rags in our back pocket. When they stopped by the pump Ted would ask the guy "filler up with Ethyl sir?" While he was pumping the gas we'd attack the car. All the windows were washed, tire air pressure checked, hood up to check the oil, always topped off the radiator (unless it was boiling), check fluid levels in the battery, wipe off the headlights and swing our rag at the tail lights and look at the wiper blades. We never got paid a dime but Ted was always allowed to let us pull in and put one of our cars on the lift. Of course with the stipulation we had to hose down the shop floor afterwards. Then one day a couple guys from outside our group ripped a couple tires off the outdoor display and we all ended up with our reputations suffering because of their stupidity. The owner made Ted lock down the big doors and every time he walked out of the office he had to lock the door behind himself. He never wore his change dispenser again and all Cash was kept in the Cash register. Our innocence was battered!
Hey Dan, not that odd at all. I worked for a company that did lots of frame painting without a spray booth, and now it seems that even a whiff of paint gives me the same results as you. Overexposure to some chemicals is a real health risk you don't realize till you get the symptoms years later.
The '56 Chebby had the gas cap under the left taillight. I always got a bit of a hoot waiting for some kid to ask me where the gas cap was on my '56 Nomad.
Lets see if this works.
1949 Caddy
http://www.100megsfree4.com/cadillac/cad1940/1949/cad49j.jpg
I agree with Gary White, "What attendant?" I haven't seen a full service station since the 70's.
Well, I got the Caddy when I was 16 years old. That was in 1971. There were still a lot of full service stations in Austin TX. The last time I was back there was about 3 years ago and there was still a neighbor hood full service station that I used back in the day.
Petrol in Oz is about double. That's around $1.55 a litre. So multiply that by 4 to convert to galls.
I think 1960s Humber or Vauxhalls had the petrol cap behind the tail light [cant remember which].
70s Jags had 2 caps.
All self serve here.
Manuel in Oz
Manuel,
The Humber had it behind the reflector. And I am glad you told them the price of petrol in Aus. We get it pretty good compared to England/Europe but the US is much better.
Paul in Oz
Manuel & Paul - Good discussion between you fellows. Glad you brought up the price thing as I was just thinking along the same lines too. I have relatives in England, and we've always had it much better in the U.S.A. than those folks over there! I'm like most others in that I'd sure like to be able to go back to 1950's gasoline prices,......about thirty cents a gallon or so. And living in the Pacific NW, I think we pay more than most of the rest of the U.S.A., however, it really does help a bit to consider this:
When I think back to 1950's prices of most things, it seems that most things nowadays cost at least about 10 times more than they did in the '50's. So, 10 times thirty cents is three bucks, right? So, really, "three something" per gallon for gasoline is really not much worse than present day prices of most things as far as I can see,.......for what it's worth,........harold
And remember how long you had to work to earn the $3.
My mom used to gripe about the attendants wiping the window with an oily rag. People weren't all competent then, either.
I'm always amused at people from other countries telling Americans how well they have it because of low gas prices. You cannot look at a single factor like that and make a judgment. Well, you can, but it's not the whole picture. The variation in gas prices is mostly in taxes. Low taxes on one commodity are made up for in others. Some places have no income tax, but I'd hate to see their sales tax or property tax. Some places, you can go see the doctor for free. However, the gas to get there may cost $10 a gallon. Other places with high gas prices may have low cost public transportation for people to use instead. It's tit for tat and pretty much all comes out in the wash.
I'd just say Thank You! Bud.
To the topic, here in Oregon the attendant asks where to put it in and I pull the seat. The shock sets in and they ask what kind of gas?
I say the cheap stuff......
They say will it run on this....
I say hell you can get really drunk the night before, piss in the tank and drive her home...
That's when they hand you the nozzle.
You can pump your own in Oregon, they must hand you the nozzle tho'. Best I know our gas is cheaper than in Kali and Washington where you pump your own...
You do not have to pay first, nor stand in line to get your change or guess how much you need. In the snow I just sit in the car. All good.
Is it the custom to tip the attendant, like in EU?
87 is $325 today in Tulsa,Oklahoma
87 is $3.38 9/10 a gallon in central Wintersota.
Reading through this reminded me of the first time I had to get my 20 inspected in New York. At the time,1980, New york didn't exempt cars from inspection. The 16 year old informed me that I couldn't drive the car into the bay and that he had to do it. I gave him the keys and waited several minutes until he came back and said I should drive the car into the bay. He then started to lift the car and proceed to take a front wheel off. I asked why and he said he had to inspect the brakes. They aren't there and told him he would have to open the transmission to check the lining. He gave up on that and wanted to have me test the directional signals. He said, "left". I stuck my hand out to the left. That must have been the final touch to the kids effort and the boss came out and gave me the sticker.
R.S.
That is a good story. My 76 F260 has turn signals that do not cancel, that is one thing I like about the turn signals on the T, you remember to put you arm back in when you need to adjust the gas or spark, so they are truly reliable self canceling signals.
Never thought about self canceling hand signals. I guess if you hold the signal too long your arm gets tired and you just naturally pull it back in. Or in winter time your fingers get cold and that reminds you to cancel the signal.
Dick
An advertising jingle in Oz, back in the day, ran something like this-
We'll wipe your windscreen, clean as a slate,
We'll (cant remember what!) while you wait,
Then your battery and oil level too,
And finally we pump up all your tyres for you!
Gas was $1 a gallon last time I visited Venezuela in 2009.
Few people in Venezuela except politicians can afford to buy gas at $1 a gallon. The majority of the population walks or rides the bus. Looks to me like we are headed that way politically, so you all might get your wish.
Dane I believe that was "we'll sweep your floors while you wait"
I don't claim to be smart enough to determine whether we are paying more or less overall than we were in the 1950's but when someone tells me that we pay about the same for gas I ask them to explain this to me. When I was 15 I went to work for Winn Dixie (a grocery store chain) minimum wage was $1.60 per hour Gas was $.269 per Gallon for Hi-test which means I was able to purchase almost 6 gallons of gas for 1 hours pay. The current minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and prevailing price for regular gas is 3.50 (average) which means if I were working for minimum wage today I could only purchase a little over 2 gallons for my 1 hour of work seems to me I have lost 2/3 of my purchasing power!
Where have all the gas stations gone? I can count at least seven that have disappeared within a mile of my house. Now there are only three.
On the corporate side, Texaco, etc., have disappeared into buyouts or mergers. Arco and BP are merged.
Disappearing stations and brands are part of a long trend. A hundred years ago our county had many small towns with stores, a few with banks, and some with hotels. Improving transportation and the move of people from the farm to town killed off those businesses. In Cloverdale, where my dad was born, the last store closed in 1945. Meanwhile, in town, there were at least half a dozen mom & pop groceries, plus a grocery delivery business. Now we're down to two chain groceries and a Wal-Mart. Brands? Attrition and consolidation have removed thousands. Hudson, Peerless, Apperson, Dort, Pope, Nash, Standard, Graham, Pierce, REO, Packard, and many more, have been pared down to just Ford, GM, and Chrysler. Polly, Signal, Derby, Richfield, Kanotex, and hundreds of other oil companies have been swallowed up by a few big outfits, and most of the mom & pop stations have been killed off by corporate and chain competition. This seems to be an ongoing phenomenon. A new technology produces a great number of new companies which become fewer and fewer over time.
Does Chrysler still count as a U.S. brand now that it is owned by Fiat ? To me, it looks like we are down to two brands.
Is GM even still American?
GM = Government Motors. I don't count them as American any more.
There are a few full-service stations in southern Missouri. They are usually in small towns. Some of them never went to self-service and some are full-service so they can compete with other stations. Usually, they just pump your gas and wash your windshield. They will check the oil or the tires if you ask them to. I believe their is still one station in Springfield, Mo, that has both self-service and full-service pumps.
However, most people prefer to pump it themselves and there are a lot of them (mainly born after 1970) that do not really understand what full-service means.
I think that the convenience-store pumps are all self-service. I go to a BP station which is also a garage, and they have one island for full service.
(When we moved into Warson Woods in 1949, it had opened a few months before and my dad started going there. Now the granddaughter of the original owner is managing it for the oil company that owns it, and my dad's grandchildren are still going there for service. That's 65 years of Lodges doing business with Leaches...)
http://leachservice.com/
http://leachservice.com/about-us/
If you let the photos on the homepage cycle through, you will see a picture of me in my T.
7 of every 10 Chevrolets built today are built in China.
A Dodge Dart is an Alfa Romeo built in the U.S. with a slightly wider body.
A Mazerati is a Chrysler 300 with a Ferrari engine. Fiat also own Mazer and Ferrari.
Thanks Paul :-)
Manuel in Oz
I just remembered that I recently ran into a convenient store type station that had an attendant. It was late a night (about 11 Pm) when we pulled into the station. As I got out the attendant ran over to me and in broken English said that he had to pump the gas. I thought that was strange but proceeded to run my credit card into the pump. He stopped me and said that he had to do that too. That was too much for me as I knew there were several ways to obtain credit card info for extra use. I said that was ok and left to another station. Was that a scam or what? This was in N.Y. just past the Tapanzee Bridge.