A Look at Life Before Buc-ee’s
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I remember always having a guy fill the tank, clean the windows and check the oil, every single time my dad got gas. I also remember them giving us a bunch of S&H Green Stamps with each fill up. Also we collected some glassware from the local gas station, and some other free swag.
A more civilized time in life.
A more civilized time in life.
I remember when tips from a couple pizza delivery could fill my huge tank on my 69 impala.
And I'm talking mid 80s. Not that long ago
And I'm talking mid 80s. Not that long ago
Like TX Oddball, the S&H Green Stamps and the free glasses and dinnerware are vivid memories. As far as the windshield washing, yes, but they also checked the tire pressure and the radiator level. When I was in high school, a pump jockey was a prized job, especially if you had a car.
Other memories:
- oil cans were turned upside down into a barrell after being emptied into a customers car. The viscous oil would slowly drip into the barrell, creating “bulk oil” of mixed brands and weights, which us poor kids bought for 25 cents a quart to put in our cars.
- in addition to oil cans, there were still some places that used glass 1qt oil bottles with zinc or galvanized nozzles
- if you had a friend working there, you could take your gas can and drain the pump hose after each customer left, giving you. few ounces of free gas and allowing you to collect a couple of gallons in short order.
- my favorite coke machines were the chest boxes with cold water baths where you slid the bottle into the slot, dropped your coins and lifted out the bottle. There was usually a towel hanging to wipe your bottle.
- as a teenager, recaps were the way to go for tires, as were tires with tubes since they were easy to patch yourself and air was free at the local station.
- lube jobs were essential since squeaky zerk fittings drew snickers from the wealthier kids as you drove by
Last, but not least, were the cool metal signs inside the service bay advertising all kinds of oils, parts, etc. If you were a regular, you knew where the mechanic hung the nudie calendars, usually out of direct customer sight.
I miss those days
Other memories:
- oil cans were turned upside down into a barrell after being emptied into a customers car. The viscous oil would slowly drip into the barrell, creating “bulk oil” of mixed brands and weights, which us poor kids bought for 25 cents a quart to put in our cars.
- in addition to oil cans, there were still some places that used glass 1qt oil bottles with zinc or galvanized nozzles
- if you had a friend working there, you could take your gas can and drain the pump hose after each customer left, giving you. few ounces of free gas and allowing you to collect a couple of gallons in short order.
- my favorite coke machines were the chest boxes with cold water baths where you slid the bottle into the slot, dropped your coins and lifted out the bottle. There was usually a towel hanging to wipe your bottle.
- as a teenager, recaps were the way to go for tires, as were tires with tubes since they were easy to patch yourself and air was free at the local station.
- lube jobs were essential since squeaky zerk fittings drew snickers from the wealthier kids as you drove by
Last, but not least, were the cool metal signs inside the service bay advertising all kinds of oils, parts, etc. If you were a regular, you knew where the mechanic hung the nudie calendars, usually out of direct customer sight.
I miss those days
I remember $10 could fill my 77 Datsun and buy a carton of Marlboro reds.
I remember someone putting recaps on their Camaro. I think the tread was just flat across the top and the biggest mistake since the tires would try to lose their grip on every turn.
I did buy recap mud tires from Sears for $25 each in the late 70's. Great mud tires that were soft and sticky but they'd only last a year.
Axxe55
Retiretgtshit stirrer
There was a tire shop in town that did recaps. My father only bought recap mud grips for the farm trucks, and trailers because they were cheap!
In the late 60s I was that guy. I worked in a Mobil station for a little while until it got robbed one night, but I wasn't working that night. Then I worked at a Sunoco station for a couple of years until I enlisted in the Army right after high school.
Lonesome Dove
A man of vision but with no mission.
Gas was 50 cents pr gal.
Ciggerretes were 50 cents pr pack.
My VW gas tank got filled for $5.
Lasted all week + long.
Service station guys would do small mechanics for free or for a soda.
Can't remember the year maybe around 1977-78. At least where I lived at this time of my life.
My dad ran a Union 76 station 1959-1965 I believe. I was just a pup but remember hanging out with him once in a while.
Ciggerretes were 50 cents pr pack.
My VW gas tank got filled for $5.
Lasted all week + long.
Service station guys would do small mechanics for free or for a soda.
Can't remember the year maybe around 1977-78. At least where I lived at this time of my life.
My dad ran a Union 76 station 1959-1965 I believe. I was just a pup but remember hanging out with him once in a while.
I can remember buying gas during a gas war when stations were trying to pull in all the customers. I have bought gas during those times (50+ years ago) and the cheapest I ever bought it was 16 cents a gallon!
I remember the gas rationing in the 70's when you could only buy gas on your designated days. I think it was plates ending in even numbers would be allowed to purchase on even days and odd plates on odd number days.
Axxe55
Retiretgtshit stirrer
One of my uncles owned three different service stations around Athen's back in the early to mid 1970's, and was my introduction to working on cars. Changing oil and doing lube jobs. Back when cars had grease fittings!
I don't know about Buc-ee's, I avoid them like the plague. I do remember: when full service gas stations actually gave full service, white wall tires, huge cars (all American made), inexpensive movie theaters that only had a single screen (no multiplex theaters), Ronald Reagan before he was president, Barbara Stanwyck when she was an top rated actress, men in fedoras, women in skirts that had a hemline below the knees, record shops, mono speakers, cars with loudspeakers atop them during election times, girls in bobby socks, wire mesh trash cans on street corners, people actually throwing trash into those trash cans, barber shops with red/white & blue twirling poles with a lighted glass dome/glass bowl at the top and church bells that sounded just like the bells in this video:
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