Gas prices

[Alpo]

I'm watching The Love Bug. Now I realize this is an old movie, but --

 

They're having a road race in California. California!!

 

They have to refuel. Gasoline is 41 cents a gallon.

[Three Foot Johnson]

Gas was under 40 cents when I went in the Navy. When I was discharged six years later, it was about at the dollar mark and I wondered how I'd ever be able to afford to drive ten miles back & forth to work. 

In high school in the early 70's, a teacher told us, "You kids will see gas hit a dollar a gallon in your lifetime", and we all thought he was nuts. In reality, it only took seven years. 

[Rip Snorter]

Back when I was in college, there were gas wars - in the low 20 cent a gallon range.  Of course, a $10 dollar bill would do a fancy Ssturday night date. Better money, less regulation.  Olden days!

[Rye Miles #13621]

When I started driving at 16 gas was about .25cents a gallon same as Lucky Strike cigarettes!

[watab kid]

here they are down well under $3 and if they get back to where they should be ill be happy , im not complaining right now 

[Barry Sloe]

I was pumping gas (everything was full service back then) when it was 25 cents per gallon. Got back from boot camp and it had jumped to 58 cents- remember the gas shortage?? 

 

Good old days, 

BS

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Quote

get back to where they should be

50¢?
 

 

 

Edited January 28 by Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984

[Rye Miles #13621]

In 1963 not only was it around .25 cents a gallon but they also pumped it, washed your windows and asked if you wanted your oil checked!

[Cypress Sun]

53 minutes ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

In 1963 not only was it around .25 cents a gallon but they also pumped it, washed your windows and asked if you wanted your oil checked!

 

And gave you Green Stamps or Top Value stamps and the books to keep them in. When you have enough stamps (around a million or so ), you could trade them in for fabulous prizes. I have to admit, I was a kid then, but I liked putting the stamps in the book because I liked the way the stamps tasted.

 

The gas stations that were near each other had "gas wars". That entailed the stations lowering their gas prices so low that there was probably no profit from fuel sales. I guess they had to make their money from mechanic work or tire sales as the stations then were not convenience stores also.

[Eyesa Horg]

For sure those Green Stamps tasted good! 😊 

 

When I started driving in '70 gas was 27¢ but the gas wars would get as low as 19¢!  And as noted above you got your oil checked, windshield washed and tire pressure checked if needed.

[Rye Miles #13621]

9 minutes ago, Cypress Sun said:

 

And gave you Green Stamps or Top Value stamps and the books to keep them in. When you have enough stamps (around a million or so ), you could trade them in for fabulous prizes. I have to admit, I was a kid then, but I liked putting the stamps in the book because I liked the way the stamps tasted.

 

The gas stations that were near each other had "gas wars". That entailed the stations lowering their gas prices so low that there was probably no profit from fuel sales. I guess they had to make their money from mechanic work or tire sales as the stations then were not convenience stores also.

Yep all the gas stations around did repair to stay alive. Some had a vending machine at the most. 

[Alpo]

 

 

When I started driving, end of 1970, at the station up on the corner gas was usually about a quarter. But during gas wars I daw it go down to as low as 12¢.

 

Edited January 28 by Alpo

[Blackwater 53393]

I started driving in 1967. If your parents both worked or if one was disabled, you could get a “provisional” license at 14 and a half. I had a job on the other side of my part of town, (seven miles away) and often drove my sister back and forth to school as well.

 

I’d stop at the corner service station near the school every morning for a cold drink or coffee from the vending machine and sometimes buy a pack of cigarettes, (I started smoking when I was a lot younger, sneaking a cigarette or two from my dad’s pack while he was asleep) while I hung out with the other juvenile delinquents before going up to the school.

 

Gas was regularly $.22 and got down to $.17 during gas wars. If you got a “fill up” they’d give you a free glass tumbler or dish that was part of a set, (it was promotional to keep you coming back the next time) and they would check your oil, the air in your tires, and clean the windshield and back glass on your car.

 

Cigarettes were $.25 a pack from the vending machines, Coke products were $.06, (you put a penny on top of a nickel and turned the crank on the machine to get your 6.5oz glass bottle from the machine and you could get a penny back for the bottle when you returned it to any store) a pack of crackers or a candy bar was a nickel, and you could get hot coffee or cocoa from a machine for a dime!

 

I had a ‘61 Ford Falcon with a little bitty six cylinder engine and I could put $2.00 worth of regular gas in it and drive to school and to work all week! $40.00 bought a new set of tires and I had a new muffler installed for $15.00, ($40.00 was a week’s pay during school if I didn’t work on Saturday because I only worked a couple of hours in the evenings) and if I didn’t run around a bunch on the weekend, I’d end up with a full tank once in a while because I didn’t go but about 14 miles a day.

[Boggus Deal #64218]

Early ‘70s, I was quite young! One of my earliest memories was .29 gas and the attendant had one of those coin changers on his belt. First time I’d seen one. That was the coolest thing ever!

[Rye Miles #13621]

20 minutes ago, Boggus Deal #64218 said:

Early ‘70s, I was quite young! One of my earliest memories was .29 gas and the attendant had one of those coin changers on his belt. First time I’d seen one. That was the coolest thing ever!

I had a coin changer when I was 10 and had a paper route! I’d use it when I collected. The newspaper company gave it to me!

[WD Farren]

$3.56 yesterday in Orangevale.

[Stump Water]

5 hours ago, Eyesa Horg said:

And as noted above you got your oil checked, windshield washed and tire pressure checked if needed.

 

So, in Jersey, where it's illegal to pump your own gas (for "safety" 😉) do they still do that?  Or is the "service station" long gone like it is everywhere else in the country?

[Eyesa Horg]

2 minutes ago, Stump Water said:

 

So, in Jersey, where it's illegal to pump your own gas (for "safety" 😉) do they still do that?  Or is the "service station" long gone like it is everywhere else in the country?

Many years ago I had a debate with an attendant that wouldn't let me pump my own gas for the Harley.😡 Yup, he spilled it all down the tank 🤬. I wanted to shove that nozzle down his throat or up his....! He looked scared 😳. It took a couple years to polish the yellow tint out of the clear coat which lucky for him took a few weeks to actually appear🤬. First and last time I ever bought fuel in New Jersey!

[Rye Miles #13621]

17 minutes ago, Stump Water said:

 

So, in Jersey, where it's illegal to pump your own gas (for "safety" 😉) do they still do that?  Or is the "service station" long gone like it is everywhere else in the country?

Yes it’s still illegal to pump your own gas in NJ from what I found. 

[Stump Water]

5 minutes ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

Yes it’s still illegal to pump your own gas in NJ from what I found. 

 

Yes, it is.  That's what I said.  The question was... Do they still do the other "service" stuff that gas stations used to do?

[Rye Miles #13621]

35 minutes ago, Stump Water said:

 

Yes, it is.  That's what I said.  The question was... Do they still do the other "service" stuff that gas stations used to do?

I would imagine a few, there’s still a couple around here. Few and far between though!

[Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485]

14 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

and asked if you wanted your oil checked!

Then they would put their finger under your dip stick cap, show you that you were a quart low, "pour" a quart from an empty can and charge you for it.  

[Blackwater 53393]

27 minutes ago, Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485 said:

Then they would put their finger under your dip stick cap, show you that you were a quart low, "pour" a quart from an empty can and charge you for it.  

I had a service station attendant try that once on one of my hotrod cars.

 

I went along with it to see what he’d do. When he started to “pour” the can into my engine, I grabbed it and snatched it out of his hand. It was empty and I tossed it into the air, caught it by the spout, and whacked him on the forehead with the empty can which bounced off and hit the pavement. That left me with the spout in my hand. I stuck the punch end under his nose and walked him inside the station office.

 

The guy that owned the station demanded to know what the hell was going on and I told him what had happened. 
 

He fired the attendant on the spot and threatened to have him arrested.  We walked the guy to his car and had him open the trunk. There were two cases of oil in the trunk where he’d charged people for oil and stashed the unopened cans.

 

It was a small community and word got around quickly about the guy ripping people and the station owner off. He disappeared in about a week!

 

Edited January 29 by Blackwater 53393

[Hardpan Curmudgeon SASS #8967]

Nineteen Seventy or Seventy one... San Francisco, the station near the Kappa Phi Delta house (Gulf?) was charging 25.9¢/gallon.  I'd coast into that station on fumes with a $5 bill in my pocket, fill up the old '68 Bug, and have enough change for lunch at Munchie Burgers on Geary.  

 

Twelve cent hamburgers, 39¢ quarter pounders and "fill it yerself" drink machine!  Dang, but life was good!  

 

 

[watab kid]

when i pumped my first gas in my home town it was 25cents a gallon and the station i bought it at still had the tanks you filled by hand pumping gas up into the top , gravity fed to the tank - seems like forever ago but then my grandfather that was with me that day has been gone since 1868 , it was the 60s 

Edited January 29 by watab kid

[Rye Miles #13621]

3 hours ago, Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485 said:

Then they would put their finger under your dip stick cap, show you that you were a quart low, "pour" a quart from an empty can and charge you for it.  

I never had that happen.

[Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485]

10 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

I never had that happen.

How do you know?

[WD Farren]

Gas jumped from $3.46 to $3.79 last night.

 

Newsom must be trying to recover some of those lost billions… or… another pension payment is due.

 

Our road conditions here are proof the fuel taxes don’t go into road maintenance.

[Eyesa Horg]

10 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

I never had that happen.

A station I hung out at in Ft. Lauderdale back in the early 70s by the interstate liked to put a slit in fan belts. They had the towing contract for the highway. It kept them busy!

[Rye Miles #13621]

45 minutes ago, Crooked River Pete, SASS 43485 said:

How do you know?

Because I never had anyone actually put oil in my car. If they checked it and it was low I’d say ok thanks I got oil at home which I did! 

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

When I started driving in 1957, gas was less than .20 cents a gallon. (usually .17-.19. When there was a gas war it usually7 was .15.....and that was in California!! When I was in HS I had a part time job pumping gas in a gas station (Signal Gas Station). I think I was paid about .50 cents an hour plus I got a free tank of gas every week in my 1950 Chevy. I addition to pumping the customers gas, I  cleaned the glass, checked the oil & air and all with  smile! Those were the days.

Edited January 29 by Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life

[Chickasaw Bill SASS #70001]

paid $3.27 for 91 oct. ethanol free yesterday , in the OZARKS 

 

  CB 

[Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life]

Gas here is $2.85 for 87 oct, diesel is 3.50

[Eyesa Horg]

I found diesel at a truck stop north of here for $3.25 last week. My local store is $4.50. Amazing how much diesel varies. For the mileage I get it will worth running up there again next week.

[Larsen E. Pettifogger, SASS #32933]

When I was in college in the 60s I had a quarter and a dime taped to a piece of cardboard in my wallet.  In case of an emergency I had enough for a gallon of gas and a phone call.