Category Archives: Gasoline stations
A Derby Gasoline Station in Missouri
As summer approaches, we can’t help but remember family vacation road trips of days gone by. This undated photo shows fuel prices that allowed families of modest means to consider such journeys in those times, even in the big sedans shown here. We’re guessing that it was shot in late 1957 or early 1958, based on the Impala visible at the second pump island. Near as we can tell, Derby was a regional brand of gas sold in the Kansas City, Kansas/ Missouri area.
We would like to know more about the lighting fixtures on the pump islands that look quite similar to the earlier visible style of fuel dispensers. Can any of our readers who know more about petroliana to offer opinions on that subject? Photo courtesy of the Joe Sonderman Collection of Route 66 photos (scroll down).
Posted in Auto photos 1946 - 1965, Gasoline stations
Tagged Derby gasoline, kansas city kansas
An Almeda, Texas Service Station Selling “That Good Gulf”
Almeda, Texas is located approximately 200 miles southwest of Houston and back when the photo was taken of this service station, the town contained only about 100 people. The scene looks as though it includes everything needed for a perfect Norman Rockwell painting showing small town life.
Four large visible pumps dispensing That Good Gulf Gasoline can be seen and the 1920′s Dodge Brothers sedan (with optional wire wheels) under the station canopy is getting it’s tank filled by one attendant. Another is checking a rear tire. To the right of the late 1920′s Nash sedan seen on the outside ramp is a man at work dealing with tire service. Be sure to see the two enlargements below which show the scene in detail. Photo courtesy of Thomas Griffin.
The White truck in the right hand photo (above) is if the type that may have delivered gas to a station like this back in the period. It was photographed at Gulf Oil Refining Bulk Plant in Indianapolis, Indiana and is courtesy of Dennis Wall.
According to the Gulf Oil Company, the early history of the company from 1909-19 is as follows.” When Gulf was born in 1901 with an oil discovery in Spindletop, Texas, the primary commercial fuel was coal. By 1903, the age of mechanization had arrived and it was now up to the petroleum industry to keep pace, for the age could not proceed without it. Gasoline development, into which Gulf invested millions of dollars, responded to advances in automotive technology. Within a dozen years of Spindletop, Gulf scored notable firsts with the world’s first drive-in service station, complimentary Gulf road maps and over water drilling at Ferry Lake. In 1917, the Gulfstream went into World War I service, along with the rest of Gulf’s tanker fleet.”
After seeing the Hood Tire sign in the scene above, we were curious to learn more about the Company and the tires that they made. The advertisement above was found in the March 2, 1919 issue of the Motor Age and was aimed convincing garages and service stations to come on board as Hood Tire dealers. The brothers Frederic Clark Hood and Arthur Needham Hood founded the Hood Rubber Company in 1896. According to Harvard University, their main products in addition to tires were rubber boots and sneakers.
A Gas Crunch in San Francisco
The caption on this 1934 photo tells us that it “shows motorists who were having trouble getting gas during a Longshore-men’s Strike in the San Francisco, California area”. The newest car visible is a 1932 Chevrolet, on the far right behind the 1925 Chrysler two door sedan in the foreground. Associated was selling the “Flying A” brand of gasoline in three bays from what appear to be Gilbert & Barker pumps. Also note the display cases integrated into the canopy support pillars that put various products right in front of the customer while he waits for his fill up. Photo courtesy of the California State Library
