Got an old brain? I need to pick it!!!!

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Chiefs' pop box wuz BIG, bottles floated in ICE & WATER. Ice delivered by Gabe Caldwell, in a '37 Chev P.U, with 1/3 of the rear fenders rotted off! He wore a large leather VEST, to protect himself from the BIG blocks of ice, swung over his shoulder, with HUGE ice tongs ! LATER, he would bring COAL, for the POT BELLY, in the SAME truck !
IF I culd tipe well, I culd whip you out 50 or 60 pages of stuff I remember about our Conoco Fillin' Station, even about GAS STAMPS & how Chief converted the pot belly, to an OIL BURNER!
Bill W.

[31 Model A]

Originally Posted by BILL WILLIAMSON

Chiefs' pop box wuz BIG, bottles floated in ICE & WATER. Ice delivered by Gabe Caldwell, in a '37 Chev P.U, with 1/3 of the rear fenders rotted off! He wore a large leather VEST, to protect himself from the BIG blocks of ice, swung over his shoulder, with HUGE ice tongs ! LATER, he would bring COAL, for the POT BELLY, in the SAME truck !
IF I culd tipe well, I culd whip you out 50 or 60 pages of stuff I remember about our Conoco Fillin' Station, even about GAS STAMPS & how Chief converted the pot belly, to an OIL BURNER!
Bill W.

I too remember the ice blocks, 10 cents a block at the ice house. Put ten cents in and out came a block of ice. I remember putting my head inside the icebox on hot days too. I do have the gas stamps though Bill. You rest up now, cum'on back when ever yur a bit fit to typ sum more.

Don't have room for a pot belly, if I did, I'd have one for sure..............

[johnsor]

Originally Posted by 31 Model A

I too remember the ice blocks, 10 cents a block at the ice house. Put ten cents in and out came a block of ice. I remember putting my head inside the icebox on hot days too. I do have the gas stamps though Bill. You rest up now, cum'on back when ever yur a bit fit to typ sum more.

Don't have room for a pot belly, if I did, I'd have one for sure..............

In the late 40's when I worked in a gas station, gas pumps did not have automatic nozzle shut off when the gas tank was full. You had to lean down and listen for the whistle noise to stop. Most customers told you how many gallons they wanted or the dollar amount they wanted put in. We gave S&H green stamps and double stamps on Wednesdays. Oh, memories, I could go on and on.

[Cool Hand Lurker]

Originally Posted by johnsor

In the late 40's when I worked in a gas station, gas pumps did not have automatic nozzle shut off when the gas tank was full. You had to lean down and listen for the whistle noise to stop. Most customers told you how many gallons they wanted or the dollar amount they wanted put in. We gave S&H green stamps and double stamps on Wednesdays. Oh, memories, I could go on and on.

Ah, the whistle! As I recall, most of the time it was a gurgle except on the Chevys. The Chevys had the whistle, like a long train coming out of the tunnel.
You really had to pay attention too or you could get an earful of gas when it topped off.
At the Clark station you had to beat the car to the pump and take your turn to whitewash the concrete curbing every day.

[barnstuf]

I grew up in a summer resort community and 2 summers I was gas pump attendant for a general store with postoffice. This was 1939 and 1940. Customers were local year rounders, summer folks who owned a cottage and the day tripper passing through. Our oil was dispensed in quart cars with a screw on top pouring spout, and I had to keep them filled from large drums in a shed near the store. You cranked a handle that pumped one quart to fill the bottles, then you turned it back to set for the next fill up. Every customer had his oil checked, windshield washed and gas was .18 per gallon.
In the general store the telephone was on the wall the same as our phone at home. My area did not have table top phones yet. The phone company man came about once and year and put new batteries in the phone. I made change for customers from the general store cash register and there were no automotive displays in the store. I worked 8 hours a day, 7 days a week from school closing for the summer until the day before it reopened.

[Brian in Wheeling]

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You-hoo and Cokes in 6oz bottles, bulk oil, pump side service. if you couldn't afford new oil you could get used oil by the quart pumped out of the drum. repairing flats with hot patches or a boot if you had a blowout. Full service all around.

Brian

[29FordRoadster]

It may have been later than the thirties, but stations used to have a spark plug in a bird cage with the notation " This bird was caught stealing gas."