Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana The Solvang Garage: A True Story & More Pictures

While I’m working on collecting some more photos of Solvang’s “other” service station I will share a true story with you about the Solvang Garage. This story was recounted to me by Gladys Ross, Jack’s daughter. I also found and read the story about it in the Santa Ynez Valley News edition of February 9, 1940. As you will see, I have taken some artistic license as well to make the story more interesting but have tried to stick with the general facts of the story. This is mostly text so I will try and break it up with some photos.

I will be posting this as a serial, which means each day I will add more to the story until it is done, so keep checking back as the story unfolds.



The Solvang Garage

When we last visited the Solvang Garage, we had suffered through a great depression and survived a World War. These events in many ways, caused time to stand still at the Solvang Garage and the little town of Solvang. That doesn’t mean that progress wasn’t being made, but perhaps not at the pace it would have if times had been different.

Little changed at the Solvang Garage, but there were some notable events that took place during this time, specifically in February of 1940.

Jack Ross and the Solvang Garage survived the depression through determination and hard work. Although cars were not selling at a rapid pace, there was maintenance work to be done on the aging autos in town. Tires had to be re-capped or replaced, cars had to be tuned and oil had to be changed. These jobs along with a small war veterans pension, moonlighting jobs as an electrician and a small salary for being the town sheriff kept the Ross family afloat during the hard times. Jack’s brother Earl had joined him in the business in 1925 and the business had to support his family too, along with their mechanic Alvy Smith and his family, and a few hired men.

Considering that they had survived the depression, 1940 was dawning brightly over the Solvang Garage, little did they know that a dark and ominous cloud hung in the near distance.

The Accident

Alvy Smith liked to come into the garage on Sunday afternoons. The demand for service at the pumps pretty much slowed down once church got out and the cars were filled on the way home. Being slow gave him time to catch up on the garage work without the interruption of manning the pumps.

Today was especially slow, the sky was an early February steely gray. Folks would just as soon stay home then drive around town on a day like this. It was a little cold too and although it hadn’t rained , it was looking as though it just might. Not a good day for a picnic or even a drive out to Buellton for Sunday pea soup at Andersen’s. Everybody was staying home.

That suited Alvy just fine. He needed to put the drums back on the Rasmussen car and remount the wheels. Thanks goodness for Rasmussen and his love of the brakes. Seemed like he was in every other month for a new set of shoes and tires. That was okay with Alvy, it kept the garage busy and Alvy liked doing brakes.

The car was up on the hydraulic lift and he had the drums in place, just needed to put the tires on and snug up the lugs. He put on the right rear and spun the nuts down on the wheel, then went to put on the left tire. He lined it up on the lugs and started to set it but it wasn’t lined up just right so he pushed a bit on the tire against the drum. He turned his head around the tire to look behind it to see if he could line it up and get if a push again. He felt a slight give and was just starting to bring his head back around the tire.

Suddenly the lift dropped!

Jack to the Rescue

Beside being the owner of the Solvang Garage, Jack Ross was the part time Sheriff. Sundays were slow for the Sheriff in a small town like Solvang , especially on a Sunday afternoon. Jack’s squad room was his office at the garage where he could catch up paperwork as well as police the town from his office window.. He could also pump gas in a pinch when the Sunday rush appeared right after church let out. It seemed liked the reverend had been long winded this Sunday, because the rush was running late.

Alvy was out back fiddling with the Rasmussen car when Jack arrived. He figured that would give him enough time to catch up in the office before he challenged Alvy to their Sunday game of checkers. Alvy had been beating him soundly of late and today Jack had something to prove. “Ah well, work before pleasure“. With the way things were going today and the way the weather looked, there would be plenty of time for checkers.

He was making good progress on the paperwork, because the church rush never materialized. Out back he could hear Alvy putting on the rims and figured he had to be pretty close to finishing the job.

He was just about to put down his pencil when he heard a terrible sound!

Earl Helps Out!

It was a scream and then a crash, or a crash and then a scream. Whichever it was Jack knew it was bad. He stood up fast in the direction of the noise at the same time yelling, Earl, Earl! Jack’s brother Earl was next door doing some work in the old garage and when he heard the noise he came running.

Jack had seen combat in the war and what he saw as he turned out the door brought on that same sick feeling of panic and dread. Alvy was pinned motionless under the rear wheel of the car. At the same time Earl came tearing around the corner. Jack immediately ran to the rear bumper and attacked the car as Earl arrived at Alvy’s feet. Without thinking Jack lifted the car and held it while Earl slid Alvy out from underneath.

They could both see that he was hurt bad!

Jack dropped the car and quickly knelt down to look at Alvy. When the lift fell the un lugged rim and tire had sprayed off and the brake drum had landed squarely on his head. Earl was already running to phone the doctor and get a car.. The closest hospital was 40 miles away in Santa Barbara and they had to move fast.

Jack didn’t like what he saw. He could see that Alvy’s head was misshapen and he wasn’t responding. The only good news was that it appeared he was still breathing and for now, alive. They needed to get him to the hospital, now!

When Earl arrived with the car and the doctor, Jack started to stand up to help them load Alvy, but he couldn’t straighten up. His back spasmed so violently that he immediately bent over and then went down on one knee, until eventually he had to lay on the ground.

Earl started to panic. Alvy was badly hurt and it appeared that Jack was having a heart attack. He ran to Jack while the doctor checked Alvy.

“Jack, Jack, what is it?”

“It’s my back, I’ve hurt my back. Get Alvy to the hospital. Don’t worry about me. Get Alvy to the hospital!”

A Long Week Ahead

The next couple of days were dreadful at the Solvang Garage. Jack’s back was so strained from lifting the car off of Alvy that he couldn’t get out of bed. Worse yet, Alvy lay in the hospital in Santa Barbara with a fractured skull and a bad prognosis for recovery.

As Jack lay in bed, he thought about Alvy and that game of checkers that they were going to have. He thought about all the games of checkers, and all the work that Alvy did around the garage. He prayed that he and Alvy could play another game of checkers. And he was thankful that Alvy had been winning the recent games in case they never played again.

Earl manned the pumps and did the work at the garage. He thought about Alvy too. He thought about it so much that he had a hard time thinking about working the garage. As their chief mechanic and long time employee, Alvy was an important asset to the garage and it would be very difficult to function without him. Earl had ridden to the hospital with Alvy and talked to the doctor after they examined him. The news wasn’t good and as much as he hoped it would turn out all right, he didn’t think that it would.

Little did they know that the worst was yet to come!



This photo shows the original Solvang garage building. The new garage where the accident occured was to the left and the small house on the far left was moved to make room.

Curt , your doing a great Job, Love the story

Enjoying the story very much. A look into the past I don't want to miss.

MORE, MORE, MORE !!

The Really Terrible News!

By Tuesday night Alvy had started to stabilize a bit and was even showing a slight promise of recovering. Earl had gone down to visit as Jack had demanded that he do so he could get a first hand report. Earl would have gone anyhow, because he was concerned about Alvy.

Jack was still recovering in bed when Earl reported the news late Tuesday night. They were both apprehensive, but hopeful as well, that Alvy might recover. They discussed the garage and what needed to get done and what could wait until things improved and Jack could come back to work. It was a difficult discussion to have without knowing if or when Alvy would be back.

Earl opened the station on Wednesday morning as usual but his heart wasn’t in it today. He was tired from the strain and the hospital visits and the worry. Thankfully, the garage was slow. The small town knew of the tragedy. They knew that with Alvy’s condition, their cars could wait.

The only think that was slightly busy was the pump island. That was only because people wanted to know the condition of Alvy and Jack, and as a courtesy they would fill up while they asked. Most of the time it was only a couple of gallons. Even Sorensen, who owned the Standard Station across the street drove in and asked for a fill up. The whole community was concerned about Alvy Smith.

Since it wasn’t that busy, Earl decided to occupy himself with some chores that needed to get done, but kept getting put aside in favor of paying work. The service area was a bit of a mess. As much as he liked Alvy, being tidy wasn’t his strong suit. That was partly because he was busy most or the time, but also, Earl knew that it wasn’t his temperament. Some people just did things in a neat and organized fashion and others could work in a whirlwind. Alvy was a whirlwind.

Earl needed a purpose to take his mind off of Alvy and Jack. Organizing the garage seemed like the perfect job to keep his mind and his hands busy. For his first task he decided to do some welding. Actually it was more like cutting. Jack was a competent welder and he had been teaching Earl how to use the torch. Around the shop Earl had been practicing with Jack by cutting the lids of the 35 gallon barrels, which they then used for waste oil, rags and trash. Once in awhile he would cut the tops off and then weld them back on to practice his welds.

Earl looked around the service garage for an empty barrel. They definitely needed more trash cans based on the current condition of the floor. Besides he liked the hiss of the torch and the blue flame. It was such a powerful feeling cutting steel with fire and a perfect distraction in his current state of mind.

He spotted a Seaside barrel in the corner next to the tool box. They were pumping Seaside gas so he figured the distributor would appreciate seeing one of their barrels put to good use advertising their products just as well. He turned on the tanks, clicked the striker and adjusted the flow of the gas. He held the torch up and carefully applied it to the rim of the barrel to start his cut. He leaned in slightly to check his cut and then started to lean back.

The barrel exploded!

AND THEN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Explosion!

The explosion was so loud that it shook the whole town. The reaction was immediate.

The hired men came running from the pumps toward the service garage.

The volunteer fire fighters, spread out through out the town at their various occupations, quickly organized and headed for the noise.

Jack sat up in his bed and turned his head in the direction of the explosion. It was toward the garage.

The force of the gas fumes exploding in the barrel blew the lid off and into Earls head. The damage was terrifying. A portion of his head had blown off. He was loosing blood rapidly. The hospital was 40 miles away.

Miraculously Earl survived the ride to the hospital. They immediately began transfusing blood to make up for the loss.

In the next room lay Alvy Smith barely recovering from a grave injury on Sunday. On Wednesday Earl Ross was dying in the same hospital next to him.

The Solvang Garage was devastated.

The story is getting close to wrapping up. Just one more chapter after this and then the story behind the story.

A Miraculous Recovery and A Terrible Loss

The loss of blood was tremendous. So much of his skull had been lost. The hospital tried desperately to get more blood flowing in than was flowing out. Unfortunately the wound was too great.

Earl Ross died late that afternoon from his injuries.

That same day Alvy Smith took a turn for the better. He would eventually fully recover and go back to work at the Solvang Garage. After many years of working together with Jack Ross at the Solvang Garage they would both retire and continue to serve as volunteer firefighters in Solvang.

A friend was spared, but the Solvang Garage had cost Jack his partner and his brother.

This was no way to end the depression.

Jack needed some good news.

Jack Gets an Award

By mid April Alvy was doing much better. Jack had busied himself at the garage in his absence. He needed the distraction to keep his mind off of Earl and the terrible tragedy.

The mail arrived and Jack thumbed through the letters. There was a letter with an official seal from the federal government. Jack received a military stipend for his service in World War I so he assumed it was something about his pension. He slit opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

It read, “This letter is to inform you that you have been awarded The Purple Heart…for meritorious service and injuries sustained in battle…”

Jack could hardly believe what he was reading. He had served and been injured over twenty years ago. Why did it take so long for the government to figure this out, He thought briefly about the War and about Earl who had served in the War as well.

This letter had arrived twenty years and two months too late. He would never be able to share this news with his brother. He didn’t want this, not now. Not after what had just happened. That seemed like such a long time ago, compared to the recent tragedy. His old war injuries hardly mattered anymore, he needed to survive the current battle of dealing with the death of his brother.

Fortunately Jack had learned to survive

Jack ran away from home at 13, went to work in the copper mines and survived.

Jack had been to a World War, been shot and survived.

He had come home and built a business that was battered by the great depression and survived.

He had so recently lost his brother in a horrible accident, and Jack would survive.

Jack slid open the drawer to his desk and placed the letter on top of the folded newspaper from February that told of the accident at the Solvang Garage. He closed the drawer. He would have to think about this another day.

Jack got up and went out to the garage to see how the hired men were doing on the cars in the service bay. He had to get back to work. Right now it was the only thing that could keep him from getting lost in the still nagging grief over the loss of his brother.



That's The End of This Story

I'll publish the "Story Behind the Story" on Saturday and wrap this post up.

I got back earlier from the Escalon Gas Bash tnan I expected so I'm posting this tonight for your weekend reading pleasure.

The Story Behind this Story

I found out about this story from a small blurb that was written for a photograph at the local historical museum. This photo of the Solvang Garage had been donated to their archives. Apparently Gladys Fitzgerald, Jack’s daughter, had written a brief historical background on the garage. The last line says, “Earl was killed in an accident in the garage in 1940.”

When I saw this, I immediately called Gladys Ross Fitzgerald to find out the story. She wasn’t home so I left a message. In the meantime, I had access to the archives of the Santa Ynez Valley News so I pulled out the bound book of newspapers to see if I could find the story. Not only did I find the story about the explosion, I also discovered the story of Jack’s Purple Heart. While I was looking through the archives Gladys returned my call and helped fill in the blanks from her recounting of events.

As if that wasn‘t enough tragedy and drama for one family in a year, I also discovered this article in July of that same year.



As much as I like stories with a happy ending, 1940 was a year of tragedy for Jack Ross and his family. I don’t think that I could have made up a story that was as dramatic as these real life events.

I hope that you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed the discovery.

It’s surprising what you find when you go out looking for old signs, gas pumps and globes. Just imagine what we would hear if these old artifacts could talk. I know that I can get caught up in the accumulation and forget that there were real life people that pumped the gas from these old pumps and hung these old signs.

I have to admit that I was just as excited about discovering the stories of Jack Ross as when I’ve discovered a great sign or a pump. I guess perhaps what I have learned from this experience is that one of the ways that we can genuinely “Help the Hobby” is by viewing ourselves, not just as Petro collectors, but Petrolania Historians as well.

Who will tell these stories if we don’t?

Thanks for reading this one!

GREAT STORY Poor Man!!!! Thanks for all that you do for this hobby & this site....

Keep up he good work!!!!

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