Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana Collectible of the Month--Vintage Service Station Photos

By oldnfuelish
By oldnfuelish
By oldnfuelish

[This message has been edited by oldnfuelish (edited 12-30-2007).]

DX bulk plant

1937 Dx station same town as the Bulk Plant Onalaska Wiscon.

1937 Onalaska Wisc. DX station



Edited to remove a double photo

[This message has been edited by Jack R (edited 12-30-2007).]

Don't have much in the line of photos, except post cards, but I wanted to share a little about the Starks Station, which was torn down quite recently. Highway 47 was one of 2 main N-S routes in Illinois up until recently. When US 20 was routed to that intersection (forming a triangle, hence the other name, Starks Triangle), it was quite the little boomtown, and Standard had the lock on the gas. There was a little diner and a root beer stand on the property, and to the west, a big roadhouse and dance hall.
You could see the neon Standard sign miles to the south, and when we traveled, I was only certain we were really on our way when I couldn't see the Standard sign in the rear window any more.
They were always updating that station. It had the first T pumps I ever saw, which sadly, drove out the globes. They also had the dual crowns for the older dual pumps and the grey crown diesel pump to the side. We'd get maps there, but never soda.
Starks wreckers also made a lot of money in the area. US 20 was borderline "Death Alley" until the Tollway pulled away the truck traffic.
Seeing the picture brought back a lot of happy memories. The BP station is slightly to the north of where the Standard was and fills all the roles in one big building, except for repairs. Pingree Grove, the neighboring town, appears to have annexed Starks, but there's still a small sign to be seen. The motel a mile or so west is also gone. But there's an antique mall in the roadhouse.

Today's pics:



I believe the next two pictures were part of a service station map marketing campaign. This first one shows a National Park of the West Map.



This next one shows an old "Speed and Power" map.

Great pictures dfranchi!!! I love the clarity and size is perfect...not too mention all the Union Oil stuff that I've never seen before, like the union ethyl curb sign...mm

Here's a Sinclair station for Bob.

Nice delivery truck - and note the transfer cans.



Later . . .

Jim

Dan, those Union photos are eye candy. Just awesome stuff showing what the early stations looked like and taken as promo shots so the pictures are great. WOW!

Bob didn't think I had enough photos for this thread so he sent me 5,000 more to post last night (okay maybe I'm exaggerating a bit). So here are some more from Mr. Drake. If I ever get through these I will post some more of mine...

Space Age Sinclair Station

Champlin Trucks




[This message has been edited by Jack R (edited 12-30-2007).]

1920's Champlin Truck Train

These are great photos. Thanks for all the great posts guys.

Here are some photo's in the town where I grew up, Knightstown Indiana. My mother took these back in the 50's. She was a professional photographer and the local paper wanted to do a story on all the gas stations in town. Back in those days there was a station on about every corner. I got a kick looking at the clocks, she made the rounds pretty quick.

This station is still in operation as a no name brand.


This station is now a liquor store.


This station is long gone but a Speedway station sits in it's place.


This station operates as a repair shop.


Long gone as is the station that replaced it, now sits a BP station.


My favorite since I collect Sinclair. I got my first blow up Dino at this place. The building is still there as a used car lot.