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

December 2007
Collectible of the Month
Vintage Service Station Photos
Hosted by Curt Cragg
“The Poor Mans Museum”

I don’t think that we’ve tried this before on Oldgas, but why not start now.

Those of you that have been around this site for awhile know that I started collecting historical photos of the service stations in my area several years ago. I began this project to add relevance to my collection of Petrolania and also because I was interested in what brands were sold in the local towns around me.

What I discovered was far more than I ever imagined. My interest in the photos led to writing a series of articles for the local newspaper, many of which were first published here on Oldgas. This collection of articles and picture then led me to write and publish the first historical account of the town of Buellton, which was once known as “Service Town, U.S.A.” because of all of the services stations that lined Highway 101 here in the central part of Santa Barbara County.

As of today I have designed several historical exhibits to help tell the story of the small service towns in my area. One of the exhibits is located in Andersen’s Pea Soup Restaurant in Buellton and another in an old garage in the town of Los Alamos, California 15 miles to the north. Of course, these exhibits include many pictures of the local service station that once populated our local towns and highways.

So for our Collectible of the Month feature this month we are looking for historic photographs of service stations in your towns. Many of us have pictures of old service stations, but here we would like to see photos of stations or bulk plants that are where you live while they were in operation. We’d also like to hear some of the history of the stations and their owners or operators if you know it.

The real point of this COTM is to honor those guys (and gals) that operated the stations where all of our collectibles come from and show some homegrown photos of what they looked like during the glory years of the service station industry. GOT GAS station pictures? Start posting them or send them to me and I will get them posted for you.

Here's one to get us started:

This old photo from around 1960 shows a transitional period with the M on the pump when the company was looking for a logo that was easier to reproduce than the Runner on the sign pole.
Chuck



I found this photo, "Dumpster Diving" at work in old old discarded notebook. There were other photos as well.

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

I love exploring old photos with digital enhancements. Here is a good example.
This is an old Transcontinental Oil bulk plant from around 1930.



Discovered this curious grill decoration on one of the cars. A company logo runner. Appears to be three dimensional (shadows). But I have never seen a sign it probably came from.
Chuck

Here are a couple pictures of an old Sinclair station that was in Millersburg Ohio. My grandfather and his partner owned it untill they retired, then my dad and another guy bought them out, took over. It was later rebranded to ARCO. There is one building still on the sight. (I checked, it is empty of signs, pumps and globes...)

Grandpa is on the right in this picture



Loading up a delivery truck



Some newer equipment

Inside the warehouse





The place was right beside the river, I think this helped lead to a new location.

Shot with HP pstc3100 at 2007-12-12


Shot with HP pstc3100 at 2007-12-12


Shot with HP pstc3100 at 2007-12-12

This station was one of the few that were open 24 hours in its early days. I delivered it with a set doubles when it was no longer a 24 hour operation. Wided streets narrowed the approaches and a one way street added to the challenge.

Shot with HP pstc3100 at 2007-12-12


Shot with HP pstc3100 at 2007-12-12

I like to do a then and now photo of stations. I delivered this one when it was Marathon,Boron,and Sunoco. But not in the late 1920's when it was branded Indian.

Here is a Hy-Flash Gas Station on N. Fearing Blvd. Before and after..





[This message has been edited by hy-flash 72 (edited 12-12-2007).]

I have a bunch of station pictures, here are a few.

I posted some of these on the company of the month when we did powerine but its been a while so here are the coolest ones:




Notice the scalped 36b, not pointing any fingers

Posting this in memory of Lester (Buss) Green. Some of you knew him, he passed away last year. This is the grand opening of his first station in 1955. His wife Lucy told me they had the only station in Fort Wayne that was a block long.... it was a very short block...lol. Notice the streets running down both sides of the station. Chuck


edit photo size

[This message has been edited by Gaspedler (edited 12-13-2007).]

For those in the Christmas spirit:

a few from photos west

fox lake il then.... and now(although the lights are gone) got a feeling that this will be lost in the future!a shame!