Old Gas Stations
- Thread starter Locutus
- Start date
Thanks. Where have all the garages gone? How did they make any money at all when there was so many of them? I can remember when thee were half a dozen garages around here, now you have to go twenty miles. Progress? right !
That's a fact and in the old days when you broke down late at night you could often find a mechanic on duty. Now you have to stick money in the f**kin' air hose to inflate a tire.
For some of them gas was just a side line, they usually had a mechanic which was more often needed as cars weren't quite as reliable back in the day and tires were much poorer quality, so often needed repair.
In Canada remember the old Shell Stations with the rounded glass front.
Or the old White Rose filling stations? How about Royalite Stations
Its when there was a measure of competition until the big companies
bought out the little guys and screwed the consumer.
Or the old White Rose filling stations? How about Royalite Stations
Its when there was a measure of competition until the big companies
bought out the little guys and screwed the consumer.
Yep, I believe Royalite may have been a subsidiary of B.A. and then there were Home Gas Stations. I think they may have been a subsidiary of Esso. I also remember when gas was 40 cents a gallon. Many of the gas stations had the gravity feed pumps and the system of measure was just approximate.
I worked for Gulf. I remember Phillips 66, Texaco, and a bunch of others. That first picture.
Look at all those employees.
Look at all those employees.
Here are some old British petrol stations:
Britain's oldest working petrol pumps have stood on the forecourt of Laurel garage in Ramsbury, Wiltshire since the early 1950s
Old Brompton Road, London, 1935. Labour MP Tom Williams fills his Rolls-Royce Phantom II with Coalene - petrol made from coal. It costs him 1/6
Shell pumps in North Wales
An old shell pump in St Mawes, Cornwall
An unsmiling attendant with a 1934 Singer Sport saloon, 1934
Using a long petrol hose to fill up a mid-Thirties Standard
Futuristic canopy over a Blue Star Forecourt, 1958
Colnbrook, Berkshire, 1929, French-made Delage
Staff wore oriental robes at the 'Chinese garage' in Beckenham, Kent
Blashford, Hampshire, 1930, Renault Type NN Town Car
Britain's oldest working petrol pumps have stood on the forecourt of Laurel garage in Ramsbury, Wiltshire since the early 1950s
Old Brompton Road, London, 1935. Labour MP Tom Williams fills his Rolls-Royce Phantom II with Coalene - petrol made from coal. It costs him 1/6
Shell pumps in North Wales
An old shell pump in St Mawes, Cornwall
An unsmiling attendant with a 1934 Singer Sport saloon, 1934
Using a long petrol hose to fill up a mid-Thirties Standard
Futuristic canopy over a Blue Star Forecourt, 1958
Colnbrook, Berkshire, 1929, French-made Delage
Staff wore oriental robes at the 'Chinese garage' in Beckenham, Kent
Blashford, Hampshire, 1930, Renault Type NN Town Car
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I worked for Gulf. I remember Phillips 66, Texaco, and a bunch of others. That first picture.
Look at all those employees.
Yep, well groomed lot and that photo was fairly recent, probably in the late '50s.
Only in America can petrol station attendants be well-groomed and dolled up.
But what do you expect from a country that gave us a programme called Lost in which all the survivors of the plane crash still look smart, well-dressed and without a strand of hair on their heads out of place? And, apart from the fat one, all the survivors just happen to be supermodels and hunks.
In America it may be, where they like that poncy squeaky-clean image, in which some hunky, Brylcreemed airhead with a permo-smile and whitened teeth fills your car up before saying "HAVE A NICE DAAAY!" as you drive off.
In more down-to-Earth Britain, though, we don't care what the person looks like filling up your tank as long as they fill up your tank. Why make a bloody fuss over it? If some guy fills up a car in Britain with a permanent grin on his face before shouting "HAVE A NICE DAAAY!" he won't make many friends.
The Yanks love all that pointless glamour though.
That's your opinion but from this side of the "pond" we find you Brits a little "thick"!
Maybe a little Brylcreem (a little dab will do you) would improve your outlook.
