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o/t full service gas station

J

JD2ACWD

Member
just thinking how long its been since there was a full service station around,I remember in the early 80's there were a few left,some had full service and self serve,do they exist anywhere?
 
Do you mean where the guy comes out and pumps your gas and then takes your money and you never have to get out of your car/truck? We have one here in our village, same price as the pump your own.Small towns are great.
 
Some years back there was like one left on my town, but now theres zero zilch nada.....I recall our local small town Loogootee Indiana DX Mobil Station where Tater Summers and John Bowlen (each raised a family & sent kids to college when gas sold for 25 cents) wore cotton work suits complete with blue bow ties and they filled the gas, cleaned the winshield, checked oil and tires and did minor repairs. Us kids hung out there some sittin on wooden coke cases and drinking pop......No Play Stations or I Pads or Laptops or Cell Phones or VCR's, we had it rough, musta been child abuse lol

Oh well, such is the price of progress I reckon lol

"Lifes not really all that short, its just that youre gonna be dead for such a long time"

Still, its been a good ride.

Nostalgic Ol John T
 
We have one of those in my town as well but such is not a "full service" station as the term once meant.

When I was a pump jockey, we washed EVERY window on the car, checked the engine oil, coolant and battery electrolyte and checked the pressure in every tire unless the owner specifically told us to not do so.

We did this for $1.00 purchases as well as fill ups.

Dean
 
There are 2 in Omaha, that I am aware of, where you need to be real observant as you pull up! Some lanes are full serve, and they charge accordingly!
 
Spent my teenage years working in a Standard Oil station that belong to my grandfather. Full service only to the day he retired in 1980. I washed a lot of windshields and checked a lot of tires. Changed tires on an old Coats manual tire changer and balanced them on a bubble balancer. It was a great time in my life my 66 Ford Fairlane GT 390 spent a lot of time on the lift being worked on. And on top of that free gas!!!
 
Still one outside a small burg here in central Michigan. They are an independent, which is probably how they've survived as is. They will fill you up and wash your windshield. Probably the best part is they are usually the last one in the area to hike their prices when they jump.
 
I was telling my young children about this a few weeks ago, about how when I was their age, dad would pull into a station and crank the window open, and say "fill "er up" when the man or teenager in uniform came to the window. As kids, we watched the window cleaning, which wasn"t just a squeegee, but towels were used too. The worker opened the hood using the latch in the grille. It amazed me how the gas station attendants knew where the hood latch was on every make and model of car and truck. If oil was needed, the guy would grab a round can of SAE 30 stacked up on the display, stick the metal pouring spout into it, and stick it into the engine"s oil filler pipe or valve cover. There would be a metal cabinet nearby with Anco wiper blades. Sometimes the man would tell you that you"d better replace that radiator hose soon. And when you pulled into the gas station in the first place, you"d drive over the black hoses that made the bell in the garage go "ding ding."
 
My dad has a picture of himself in uniform when he worked at a Skelly station in the mid 1940's. White with pinstripes and the flat topped hat. Skelly was embroidered across one side of the front of the upper part of the uniform and across the front of the hat. He said he had to scrub cars with cold water. He hasn't hand washed a car since then. Jim
 
Used to be one on west main st in Abbottsford Wi when I lived out there 13 yrs ago. He had a lot of women customers who didn't want to fill their own tank.
 
There are lots of full serve stations here. Within 25 miles of my place there must be at least ten. There are 3 in Engelhart, 1 in Earlton, 1 in Thornloe, at least 3 in New Liskeard, and some in Haileybury and Cobalt, as well as one or two in Notre Dame du Nord. The guys serving gas talk to you and everything. One time I bought gas in Thornloe in the middle of winter when it was about -40 out. I was driving my old '79 Pontiac with a very poor heater and I was wearing a SKI MASK! I got out of my car with the ski mask on and the owner said " hey Harv, how's it going?" same as any other day. Small towns are indeed nice.
 
In the early 1970's a freind had a 1956 Chevy. Those cars had the gas filler well hidden behind one of the tail lights. When ever a service starion hired a new guy to run the pumps he would pull in, ask for $2 of gas, and watch the new guy circle the car looking for the gas cap.
 
I know they are still common where I grew up in Maine. Was last there in 2003 and all the full service islands were still there. I don't see them much in the south. Must be more common where it's cold and people don't want to get out of the car in the winter.

-Paul
 
theres still one on 90A in Hallettsville,Tx...gas about .25 a gallon more...they still do tire repair which is prob what keeps them in biz.
 
My mailing address town still has one. Most people fill their own by using a magnetic-strip card, but if a driver wants an attendant to pump the gas, check the oil or air, they will do it. They also do oil changes, sell and repair tires and have most belts sizes hanging on the wall. They also have an exhaust pipe-bending machine that comes in handy. The owner is a grump, but the town would be hurting if they close.
 
Try to find the gas filler on a 1958 Oldsmobile sometime.

Hiding the gas filler was in vogue in the late 1950s.

Dean
 
Mt Vernon SD. Lady pumps the gas does the windshield. Figures your bill on a mini computer inside the station.
 
Bemidji MN still has one, Kenny's Clark downtown. One set of pumps is full service, tire sales, repair and oil changes. Used to be Standard/Amoco. My first steady job in 69 was at Art Oliver's Standard downtown Minneapolis.
 
A old boy was telling me when he run a gas station the young quys would come in on Saturday night with their dates,and say filler her up, then hold their hand below the window and hold out two fingers for two dollers worth. Then say put it on my account, which really was there dads.
 
Haven't seen a "full serve" island in Washington in probably 20 years- much less a station with a guy who automatically comes out when the bell dings, like the olden days.

Am reminded of a verse of an old Chuck Berry song, "Too Much Monkey Business", where he's complaining about all the hassles in his life:

Workin' in the fillin' station,
Too many tasks,
Check the oil,
Check the water,
Check the tires,
Dollar gas! Ahhhh. . .

Too much monkey business,
Too much monkey business.
Too much monkey business for me to be involved in.
 
Closest I have been to is a attendant pumps the gas.This is on Cape Cod,MA.Has a good price also.

Vito
 
I know of one that still pumps your gas and has the bell tube you drive over. I think they only stopped cleaning your windows a year or two ago - and I believe they still do tires.

And the good ol' boys like to "clatch" there in the mornings for coffee.

It's kind of neat - lost in time, almost.
 
There is still one in Hardinsburg Ky. It started in business around 1950 selling Gulf products. They still have a great business as they also do mechanical work. They take care of widows and old folks autos, and are well known for their honest dealings. They are an asset to the comunity. Joe
 
for me it was 2 years ago, i used a convience store at the time to fill my big truck with diesel and had the staff "trained" to turn on the pump when i rolled in so i wouldnt have to stand in line twice behind loafers and unemployed people playing the lottery and getting money orders, the older staff would have the new hires do it too, some of them would just stare bug eyed when they rang me up and the fuel bill was between 1200 and 18oo dollars i always payed with a check, which was on the list of pre approved by the home office, i sold the truck 2 years ago as the regulations, dot , permits and taxes had just taken all the money out of trucking,compared to what it was 20 years ago,and there wasnt a lot of money to be had back then, but it was a living,i got in a bind with credit cards years ago, now i know better than to use them
 
When full service stations were common in the 1950s, story goes that a man with a big Buick Roadmaster with a Dynaflo auto transmission pulled up to the pumps. Buicks in those days were bad on mileage.

After the attendant was filling the tank for a couple minutes, he said to the driver "Shut off your motor, you are gaining on me."!!

LA in WI
 

Local fuel distributor here still does full service, no matter whether you are in a little Honda car or a 18 wheel bull wagon.
They still do oil changes and fix flats at reasonable prices and their gas price is no higher than the convenience stores are.
 
There is one in the small town of Wynot. I believe that there is one in Yankton at least it was till the owner died a couple years ago.
 
I remember the scene in Back to The Future when Michael J Fox went back to 1955 and about 5 service station guys came out to service a car. It always used to be so neat to see someone come out and pump gas and watch them wash the windows....isnt that odd?? lol
 
I seem to remember an episode on Candid Camera where they had a Volkswagen Beetle that had a huge gas tank. They had the attendant try to fill the thing up and after quite a few gallons were put in, he was crawling on the ground looking for leaks.
 
There's still one station here that will pump your gas and wash your windows. Same price as self-serve station a block away. They have a good repair shop, too. And I think every station in town lets you pump before you pay.
 
The State of Oregon has no self-service stations so I'd guess there are some full-service; State Law.
We have one full-service in Great Falls, MT.
 
grew up in a small town in ky. of about 1500 thru 60 s- 70s i can recall at least 6 such places allwith their own mechanic(s) some had wrecker service then some other places to get gas like the zephyr (no frills gas),southern states co-op, the i.h. dealership. today not one of these places exist,just two convient stores with pumps. my ,my how times do change
 
There was a service station in Airway Heights, WA (west of Spokane) that had topless female attendants about 20 years ago- Nobody much cared about checking the oil, but everybody seemed to want their windshield washed.
 
Pumping gas is dangerous.I tell my wife to buy where they pump it.You can find videos of gasoline fires.For one thing pumping gas always makes your hands stink.A gush back can soak you with gas.Many pumps wont shut off if the tank is over filled.
 
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