by Craig Collier
posted May 31, 2008
A few years ago my youngest sister made the suggestion that I write down some my "memories" and share them with others. I have no idea why.... they are the ramblings of an old man and his memories of growing up. I started a journal and named it "Hand Cranked" because my first entry was about cranking a freezer of ice cream at my grandmothers house and what it meant to me.
I would like to share some of these hand-cranked memories from time to time here. If you're old enough to remember 45rpm records, eight track tapes, TV in the days before cable (and before remote control), hopefully you will enjoy this first installment of my "Hand Cranked" memories.
Anyone remember the terms "service station...filling station....gas station"? Hopefully, there are a few of you out there that are able to think back to the days before a convenience store was the only place around to buy gas. A service station was just that...a place to not only buy gas, but a place to have your car serviced. They did all sorts of things other than put gas in your car. You could get your oil changed, brakes done, lubed and the list goes on and on.
But one thing was common no matter where you bought gas....and that was the attendent(s). All of the big oil company type places were owned by someone other than big oil. There was always a sign over the door with the owner of the station's name on it.....John Smith, dealer for example..and my first "paying type job" was working for a man named Jim Stamey at his Sinclair station on Hixson Pike.
I have always had a love/hate relationship with cars and Mr. Stamey gave me my first opportunity to expand on that. Oh...and I was just 12 years old when I was "employed" by Mr Stamey...so I normally got paid off with Cokes and candy bars. Mr. Stamey let me hang out after school and on Saturdays and do neat things...you know...wash cars, empty trash cans, sweep the lot and at times would let me pump gas...become a real "pump jockey".
One thing that always happened was that when you pulled up to the pump, a real live human being came out and most always the first words were "Fill-er-up"? You only had two grades of gas then..regular and high test (or Ethel if she wasn't busy). Then the attendant would crank a handle on the pump to reset it to zero and start pumping gas into your car. If there were two attendants, the other one would wash your windows, check your oil, battery, hoses and belts and the air in your tires.....and at times offer you saving stamps (Top Value or S&H Green Stamps)..or a glass (with an 8 gallon fill up)....and all this was at the cost of 30 cents a gallon.
Do the words free air, water and road maps ring a bell? Air now costs 75 cents and it comes from a machine. Most places have no idea about putting water in a car and forget road maps. Gas wars were commonplace back then ( and, no...a gas war had nothing to do with guns...lol). Local competing gas stations would at times have a gas war...seeing who could sell gas the cheapest. I have bought gas several times in my lifetime for 19.9 cents a gallon. At today's prices 20 cents won't make a wet spot in the tank even if the pump is slow enough to register it...lol.
Some of the local brands of gas were Kayo (now Conoco), Thoni, Kocoline and a few others. These stations always had a "pea gravel" lot and always had what they called "bulk" oil...sold in clear glass bottles with a funnel that screwed on top for about a quarter a quart...and they almost always had a layer of dust floating on top of the oil. I was told once that "bulk" oil was actually used oil that they let sit around til the big chunks of stuff settled to the bottom, then poured off the good oil from the top.
My first mode of motorized transportation was a Sears Moped (I was in the seventh grade) that had a two-stroke engine with a horsepower rating just above a small dog....lol. It held one gallon of gas and had a measuring thing for the oil made into the gas cap. I would ride to the station and while the attendant was making his way out, I would measure the oil and put it into the tank, then tell the smiling attendant to "fill-er-up". Imagine this...for the hefty sum of 25 cents I could ride for a week...and take the two Top Value stamps home to my mother so she could put them in her book to boot.
A sidenote here about saving stamps for you that have no idea what I'm talking about. Savings stamps were given as a premium for purchasing things at different places such as gas stations and grocery stores. The big name stamps around here were Top Value and S&H Green Stamps. You got one stamp for a certain amount spent...they usually started a one-stamp for every 10 cents spent. You took them home and put them in a book, then took the books to a "redemption center" and traded them for stuff. You always paid the attendant at the pump and they at times had a roll of bills big enough to choke a horse in their pocket and one of those change things in their belt. If you bought anything other than gas, it was either a quart of oil or a Coke in a bottle (which you normally drank there or paid a nickel deposit on the bottle) or maybe a fan belt. You went to a "convenience" or grocery store to buy bread, milk, beer, etc.
These days you pull up to a pump and the only human contact is the voice from the speaker telling you to either come inside and pre-pay or to use a credit card at the pump. While there you have the opportunity to buy everything from soup to nuts. Most of the employees can't make change without a computer and heaven forbid asking someone for directions to someplace. And all this "convenience" comes at a tidy sum approaching $4 a gallon.
Does anyone wonder why I miss the "good old days"? By the way....Fill-er-up?
Craig Collier
Chattanooga
zook1@bellsouth.net
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