Interesting post by John Wason MPHS 67 on Facebook
John Wason shared GTO Association of America's photo.
I remember working at a Standard service station in Valparaiso, Indiana, in 1972. I had graduated from college, and was now learning to change oil and do tuneups and otherwise fix cars. I wore my Standard Oil uniform even on my days off, because I didn't care about clothes then and the service station furnished the uniforms and also had them laundered.
I was making $1.75 an hour (no time and half for overtime, and no benefits), and paying $80.00 a month for a really funky basement apartment. The "closet" was in the bathroom, and your clothes got mildew on them from the dampness. Net pay after taxes, etc. was about $56.00 a week. So the rent was almost 2 weeks net pay.
When we went out to pump the gas at this full service station (which they all were then), the station owner required us to check ALL of the fluids under the hood (and top them off if needed), check the air in the tires (and add air if needed), and wash ALL the windows, not just the windshield. If you had 3 or 4 cars on the drive you were really hustling!
At one point we got into a gas war with the station across the street (and probably others), and gas got down as low as 19 cents a gallon. That meant that I could fill the 10-gallon tank in my 1962 Rambler American for $1.90 - a little over an hour's labor. I had paid $25.00 for that car, by the way. Them was the days!
Cigarettes, incidentally, were about 30 cents a pack in those days - slightly more than the gas, just like now. Needing to save money, however, I bought Bugler's tobacco and rolling papers. I could roll about 50 non-filtered cigarettes for 18 cents.
I remember working at a Standard service station in Valparaiso, Indiana, in 1972. I had graduated from college, and was now learning to change oil and do tuneups and otherwise fix cars. I wore my Standard Oil uniform even on my days off, because I didn't care about clothes then and the service station furnished the uniforms and also had them laundered.
I was making $1.75 an hour (no time and half for overtime, and no benefits), and paying $80.00 a month for a really funky basement apartment. The "closet" was in the bathroom, and your clothes got mildew on them from the dampness. Net pay after taxes, etc. was about $56.00 a week. So the rent was almost 2 weeks net pay.
When we went out to pump the gas at this full service station (which they all were then), the station owner required us to check ALL of the fluids under the hood (and top them off if needed), check the air in the tires (and add air if needed), and wash ALL the windows, not just the windshield. If you had 3 or 4 cars on the drive you were really hustling!
At one point we got into a gas war with the station across the street (and probably others), and gas got down as low as 19 cents a gallon. That meant that I could fill the 10-gallon tank in my 1962 Rambler American for $1.90 - a little over an hour's labor. I had paid $25.00 for that car, by the way. Them was the days!
Cigarettes, incidentally, were about 30 cents a pack in those days - slightly more than the gas, just like now. Needing to save money, however, I bought Bugler's tobacco and rolling papers. I could roll about 50 non-filtered cigarettes for 18 cents.
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