I sure miss those simple times.......

[dave&ginny]

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

Do you remember when there were service stations? I grew up in a small town of about 1500 folks, and back then there were no convenience stores with gas pumps. When you needed gas you went to one of the service stations, or "filling stations" as we called them. There were no self-service pumps. Someone, usually the owner, came out when you pulled up to the pumps. He pumped your gas, cleaned your windshield, and checked the oil. If you were a grownup you probably had a charge account at the station. He would take the receipt book with your name on it from under the register, write down the date and amount, and give you a copy. When you got paid on Friday you went back by the station and paid for your week's gas. The station would have one or two service bays, with one "grease monkey" doing oil changes, brake jobs, and other basic maintenance tasks.



Back in the 50s, there were no chain grocery stores, just the mom & pop grocery. I worked as a bag boy after school during my junior and HS years.

I sure miss those simple times.........

Thanks for posting this. Yes I sure miss those days!

We’ve complicated our lives and eroded society at the same time. We haven’t done ourselves any good with luxuries in our RVs either. The more complex these machines have gotten, the more unreliable they are.

[bneiva]

I remember Saturday being "bath" day. Having seven sisters older than me made me the last in line to hop in the galvanized tub sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor! Dang, by the time my turn came around, that water was COLD!

[radar]

Nice post. We had "Allans garage and marina" a few hundred meters down the street. It had one of those hose bell thingies to let him know if some one needed gas. My dad got his tune-ups and fishing licenses there as well. Boat gas as well. I was just a little kid in the sixties. One interesting thing, back then you could go for a week on 8 bucks of gas, now we can still go for a week on 8 bucks of electric and the filling station is in the garage. LOL Times change.

Kinda miss jumping on the hosey bell thingy though.

[NITEHAWK]

Lived on a lake when I was a kid. Didn't have any bait shops within a decent distance and it wouldn't have mattered anyway! Didn't have any money!
But we did usually have chicken dinner on Sunday so I had a gob of chicken skin for ice fishing on the following Saturday.
Caught an awful lot of perch while jigging thru the ice.

I remember my Mom tying my sister to the garage door on a leash like we do dogs today.
I remember my Dad taking our 1937 Plymouth to the garage for service before embarking on a trip to Grandma's house 60 miles away.

[bneiva]

Originally Posted by radar

Nice post. We had "Allans garage and marina" a few hundred meters down the street. It had one of those hose bell thingies to let him know if some one needed gas. My dad got his tune-ups and fishing licenses there as well. Boat gas as well. I was just a little kid in the sixties. One interesting thing, back then you could go for a week on 8 bucks of gas, now we can still go for a week on 8 bucks of electric and the filling station is in the garage. LOL Times change.

Kinda miss jumping on the hosey bell thingy though.

Yeah, I remember those things! I was never inquisitive enough to question how they worked but I guess it was air pressure that set that bell off. Anybody know for sure?

[radar]

Originally Posted by bneiva

Yeah, I remember those things! I was never inquisitive enough to question how they worked but I guess it was air pressure that set that bell off. Anybody know for sure?

Must have been back pressure. If I jumped up and down on it Allen would get a little testy. .

[rjwilliams]

Originally Posted by fcbbob15

Yup there was one on every corner where I lived. Air and water were free. 10 cent soda pop and you could drive all week on 5.00 dollars worth of gas.

I too remember that you could drive for a week on $5.00 in 1955 but given the inflation rate that $5.00 is now $52.05.

[Wrapped]

Yup miss it all, worked at service station during high school put on my grey pinstriped jumpsuit red Esso embroidered on the pocket plastic squeeze bottle with blue windshield washer fluid in back pocket and blue and red paper towels in pocket, cash or, oh crap it's raining and this guy has Esso credit card try to keep carbon paper dry while swiping the roller over then back over, so maybe not easier but better I did it all the while smiling and saying thank you sir or ma'am.

[MSHappyCampers]

Did credit cards even exist back in the 50's? I don't remember anyone having one.

[Old-Biscuit]

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

Did credit cards even exist back in the 50's? I don't remember anyone having one.

Service Station Cards....Texaco, Chevron, Gulf, Standard Oil, Union 76, Shell
Dad had a wallet full of them.....independent welder so never knew where he would be when needing fuel

Mom...bookkeeper and was always checking his pockets when he got home for receipts

[High Road Travelers]

Business has been done with "credit" for a long time. As Joe stated in the original post, you would just sign for the purchase and pay up each week, month or whatever. We bought our groceries and our gas that way.
I was born on credit. Mother gave me the payment book showing payments my Daddy made each month to the doctor. I'm worth $25.
Things were simple when I was a kid; we didn't have anything to worry about (just didn't have much materially). We were mostly self sufficient, living on a farm in the country. Daddy expanded our crop fields when I got big enough to plow with the horses. He always made me change horses at dinner time (lunch) so I wouldn't wear them out. We raised our own beef, chickens, pigs, milk cows, hunted and fished, and grew tons of vegetables.
Someone earlier mentioned bathing in the wash tub, and that brought back memories; but I only had one brother and sister, so the water didn't get quite as dirty as his.
I thought I hated growing up as I did, until after I finished college and got out in the world; then realized I had been blessed with the best 'growing up' anyone could have.
Thanks,

[Hurricane-TX]

I sure miss those air pumps that you dialed the pressure you wanted and listened for the dings while filling the tires. The last one I saw was at the BX gas station on MBAFB back in 85. It was old and worked like a charm. It also didn't cost anything and had a long hose. The good old days were sure a lot nicer than today.

[MSHappyCampers]

As I mentioned earlier, I worked after school in a couple of mom/pop grocery stores all through Junior HS and Senior HS. One of the stores had a feed and seed area in the back. In addition to bagging the groceries and taking them out to the customer's car, I had to load the 100 lb. bags of feed and seed. I was a scrawny 120 lb. kid and that definitely wasn't the fun part of working in a grocery store!

[Old-Biscuit]

Joe,
Trade you loading feed/seed bags for stacking 120# hay bales in the barn
Fun times......LOL