And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
I think the first tank of gas I bought was 29.9 cents, would have been mid-'72. While I remember seeing 19.9 I'm not sure I bought it at that. And I never understood why they "29 and 9" instead of just plain 30 cents/gallon.
I lived in Abilene in '66, too. Moved in from Tuscola where there were two gas stations across the highway from each other. I swear I remember 15.9 but I was only 10 years old.
1970 dollar would be 15.42 today.....that means the price of gas to day is really not much higher thanks to our corrupt leaders, and greedy bankers who love inflation....
I am from SoCal and in 73 gas for my first car was 22 cents (premium) per gal when I got it running after fixing it from parts. It was a 70 Z28 Camaro and it took me a year to put together.
It was 24.9¢ in Freeport, just south of Sacramento on the River Road, in '73. Adjusted for inflation today that would be $1.68. That station isn't there anymore, but if it was gas would be at least $4.50.
But money went farther because there weren't so many imposed expenses by the gov't. Not to mention taxes and fees on everything. And you weren't paying for millions to get "free stuff."
For the kids not old enough to appreciate, the pumps were metered analog-style. There was a mechanical wheel that spun as you pumped, indicating how many gallons you were taking.
The pricing mechanism was also analog. Every time the price of gas went up (or down...yes, it does happen), they'd go out and reset the price on the pumps.
And as we're seeing here, gas was priced in pennies (and fractions thereof) per gallon. When gas finally got over a dollar a gallon, these gas stations didn't have the ability to put that extra digit into the price. There was a rush to install meters with that extra digit, and many used this opportunity to move to electronic meters. In the interim however, some gas stations priced their gas by the half-gallon.
Now that I've established just how old I am, I'll go back to my rocking chair and begin to again yell at the kids to "Stay off my yard!"
In '73-'4 I heard that before the electronic metering one could surreptitiously turn the pump off to clear it and back on again and end up paying much less for your ethyl go juice. Self service had just begun and this high school "friend" worked evenings at a cheap gas station in Texas.
I was in Japan when the oil embargo hit and was outraged that gas got to fifty cents a gallon on base. I had a little Daihatsu car with a two cycle engine and I had to buy two stroke oil at a motorcycle shop for about $6 a gallon if I remember right. (The road tax was low for vehicles with 360cc engines. It would hit 100 km/hr on a slight downhill, which was way above the limit.) Fun times.
In the fall of '66 there was a gas war in Abilene, Texas; regular gas was 17.9 cents.
ReplyDeleteI was stationed at Dyess AFB there in 1971 and saw gas wars in Abeline at 19 cents (also cute girls like the one above!).
DeleteI think the first tank of gas I bought was 29.9 cents, would have been mid-'72. While I remember seeing 19.9 I'm not sure I bought it at that. And I never understood why they "29 and 9" instead of just plain 30 cents/gallon.
DeleteJune 1973 Woburn MA, the Exxon I pumped gas at went to 26.9 in a price war with the BP down the street.
DeleteI lived in Abilene in '66, too. Moved in from Tuscola where there were two gas stations across the highway from each other. I swear I remember 15.9 but I was only 10 years old.
Delete48.9 cents? That's outrageous! When I turned in my buckboard for a '49 Chevy it was 29.9 cents
ReplyDelete1970 dollar would be 15.42 today.....that means the price of gas to day is really not much higher thanks to our corrupt leaders, and greedy bankers who love inflation....
DeleteI am from SoCal and in 73 gas for my first car was 22 cents (premium) per gal when I got it running after fixing it from parts. It was a 70 Z28 Camaro and it took me a year to put together.
ReplyDeleteIt was 24.9¢ in Freeport, just south of Sacramento on the River Road, in '73.
DeleteAdjusted for inflation today that would be $1.68. That station isn't there anymore, but if it was gas would be at least $4.50.
Not to be a buzz kill, but 50 cents in today's money is about $3.85
ReplyDeleteso not as cheap as it appears
Gas here today (east Tennessee) is about $3,00
But money went farther because there weren't so many imposed expenses by the gov't. Not to mention taxes and fees on everything. And you weren't paying for millions to get "free stuff."
DeleteAnd the girl is, of course, quite slender, unlike today's...um...porkers...
ReplyDeleteIt’s B&W so I’m not positive, but I don’t think she has purple hair or tattoos, either.
DeleteSeemed like there were gas stations on every corner. Yep 19 cents earliest I remember. Filled my VWs' 10 gal tank for $2.50 in the mid 60s.
ReplyDeleteBack then the combined fed & state gas tax in NC was 13.25¢.
ReplyDeleteFor the kids not old enough to appreciate, the pumps were metered analog-style. There was a mechanical wheel that spun as you pumped, indicating how many gallons you were taking.
ReplyDeleteThe pricing mechanism was also analog. Every time the price of gas went up (or down...yes, it does happen), they'd go out and reset the price on the pumps.
And as we're seeing here, gas was priced in pennies (and fractions thereof) per gallon. When gas finally got over a dollar a gallon, these gas stations didn't have the ability to put that extra digit into the price. There was a rush to install meters with that extra digit, and many used this opportunity to move to electronic meters. In the interim however, some gas stations priced their gas by the half-gallon.
Now that I've established just how old I am, I'll go back to my rocking chair and begin to again yell at the kids to "Stay off my yard!"
azlibertarian
In '73-'4 I heard that before the electronic metering one could surreptitiously turn the pump off to clear it and back on again and end up paying much less for your ethyl go juice. Self service had just begun and this high school "friend" worked evenings at a cheap gas station in Texas.
DeleteIn the summer of 1977, gasoline hit 50 cents per gallon in Charleston, SC.
ReplyDeleteI remember thinking that it couldn't get more expensive...
I was in Japan when the oil embargo hit and was outraged that gas got to fifty cents a gallon on base. I had a little Daihatsu car with a two cycle engine and I had to buy two stroke oil at a motorcycle shop for about $6 a gallon if I remember right. (The road tax was low for vehicles with 360cc engines. It would hit 100 km/hr on a slight downhill, which was way above the limit.) Fun times.
ReplyDeleteBell bottoms too. 70s chicks were hot.
ReplyDelete74 Nova
ReplyDelete13.9/gal. 1971, st.james,mo. got back home to illinois on 2 dollars worth.
ReplyDelete