Suerte left a comment on my prior post that got me to thinking. He commented that he remembered when gas was .26 cents a gallon. I thought and thought about it and even asked Mom if she remembered what gasoline sold for when I was a kid.
Maybe it is a guy thing to remember the price per gallon but Mom and I could only remember the actual dollar amount that was allocated for gas in our household. It was $3.00 dollars a week. I recall we only went grocery shopping as well as filled up the car on Wednesday.
Why only on Wednesday? We were living in Austin at the time so I only know about that general area. If you grocery shopped at HEB or filled up at a gas station close to HEB (there was no relation between the two entities) you got DOUBLE Gold Stamps.
What are Gold Stamps? They were stamps you pasted on a little book they provided you with and after you filled it up you could go to their store and choose from a variety of gifts. Each gift had the corresponding number of booklets you needed to buy that item. Anybody remember that?
I recall when my best friend’s parents bought her a car (it was an older model vehicle) I would chip in .50 cents and we would go to the full service station and ask Mr. Flores to put $1.00. I can still see his smile as he asked her if she wanted him to check the oil and she always said “yes” :D
With a dollar’s worth of gas we rode around through the main drags in Del Rio (yeah, I know there weren’t many) and it was always enough. However, I recall her fuel gauge did not work and one time we ran out of gas and I was so embarrassed!! I think someone gave us a ride to Mr. Flores station and he loaned us a gas container.
Wish my memory was better but by this time I was sixteen years old and I had quit writing a journal so details are sketchy. Thanks for the memories Suerte.
Can you believe it is February already? Only nine more months to the cook-off!!!
Good night. May you all have Terlingua Dreams.
Oh, I long for a time when gas prices were $0.26; of course, inflation being what it is, people probably didn't make nearly as much as they do today either (on average).
ReplyDeleteThat is very true Anthony. Thank you for stopping by.
DeleteI remember the $.26 gallon price and also remember during one of the gas price wars getting it at my local station for $.17!! Cheapest I can remember (back I'm figuring 1965/6)
DeleteAnother guy that remembers gas prices!!
DeleteI remember gas being $.16 a gallon quiet a few times during gas wars around Fort Hood. That was in 1969. I didn't make much pay in the army, but didn't have a problem paying for enough gas to go home about every weekend. About 300+ miles. I sure as heck couldn't do that now days even probably getting 10 times as much pay! BTW back then I had a Pontiac that would go over 130 miles per hour and I drove that speed about all the way to and from my home town. I'm surprised I'm still alive.
ReplyDeleteTffnguy I am surprised you are alive as well. What were you thinking? Lol, did you ever get stopped?
DeleteAh.. yes.Gold Stamps, my mother collected them, and turned them in at a store in Capitol Plaza in Austin, ( the first and only mall ). And S&H Green Stamps as well.
ReplyDeleteYour reaching way back there now MsB, but, that's a good thing, they say you can't ever go back, but it's what sticks in your mind over the years that make fond memories.
I remember S&H Green Stamps too. I could be wrong but I think Piggly Wiggly gave those as well as Diamond Shamrock and Fina?
DeleteYeah Suerte it was a long time back but it sure put our brains to work trying to remember the details and a smile at newly remembered things from that bygone era.
When gas topped $.50 a gallon in the early 70's, I swore I was gonna take the bus an' never buy another gallon.
ReplyDeleteIn the the late 50's we complained of "gas gouging" if the price was over $.20. Average price per gallon was $.16 to $.18.
Lol, Billy Bob you always make me laugh :D
DeleteLittle did you know back then that one day you would be driving "Sally da house" and dishing out a fortune to gas her up.
I was working part time in high school yrs at a one-man little gas station in SW side of Fort Worth. The owner told me if they get $2.00 or more then wash the windshield and check the oil. If they only get $1.00 worth, then ONLY do that if they ask you to.
ReplyDeleteMy pay was $1.25/hour
I made some extra quick cash once when the old man that owned a roofing company equipment yard next door offered me $5 bucks each to haul off 2 dead, and bloated sheep he was keeping in that fenced in yard to keep the weeds down...I said "yes" in a heartbeat and loaded them into my '51 Ford pickup.
Bigfoot I had forgotten that full service gas stations also cleaned your windshield.
ReplyDeleteP.S. you icon pic is "scary".
I remember when gas was 20 cents a gallon at times.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing BBC.
DeleteThat pic is from my high school yearbook, senior pic.
ReplyDeleteOh and forgot to say the gas price was around 20-22 cents all the time...although I heard ot gas wars in Kennedale at 19cents or so.
Lol Bigfoot, that is so NOT your picture :D
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