View Full Version : Gas.....back in the day
whoskal
09-14-2006, 08:33 PM
Given the cost of gas in the past year or so, got me thinking about how much gas was whan I first started driving.
Gas was 98 cents a gallon when I first got my license. (and that was for premium)
How much was gas when you first started to drive??
duhtroll
09-14-2006, 08:37 PM
$0.699/gal in 1986.
VNMUS
09-14-2006, 08:42 PM
When I first came to the US, I was paying around 87c a gallon I think.
Donny Carlson
09-14-2006, 09:10 PM
$0.35 a gallon, southern Illinois in the summer of 1972.
There was a small rural gas station on the road where I lived. We had a charge account there. You'd fill up and sign a receipt, the owner would send you a bill at the end of the month. My dad was furious one month when the amount I charged was $15.
teamrope
09-14-2006, 09:18 PM
I was pissed cause it had jumped to 50 cents a gallon just before I got my license in "77"
Directedby
09-14-2006, 09:21 PM
About .62 - 1981
sdacbob
09-14-2006, 10:02 PM
25.9 in 1970, 27.9 for premium. No unleaded in those days.
Blue03
09-14-2006, 10:30 PM
It was a little before I was driving (legally) but I believe I remember seeing the the sign at a Sinclair Station on Dixie Hwy (SR-1) in the small farm town of Beecher, Illinois (pop 750) at 17.9c/gal. when I was a sprout in the early 60's. That was back in the days when Dino power was something different.:)
Motorhead350
09-14-2006, 10:40 PM
70 cents in 2001 for a brief time and this was for regular... in indiana.
Marauderjack
09-15-2006, 03:08 AM
14.9 CENTS during the "Gas Wars" of the early 1960's in RockHill, SC!!:beer:
Marauderjack:burnout:
Bluerauder
09-15-2006, 03:35 AM
I recall 29.9 from back in the 1960's; but can't really remember what the prices were. Most of the time, I would just pull into the station and say to the attendant on duty to "Gimmee $2.00 worth and wash the windows". That 2 bucks was good for the entire night and then some.
SID210SA
09-15-2006, 05:18 AM
In 91 I paid about 75-80 cents a gallon. It was nice to fill up the car for under 10 bucks :D . Now I am happy if I can get away under 45 dollars.
cyclopsram
09-15-2006, 05:25 AM
17.9 cents in Springfield MA... gas war near the Big E about 1956.
O's Fan Rich
09-15-2006, 05:39 AM
Yeah... but how much were we making per hour back then?
Me... about 2.75 an hour.
BTW it was about .40 when I started , but jumoped up o 68-70 soon afterwards.
I recall fishing the change out of the seat cracks and floor of the Pinto Wagon to get home one night.... found 88 cents!
KillJoy
09-15-2006, 05:43 AM
My dad was furious one month when the amount I charged was $15.
:rofl: :laugh:
I WOULD LOVE to fill up for $15 even once!!!
KillJoy
Bluerauder
09-15-2006, 06:23 AM
Yeah... but how much were we making per hour back then?
Me... about 2.75 an hour.
I started at age 16 as a stockboy and general "hey you" at $1.00 per hour. Got an offer from the Western Auto in the same center about 6 months later for $3.25. I ended up working for Western Auto up until I went in the US Army in 1972. Starting base pay at that time was $530.70 per month for a 2LT. :D (On an hourly basis, I was back to about $1.85) :rofl:
jerrym3
09-15-2006, 06:46 AM
High teens, low twenties back in 1965.
I used to pay $5 to fill up my 65 Corvette from the E mark.
In the late 50s, we actually would pool our nickels/quarters/dimes and get
$.75 worth of gas, and ask the attendant to drain the hose.
But, in 1960, as a body shop helper, I was clearing $49 per week. (Heck, I've more than tripled that now!)
GA-Marauder
09-15-2006, 07:34 AM
Dad let me drive from the time I was 14 (with him in the car, except in our neighborhood). This was 1972, and I can remember filling up at about 29-32 cents per gallon. Gas wars sometimes drove the price down to 27 cents. Those were the days. :rolleyes:
Mebot
09-15-2006, 07:49 AM
When I first started driving I remember the prices correlating with the grade; 87 or 89 cents. I used to think that the octane rating was the price of the fuel.
SergntMac
09-15-2006, 08:39 AM
I don't remember the cost per gallon when I started driving, but there were two grades. Regular and Ethyl. I remember that for a "finn" I could drive all weekend on a big block HP Camaro.
I do remember my first taste of expensive fuel, .68 cents a gallon, fall of 1977. Damn near kept me home from work...
"Squares" were 35 cents a pack, and that ratio is about the same today. Just paid 299.9 per gallon for 93 octane, and a pack of cigarettes is 7 bucks here.
LordVader
09-15-2006, 08:47 AM
That 2 bucks was good for the entire night and then some.
I remember those days. We would all chip in .50 cents and ride all night. The price was around .28 cents per gallon.
Donny Carlson
09-15-2006, 05:03 PM
It was a little before I was driving (legally) but I believe I remember seeing the the sign at a Sinclair Station on Dixie Hwy (SR-1) in the small farm town of Beecher, Illinois (pop 750) at 17.9c/gal. when I was a sprout in the early 60's. That was back in the days when Dino power was something different.:)
I remember Fina gas stations and their commercials "Fina, with pflash! Pflash puts the fun back in driving!". Also Gulf had a promo "give your car a kick in the gas!" they'd give you a plastic, stick on horse shoes UU for your car. My mom used to get trading stamps at Sinclair and Clark stations.
http://www.gassigns.org/bigemblm/Fina-Belknap-83.jpg
Hotrauder
09-15-2006, 05:27 PM
My Dad always pulled in and ordered a dollars worth when I was a kid; between 5 and 6 gallons I think. It would last him back and forth to work for a week. He told me that he was making about 23 dollars a week back then. I don't think I would swap. Dennis:)
Meteorite
09-15-2006, 06:26 PM
I remember some "gas wars" in our town in the 1960s. I think the lowest I remember seeing was 17¢ per gallon.
I think it was around 35¢ or 40¢ a gallon by the time I started driving.
cruzer
09-15-2006, 08:38 PM
When I got my first Ford in '49, I think the price was between 10-15 cents/gal--I bought 87 oct avgas in '70 for 18 cents/gal. Times have changed :(
Meteorite
09-16-2006, 03:29 AM
Speaking of the old days, how many remember when every typewriter had a ¢ key?
(Well, for that matter, how many remember what it was like to type on a manual typewriter?)
SergntMac
09-16-2006, 04:04 AM
Well, for that matter, how many remember what it was like to type on a manual typewriter?)I do, 'cause I still use one. But, how many here even know what it is?
When was the last time you used a pay phone in a drug store?
whoskal
09-16-2006, 08:27 AM
Speaking of the old days, how many remember when every typewriter had a ¢ key?
(Well, for that matter, how many remember what it was like to type on a manual typewriter?)
WTF is a typewriter??;)
jgc61sr2002
09-16-2006, 04:31 PM
WTF is a typewriter??;)
:D :rofl: :laugh: :lol:
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