Back in the day, most gas stations in the United States offered full service at the pump, as in this 1958 photo advertising Chevron gasoline.

FILLING STATIONS EVERYWHERE ARE NOW ‘SELF-SERVICE’
AND ATTENDANTS HAVE BECOME VIRTUALLY OBSOLETE

Who would have ever figured everyone,
except chauffeured elected officials,
would be pumping their own gas?
 
By David Maril
 
As gasoline prices around Baltimore fall under $3 a gallon, there’s irony in our starting to pay less for fuel at the pumps.

For a number of years, as gasoline approached the $4 per gallon mark, it seemed the more we paid, the less service we received.

Making matters even more financially painful, our local politicians kept adding taxes to the price of a gallon for a highway and transportation fund that was too often raided for use in other areas.

Hopefully the Yes vote that convincingly passed on the Nov. 4th ballot — Question 1, making it harder to transfer these funds into other state accounts — will decrease the need for higher gasoline taxes to repair roads and bridges.

Many of our upper level elected state officials are chauffeured around and probably seldom if ever are concerned about keeping the gas tank full or even pulling into a filling station themselves. How many of them have dealt with the challenge we all sometimes face of trying not to drip gasoline on ourselves when we are headed somewhere for business or a social engagement?

How many have experienced the nuisance of attempting to remove the gasoline smell from our hands after filling up a tank?

From former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani’s not knowing the cost of milk when running for president in 2007, to Mitt Romney in 2012 being surprised he could order a hoagie on a touchscreen at a convenience store, there are far too many embarrassing examples of how out of touch most politicians are.

It would be interesting to know how many incumbents and candidates running for election around the country for governor, House and Senate have any clue as to what gasoline currently costs per gallon.

Many probably believe it’s like it used to be, years back, when gasoline was under a dollar and service stations made you feel like an important customer.

SERVICE STATION ATTENDANTS HAVE BECOME VIRTUALLY OBSOLETE

These days, service station attendants have become virtually obsolete.

Appropriately enough, they were known as “service stations.” Whether you drove up in a shiny Lincoln Continental or a battered Ford Pinto, service, with efficiency and a smile, was what you received.

It seemed as if the major oil companies used to be in competition. They spent freely on advertising trying to win your loyalty to their brand name.

Gulf Oil for many years was the main sponsor of the Huntley-Brinkley Report every night on NBC News.

Some Baltimoreans may even recall when it wasn’t enough to have a local weather forecast simply sponsored by a gasoline company. Remember on WBAL-TV, in the 1950s and 60s, when Al Herndon actually used to deliver the weather on evening newscasts dressed in an Atlantic Refining Co. service station uniform?

He ended every weathercast with, “Atlantic keeps your car on the go.”

Most of the gasoline companies had slogans and made specific claims:

Mobil offered “detergent gasoline.” Atlantic “clean[ed] where dirt hurt most.” Exxon — or Esso, as it was known back in the day — put a “tiger in your tank.” (Exxon’s gas station convenience stores are still known as Tiger Marts.)

Texaco Star Theater, which was broadcast on NBC Radio from 1938-1949 and telecast live from 1948-1956 starring Milton Berle, opened and closed each show with a quartet of singers dressed as Texaco gas station attendants tout- ing the merits of the petroleum company’s products.  (Click here for video.)

Over the years, some gave beach towels and coffee mugs with a fill-up.

Before pulling up to the pump in any gas station, your tires would roll over a hose, triggering the ringing of two bells to let the attendant know you were there to be waited on.

Seconds after turning off the ignition you’d be asked how much gasoline you wanted and whether the oil, water, battery and tires should be checked.

The attendant might report back that you were down a quart, and the oil would be added. You could also pull into one of the service bays and have a headlight replaced or set up an appointment to get the oil changed.

Back in the early 1970s my parents helped me purchase my first car, a used 1964 Chevy Nova that, for some reason, had eight cylinders. For the two years I owned it, every time the oil was checked at a service station, the attendant would run in and get a couple of the other mechanics to come out and have a look under the hood at one of the few Chevy II’s that had more than six cylinders.

After closing the hood and performing the needed tasks, free of labor charge, your windshield and windows would be meticulously cleaned.

The total for a gas fill-up, usually under $5, would be paid in cash. If you had a $10 or $20 bill, the attendant would reach into his pocket and pull out a thick wad of money and pull off the ones and fives for your change.

The few customers who paid by credit card had to wait a few extra minutes. Before going into the office to get the transaction approved, the attendant used something similar to a department store charge gadget that slid over your card to gain an imprint of the information.

NEVER HAD TO GET OUT OF YOUR CAR

Through the whole gasoline fill-up process you never had to get out of your car.

And the time it took to have the tank filled, oil added, windows cleaned and the bill paid was often quicker than it takes today to get your credit card approved after scanning it at the pump, so you can fill the tank and clean your own windshield.

Apparently the opportunity today to pay between $3 and up to $4 a gallon, depending on what is happening with the world oil supply, is a privilege in itself.

You consider yourself fortunate if the bucket of window cleanser at the pump has any liquid in it and the paper towel dispenser isn’t empty when you go to wash your own windows. It’s your lucky day if the tire pressure gauge works and you can untangle the air hose without covering your hands with sludge and grime.

These days you pull up to the pump and, whether it’s 5 a.m. or 8 p.m., there’s either elevator or rap music blaring out of cheap-sounding speakers. Even if a hurricane is passing through or there’s a foot of snow on the ground, the control panel at many service stations asks, after you run your credit card through, if you also want a car wash.

When the oil companies first instituted self-service pumps at their filling stations, there was always at least one pump where customers could still get full service.

You punch in “No” several more times for other questions and options and then wait for transaction approval. If the line at the counter inside the gas station “convenience” store is crowded, you may have to wait a minute or two for the clerk to hit the approval button.

If it’s winter and you grow weary of waiting while icy winds chill your bones, you walk into the store to remind the person behind the counter you want to buy gasoline.

Except for a few old-fashioned gas stations that have survived the transition to the modern era, most of the service bays have disappeared. If you request a new windshield-wiper blade at most gas stations, they act as if you were asking them to rebuild the car’s engine.

You can no longer buy tires, batteries or have your oil checked at most gas stations. The garage lifts and service bays have been replaced by store merchandise.

You can however purchase coffee, magazines, T-shirts, sandwiches, laundry detergent, and aspirin. Usually a single attendant is responsible for resetting the gasoline pumps from behind the cash register in the store, and selling all the products.

Just about everything is self-service. Since full-service stations have all but disappeared, except in a few states and jurisdictions that outlaw customers’ pumping their own gas, maybe it’s about time we are starting to pay less.
 
davidmaril@voiceofbaltimore.org
 
“Inside Pitch” is a weekly opinion column written for Voice of Baltimore by David Maril.
 
EDITOR’S NOTE:  For many years following the advent of self-service gasoline stations in Maryland, virtually all stations had “full” and self-service pumps. In 2014 it’s difficult, if not impossible, to find full service anywhere.
 
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