1950s SERVICE STATION FILM STANDARD OIL COMPANY of CALIFORNIA "MAKE MINE SERVICE" MD65654
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Marketing Retail Sales Department of the Standard Oil Company of California, Western Operations Inc, presents, “Make Mine Service”. This is a color film which starts out at a standard 1950’s style service station, :45. Logos for Standard Station and Chevron Dealer are shown, :51. Bob and Dave’s service station is shown, 1:24. Pat Ivins service station is shown, 1:48. Chevron Supreme and Chevron gasoline service pumps, 2:45. RPM Supreme Motor Oil, 2:50, Atlas Tires and batteries, 2:55. Credit card customers are mentioned and credit card machine at the pump is shown, 3:11. “We take better care of your car” advertising billboard, 3:19. Re-enactment on proper service station attendant behavior, 4:30. 7-Step Pump Block Procedure for Service, 7:20. The pump block - Greeting, Gas Sale, Under hood Service, Windshield Service, Air Service, Collection, Thanks and Come again, 8:20. Chevron training courses, 9;00. Cadets practice the service details in the pump block service system, 10:23. The 2-man service approach allows the first man to attend to the customer and the core services and the second man attends to the plus services, 17:30. Chevron dealer drives his customer home so he can better service the customers car, 18:50. Narrator talks directly to the Chevron “consignee” and asks why he is taking such good care of the customer’s car”, 19:48. Selling confidence is the best sale you can make at the pump, 21:28. Free services often result in additional sales with no price quibbling, 2:05. Providing the “extra little services” at no cost very often turns into a valuable relationship with a confident customer, 23:47. Keeping customers waiting is a sure way to lose him, 24:50. Managers, trainers and consignees need to work together to constantly improve service standards, 26:02. Battery sales was tripled by providing free battery checking service, 26:10. Believe in your product and it will sell itself, 28:00. This film was made by Frank Strayer Productions, 29:02, Hollywood.
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You can literally smell the optimism in the air
Nah, that's leaded gas fumes and cigar smoke. lol
At the current rate with people buying electric powered cars, they'll be NO SMELL at all. 🔌
Peak America.
The smell of "My Grandfather and father fought wars they didn't want and my kids will fight a war they don't want but i'm the most important and noble of them all because I have seperate water fountain and toilet" lol
@@joshn938DDT and smoke from KKK cross-burnings.
The first thing you need to know, is that today we call them "gas stations", not "service stations". That should tell you a lot right there. Back in 1951 I went through the Standard Oil training program in Alameda, California. This was the place that smart customers knew to bring their cars for gas and other service, because, there were quite a few new recruits that would vacuum the car, check the oil, water, tire pressure, battery, and of course clean the windshield. Folks in Alameda knew that if they got gas at our station they would be surrounded by eager new recruits. It was a great training program and I learned a lot from it. One of the biggest challenges was to try and keep our white uniforms clean and looking good. Wish we had "service stations" today.
@Ari C Hi Ari, I'm 87 years young. Sadly, I see so much today that isn't as good as in the old days. We lived in the enjoyable moment. Today, we see so many "cell phone zombies" elsewhere mentally. We see people on their cell phones while having lunch with their friends, or parents ignoring their children while surfing in their electronic world. Cheers, and stay safe.
Born 1994 here have no clue what u guys are talking about but do at the same time
Can’t imagine that being done today! We have to pump it ourselves, and then they raise the prices! What was the price of gas then? Like 25 cent a gallon and all that service too?? holy moly!
Thanks for the story, it's really neat getting to read these, that's the year my Dad was born, back when California was still a good state.
Those days are unfortunately long gone. Once in awhile you can still find an actual “service station” out in the country parts. I frequent a station out in Hubbard Oregon that still checks your tire air pressure and washes your windshield. The station is owned by an 87 year old man and family members that still offers great service.
The attendants dressed nicer than what most people wear today to go to church or a funeral!
I love all the old photos and films with the men going to their normal jobs always wearing jackets and ties.
... How things have changed (and not for the better).... People want to feel respected, noticed and treated with sincere courtesy. Rare things today, sadly.
Oh man, those were the days!!! I miss the gas station service man!
I was only a little kid when my parents would drive into the gas station, but I remember how nice it was, especially for our mother, not to have to get out of the car and get her hands dirty pumping gas. Yes, I'm from the 1950s!
I worked in a gas station back in the late '70s. I remember checking the oil, doing the windows, selling cigarettes and antifreeze right at the pumps. My second job while still in highschool.
@@ForzaJersey they charge more too😣😣😣
@@captainamericaamerica8090 , actually our gas in Jersey is cheaper than Pennsylvania and Delaware. Pretty sure it's cheaper than New York too.
I've never seen one, but this along with soda jerks and flight stewardesses seem like an experience that would certainly gain my preference. Unfortunately, price cutting seems to be more effective.
Amazing service, perhaps gone forever. In those days, people took pride in doing their jobs well, no matter what those jobs were. Back then, a service station attendant could afford to buy a house and a decent car. Imagine holding that job today and being able to do that. I know. I'm daydreaming.
Yeah than after 30 years he could retire with a nice pension that includes health insurance! Now we pump it, pay for it and get zero service and pay more for it, some how they call that a win no wonder American middle class is going down hill. Just like when I was young and worked as stock boy the business had stock boys, sales man, cashiers and a maintenance person, plus a manager on duty, now for an example dollar general one person does all those tasks and make less than I made as stock boy in adjusted dollars, and guess what none of those labor savings are passed on to the consumers.
@@TheElectronMan Further insult is "shrinkflation." Calling what was once a standard roll of paper towels a "double." Odd number of now 11oz cans passed off as a case. And unless you bag the beans yourself, no one makes a 1lb can of coffee.
@@TheElectronMan what kind of loser would pump gas for 30 years? and a "pension" from a gas station? you might have gotten a pension working for a huge textile factory - and it would have been about $40 a month back in the 70s.
I remember those stations and those handsome, uniformed attendants. Those were great times, before Jamal and Latitia inherited the world and before Abdullah and Mohammed took over every gas station.
When I was little I loved watching the attendee wash moms windshield
Larry's Texaco at Kester and Burbank, Van Nuys California. They always offered to check the decal in the door jamb that listed oil changes, as well.
I worked for a Chevron station in Mojave, California in 1981&1982. Mojave was a small desert town of 3,000 but had two Chevron stations where highways 14&58 came together before splitting again further North of town. Needless to say every service station in town was busy. Arco was the only station that was a convenience store, the rest were full service stations with a garage. Even in 1981, Chevron still had a thorough training program that was impressive. The station I worked at was one of the few left still owned by Chevron, the other one in town was privately owned. The one thing I remember well was the bathrooms had to be spotless at all times. No matter how busy it was, the bathrooms were a priority. Display tires were in the lobby by the bathrooms. To this day I still recall the smell of tires and Lysol from spending so much time cleaning the lobby. Full service was fun. I met so many people from all walks of life. Best of all I learned to make change in my head. Few paid with a credit card. I had a coin dispensor on my belt and cash in my pocket to make change. Like it said in this video, change is counted back to the denomination the customer paid with. Those skills are lost today. All that for $3.35 an hour pay.
It's amazing how the people dressed back then....suit ,tie and hat ....... ladies in skirts and dresses........wow ......
LOL
Since Obama was installed people don’t even know the difference between men and women! Thanks Obama 😞
Plus it was MUCH harder to find fat people in those days.
Look at all the wonderful white people, this is great!!!
@@michaelmeyers3664 Literally, not even all of them just middle or upper class only 💀
I remember " the service stations " as a 5yr old it was great to see the attention we got not just for our 1962 ford fairlane station wagon but how the attendends treated us a a family . sometimes if we were a regular customers us kids would get a bottle of coke ( the little 8oz ones ) and a bag of potato chips or candy bar FOR FREE🤩 and dad would usally tip the attendends 25or50 cents. if we had to go pee pee the bathrooms were always spotless and of course the service station dog 🐈 that loved ❤ everyone oh and dad got free road maps
Thnx for the great story.
Wow!👏
My Aunt and Uncle ran a Standard oil station in Santa Rosa N.M., in the 50's up to the 70's.
My dad ran a Sunoco in Ohio in the 60's and 70's
God bless them.
My dad was owner and operator of a Standard station in the 50's up until 1960 when he had a serious heart attack (and the year I was born). He sold Atlas tires and also did oil changes on an outside hoist. I remember those oil change stickers in the door jamb. I have a photo of the station with my dad and his employee talking to a customer sitting in their car. And also up on the roof a worker is re-shingling. The station is now a DQ.
I am also a '60 model. I remember full service fading away in the 1970s.
Got any STP stickers? : )
I am old enough and lucky enough to have seen this type of quality of service. I never thought it would go away. Gas station service attendants in the old days could save the average driver hundreds of dollars down the road. Even you life! They would check the oil, water, belts, wipers, tire pressure. They could spot a nail in your tire that you never knew was there! While the next gas station could be 80 miles away. This was good business. It made money for the gas stations and kept people safe! But big oil shut this practice down! You pump your own gas! If your tire is going flat and you don't see it , who cares! Gas in California is $5.30 a gallon! Who has the last laugh? You??? I don't think so!
I love your music but your take on service is a bit outdated. $5.30 a gallon is bad enough, add in paying CA wages for someone to check things that really don't need to be checked that often in a modern car. Minimum wage is $15.50 and that doesn't include all the extra costs an employer faces just to employ someone. To hire someone will run a company $25-$30 an hour, figure they can service 12 cars an hour will add $2-$3 per stop assuming you could have them working 100% of the time. Realistically that is probably closer to $5-$6 for me the customer, and I am not interested in that.
LOVE these '50s cars!!
I love the stirring music they introduce all these old films with. It's like an epic movie score
That's right. They really made it sound like a major production with that music.
I know, isn’t it great ? !
Thank you very much for posting, does anybody remember the big red Texaco fire hats if you put batteries in you could talk in an attached microphone, to hear yourself on a speaker mounted on the front? Again thanks for the memories, metal water cans to fill the radiator, little square bug scrubbing sponges to clean the windshield, cardboard oil cans that required a metal spout, rubber hoses on the parking lot to drive over to alert the attendants with a ding ding, yellow metal boxes on wheels with wiper blades, penny bubble gum machines at the front door, clean restrooms, wow, I must be getting old...
My grandmother lived across the street from a Texaco station on Holcomb Ave. in Mobile Alabama. I remember all of this being done. Outside hoist, wipers, etc. Days gone by. Too much liability for some to touch another’s car, heaven forbid. Lol
The Chevron Instructor was an actor who starred in "Night of The Blood Beast" that aired in 1958!
This is achingly wholesome. Were people really that clean and well mannered back then?
Actually many were, yes.
@@booklover6753 It was the norm, not the unusual.
I remember my dad pulling up to "Full Service" stations when I was a kid in the 1960's thru early 70's...The Good Old Days👍
Boy due I remember that. One of my first jobs (when I finished high school and starting college) was working at a Texaco doing all those things. 1970
Wow, people were really into their classic cars in those days, everybody had one!
My first (in 1978) was a 1956 Ford (2 door) Customline Ranch Wagon with 312 'Y-Block', followed by a 1953 Olds 'Rocket' 88, then a Roman Red 1959 Impala Sport Coupe with 348 which I replaced with a Hipo 409.
@@-oiiio-3993 Those are really cool cars; they were even vintage in 1978. We had a 1959 Chevy wagon that had that awful oil burner 348. (It belonged to Roy Rogers)
@@mr.bnatural3700 I liked the 'oldies'. It was 1985 by the time I had my Impaler - loved the dash board on that one. The 348 / 409 engines were known for oil consumption. The Hipo 13:1 409 that I had with tall port heads... would kill any head gasket within weeks. I finally ran thin copper shims, torqued very tightly. Your old wagon would likely be valuable today with the RR provenance. I see auction prices for '59 Impalas and wish I could have stored mine over the decades. It was very original ('till the engine swap), had factory air, fully equipped.
Haha!
Back then it wasn't a classic but a modern. 😂
It seemed like people were polite and had manners in those days. We need need some more of that nowadays .
Inspector Henderson at 19:15...Evolution from Service station to mini mart: First the Green Stamps and give-a-ways disappeared. Then the battery and water checks (mostly because cars got better). Then they couldn't pay or find good mechanics (cars got more complicated) and half the garage was used for snacks. Then no mechanics and so no more "free" air and the other half of the garage became the coffee bar. Outside service went totally away when cashiers had to be locked in a cage or became grocery managers. I remember when the Texaco across the street from Grandma's house gave away a Caddy every year. And that's when gas was 20¢ a gallon! Imagine paying for the security on that today.
Robert Shayne.
@Mark Draper . . . and nowadays if a vehicle has a problem with a radiator hose, fan belt, or tire; the current state of gas stations in the US are powerless to help.
@@bloqk16 true, but the clue is in the phrase "gas station" and not "service station."
@@markdraper3469 Aaahhh! (in a tone of delight) That's very astute of your awareness of semantics.
@@bloqk16 just reality.
This has to be a re-post. I watched this several months ago. It's an excellent production. It certainly makes one long for a more "civilized" time when pride was taken in ones job no matter how simple it was.
If you want it, be it
I worked in a similar station, same uniform, window spray and oil rag. We pumped gas, washed windows and checked oil for less than $2 an hour. After inflation, that's $14 in today's shrinking money! Less next week.....
I once took a special course at a trade school on how to be a service station attendant.
@@jimervin1637 It was Wood and Print Shop for me Jim, then I ended up pulling a trigger in a Gulf Station. We had to pump gas, show the driver the dip stick for oil level, check batteries and wash windows. Once in a while some big shot would toss me a quarter for a good job. That was a gallon of gas then... Funny...
Back then you could afford a house on a pump jockey’s salary. Lower cost of living and less wage disparity. Now if you pump gas for a living you can barely afford to rent.
I was lucky enough to see the end of all that as a small kid at least.
I'm an 80s kid so I got the tail end of it...gas tank and windshields. Still amazing to think about. Sadly we will never see these types of morals and values again.
And the gas station attendants never looked pissed off. Like some of these gas station owners from other countries. They always look mad at the world!
Best of days glad I grew up in those years. Worked at my uncles Esso station going through my High School years that was 72-76. Even then in the 70’s we performed the same services from gas, oil changes, tire repair/replacement to engine repair.
High School or Teenage kids today couldn't handle it. They can barely figure out how to use a windshield squeegee , let alone check the tire pressure, oil level, and other stuff service stations did back then.
Very rarely today would you find an employee capable of customer service let alone have knowledge of the products he sells.
Very rarely today would you find an employee who can string a sentence together!
@@seamusburke9101 I worked at a gas station 8 years ago. My training was 3 hours with someone who didnt speak my language. Probably have better luck if they trained people like this.
Cause he gets paid dog shit
I think rarely today would you find a company that would pay someone enough to support a family as the sole earner for this work let alone themselves. Let’s not pretend to be so stupid as to think there is something wrong with the younger generations and their ability to work now, it’s a disservice to your country and people as well your reputation.
And very rarely would you see a gas station employee who would be able to work one job at a gas station and have enough money to buy his own car, a house, raise his kids and send them to college, take a two week vacation in the summer, while having enough money to save up for his retirement. Nearly everyone in the 21st century is a temporary employer with a low wage job who is one missed paycheck away from financial ruin.
I like the way people talked back then..."Certainly" "Indeed"..."Surely"
Your attention to small details is where the heart is
Back when honesty was expected. Then greed changed all that.
I worked at one of those stations,22 years old and the mechanic for anything .😎
The last service station I remember was in Mayfield Kentucky in the early 90’s. It was called Working Man’s Friend.
A bit of history when the tire was inspected @21:50 . . . bias-plied tires of that era were prone to flats from broken glass. It makes me appreciate the steel-belted radial tires nowadays that are fairly resistant to such debris hazards.
I’ve had flats from glass on radial tires. Usually it came from driving through an area that had a recent car accident. Can’t always get all the glass up.
I remember my dad talking about flats in the 1950s. He said he actually had 3 flats driving from New York to Tennessee one time.
Bias ply, tubes and flaps.
Shhhh! Don’t tell people on this thread that today’s tires are better. Your take their little nostalgia pacifier away!
@@brianarbenz1329 It seems that you;re the one _whining._
Aaaaaah, the days when the customer was the customer and not the product. Remember this old saying. "The customer is always right." ? haha
And the customer is King no more.
With most people being cynical in today’s consumer driven world most people would think “oh yeah,sure I need a new tyre/wiper blade/oil change, just another sales pitch” and not accept that most of these salesmen were treating you as they wanted to be treated, no, nowadays we would wonder how many others have been ripped of by these guys, and a lot of “woke” people would complain about equality in race/gender/politics etc etc etc.
@@allandavis8201 Yeah, and those same cynical "woke" customers only service their vehicles if they get around to it because they're soooo busy blogging or some other thing they think is important. Then when it blows up, they'll bitch and blame it on everyone and everything except themselves. Because we all know that "Wokes know everything".
@@markhull1366 I know the people that you’re talking about but they’re less common than you think. Most people would refuse a full service offer like this nowadays because it’s true, companies are usually just pitching to the customers because the customers are now the product.
@@818deadboys I would like to think you're right about that, but it sure seem that the "wokism" has spread as fast than the covid has.
I remember those days when they washed your windshield, even if you were just getting a couple gallons of gas. I never saw them clean the headlights as they did in this film. We had a Standard service station down the block from where I grew up in the 60s and 70s. The bathrooms were always clean. There was a small waiting room with vending machines and free road maps. They had local maps, county maps and state maps. They also had free STP stickers and matches. That gas station was razed in 2002 and it's been a dirt lot ever since.
In 2006, I was lucky enough to run into this exact kind of Gas Service Station, my eyes lid up like the 4th of July; I believe it was a Chevron, it was next to Sea World in San Diego, California. It sure was nice to see the employees dressed so nice in these same kind of uniform 😊.
Your eyes lid up???
Those were the days...gone forever!
Those services and others still exist plenty, the same as they did back in the day and just like back in the day, only some can afford them. Although I imagine they don't tend to discriminate as much anymore either...
i worked in a service station in the 1970s, we still gave full service like you saw in this movie.
Counting back the change for a customer ( 16 m in ) is something I learnt at my first job at a Fina petrol station in the UK in the early 1970s !. Nowadays many rely on the cash machine to tell them what the change should be. No wonder stores have to shut when the computers fail.
"Service with a smile". Windshield cleaned, oil level checked, belts checked, etc. All without having to ask ! Ancient history now. Sad.
Maybe not. I bet it could make a comeback.
Now if you smile, you maybe harassing and if you don't smile you maybe racist and if you touch anything on that car you end-up liable if anything happens after they leave
Back then pump jockeys could afford houses too. Now the one person at the gas station can’t afford to pay their rent.
I'm old enough to remember when service stations were the standard (no pun intended). I worked at a couple full-service Chevron stations when I was a teenager and it was just like this. Of course, back then we all got "service with a smile" because both customer and server treated each other with mutual respect. Ask any service-oriented employee how that's going now -- especially food service and flight attendants -- and you can understand why no one wants to work service positions anymore. It's just not worth having to deal with assholes and self-serving narcissists with delusions of grandeur who aren't happy unless they're pissed or bullying people. I'd like to see this make a comeback but in today's social and political climate I don't expect it will anytime soon -- especially since smart phone technology continues to allow humans the ability to sound off to anyone we want in any WAY we want without any face-to-face interaction whatsoever. We're losing the "civil-" in "civilization," much to our peril.
@@thejollyrancher6713 that’s what I was thinking, how did they keep 3 or 4 full time guys, those days had security that let you sleep at night
"You carry 26 pounds in the tire?" "How dare you young man, it's just this coat that looks a bit bulky ".
If it was a 15" wheel, I'd say that 35 pounds of air would be better. If it was 14", maybe you could get away with less.
LOL
"Young man, would you show me the dipstick please?"
Today it could be 26 lbs of drugs in the tire, especially the spare.
@@mykelbaurle5758I thought that was only with a fillup.
Took me back to the 70s when we had a Chevron full service station, except for the bow ties
I remember my dad would fill up at ATLANTIC RICHFIELD on South 6th & 22nd St. In Tucson, Az. back in the 1960's..
My line of work after school and during school summer vacations in the late 60's and all for the fabulous sum of $1 an hour. Hey, when a coke and a hamburger set you back 45 cents it wasn't bad money for a 16 year old. Still get a laugh remembering teenagers pulling up in their VW Beetles, getting a bucks worth of gas and driving around all night on it.
A different time & a different planet!
I REMEMBER SEEING THIS KIND OF GAS STATION WHEN I WAS GROWING UP IT WAS FUN TO WATCH HOW THE GAS STATION WORKERS WORKED AT THE GAS STATION
I was a “pump” jockey in high school. One of the last full service stations I have ever seen. Worked for a local Standard station. I made an extra 5 cents for every can of oil I would sell. Washed the windshield on all the cars. I STILL use the same “special” technique when washing my windows still 40 years later. ❤. I would even get tips sometime. I wish there were still full service stations. I would actually use them!
Service with a smile. Those must've been the days
back then you had a fav station now which ever is the cheapest
I remember Mom and Dad always buying Shell gas because "The car ran better" on that brand.
So true I prefer Chevron gas because of the techron, but it's always is so expensive, so I looked for cheaper, fast trips here in Bakersfield. Now Small engines that's another story
Always pick Gulf .
My money goes to Shell and Mobil
When I ran stock cars on the high banks of Leb Valley and at Accord Speedway NY ,(street stocks to be exact )do to our comp ratio we did nt run the racing fuel straight .I mixed it with pump gas 50 / 50 and ran hot laps with several brands.Gulf was by far the quickest followed by Sunoco and Mobil cut the slowest lap times . Plus my bike run s the best on Gulf Premium .
"Do you carry 26 pounds in your tires?" Most drivers today wouldn't have a clue what he meant. If a station operated like this today they would definitely get all my business.
@happyjack880 Just a silly question when was the last time you went to service station that had a "Full-Service" pump island. Generally speaking "Full Service" at gas station ended at most stations except New Jersey that had laws prohibiting "Self-Service" in the late 1980's. I got a job at a Service Station pumping gas when I was 15 in 1981 and continued to work their part time a couple days a week until I was 21. During that time I watched the business model change not because the owner wanted to but because he had to stay in business. When I started their 90 percent of the gas pumped their was from the "Full-Service" lanes and 5 years later only 5 percent of the gas pumped was from the 1 remaining "Full-Service" lane that only operated from 7 in the morning to 6 in the evening and by the last year I worked their there was no "Full-Service" lane instead one of us who wrote service and acted as a traffic cop because people seemed to forget how to drive around gas station pump islands for long time customers of the station who had traditionally purchased "Full-Service" gasoline. The funny thing is the price difference between getting a car filled up at the "Full-Service" island at that station was about 24 cents per gallon or about $3.60 per 15 gallon fill up which meant the customer didn't have to get there hands, clothing, or shoes soiled or stinking of gasoline, their cars windshield washed, cars fluids, lights and tires checked, and in the morning a cup of coffee ( It wasn't Starburnt, just Maxwell House but it was fresh, hot, and free). Funny how people will give someone they don't know money without thinking twice but would not spend less than five bucks to have someone pump their gas, check their cars oil and tires once or maybe twice a week.
If I wheel into a station today that doesn't have some tattooed, facial-pierced idiot behind the counter then that is all it takes to make me a repeat customer...my how expectations have lowered.
I worked for pizzagoni's 76 gas station in 1979 . The service we gave everyone was this: I should point out that we wore a bowtie short sleeve button up light blue shirt with our name and the 76 Logo. So we greeted each customer and asked what type of fuel they wanted (we used to say,, filler up with regular or super) then as we filled the tank we would wash every single window, church tire pressure, add when needed, inform of worn tires, check oil, check transmission oil, power steering fluid, washer fluid, brake fluid, worn hoses or belts, condition of battery, and ask to empty an ashtray or trash bag. All in the span of 5 or so minutes. Minute man service was no joke, and it was fun.
Thinking about opening just this type place in KY. Oil check,air check,windshield cleaning. Total retro. I wonder if it would fly? No need to exit the vehicle,no touching gas pump handles.
Unfortunately that type of service has been extinguished completely if you'd like to create a business on that business model you'll find that is not supportive of a white man any longer I'm a white man and I have work for these companies for several years but times have changed and the white man is no longer viable in this industry
Will never get competent, courteous care like that again. I’m flabbergasted!🙏🇺🇸
Love these old classic videos. Im 63 . Good old Day
I always loved to fill up 57 Chevy's. The gas cap and fill spout behind that little door on the tail fins was really cool. Hated fender skirts though. A PITA to take off and put back on after a tire repair or change. Always caked with dried mud.
Dad sold a '56 210 but when the buyer went to fill up he couldn't find the cap lol. Dad wasn't @ hm so the buyers wife in a phone booth talkin' 2 me yelled to her husband as I explained where to look bhind the t'lite. @ 12 I felt like such a big shot
This video reminds me of the family of one of my high school friends who owned a Standard Oil station in the '70s. It was a double bay, full service station in the days before self serve. A few of us used to hang out there while he was working (by himself) in the evenings after school and help out a little in exchange for the use of a bay and lift if needed for one of our cars. Even though I didn't really work for the station I sometimes "pumped Ethyl" if a customer pulled up to the pumps while he was busy (those were the days of the "ding ding!" hoses to alert you to a customer pulling up to the pumps). Windshield wash was standard while the gas was pumping on a fill-up, or afterward if they asked for less, like only $2 worth. We'd also offer to check the oil, but most said no thanks. Almost all of the transactions were cash so you had to be able to make change. Credit cards existed but I don't remember very many using one. The station also did tires, brakes, wipers, belts, hoses, batteries, lights, oil changes, etc., but we didn't do the up-sell routine like they show in this video. Maybe the '50s were different, but by the '70s I think a lot of people would have found that irritating.
$2.00= about 8 gallons. Now-+$40.00! Yeah. We're a little pissed!
I remember standard and chevron I miss those days too Too much has changed in almost 62 years
That was the world to live in..........nice ppl....nice car....everything was nice....not to mention the music...
I worked as a pump jockey in a full service station in the early 60s made about $1.25 an hour plus tips which were hard to come by.
Same for me but it was in the early '70's while in High School.
Hell that was better than minimum. If memory serves $1.25 came around 1966-67.
For those paying attention at home, that would be $12/h today, almost twice the average wage of modern gas station attendants, with tips being rare. This is a perfect example of why so many Americans have fallen into poverty the last four decades. Wages have not grown to match cost of living in most professions needing less than a Master’s Degree, and in many non-college jobs wages are the same or lower than 30+ years ago. Factory jobs leaving the country is just the cherry on top of the economic disaster hollowing out the American worker from the inside.
@@donlove3741 Yes $1.25 back in the 1960's wasn't that bad. Heck by 1970 we were barely breaking the $2.00 mark....I got a 25 cents raise I thought I was on top of the world! lol
@@PorkChopJones Yes, I was making $2.02 an Hour, In 74,,,
I was 5 when this was filmed and remember the service. I can still smell the Windex they'd use on the windshield and remember how I would love to have a job like that one day. Dad would say NO to the underhood service as he wouldn't pay a couple extra cents for their oil.
Iam 70 now wish those stations were still around now look at the times we live in
It was a beautiful 57 Chevy Bel Air Convertible
I'd like to work at a gas station in them older days. Seems like a neet way to get up close and personal to those old cars.
I thought you were going to say get up close and personal to the ladies !!
Josh Johnson But they weren’t old cars then..they were the current cars..
@@squeezeaway I was more thinking, current year mentality and knowledge in the past
@@coachmen8508 nah. Women are a whole nother kinda close.
... wonder how many nice gas station attendants met their future wives while pumping gas for them. They were always so crisply dressed in those nifty attendant uniforms!
My generation caught the tail end of this in the late 60s/early 70s. In my college years in the mid-80s, I worked as a general manager of a Mobil station, which was all self-serve, unless the driver was handicapped/disabled, which then required me to serve as a pump jockey for them. I was shocked when I visited Oregon in the late 90s, where they’d made self-serve illegal in the state. I understand it was the same in New Jersey.
I remember when self-service became popular and I was fine with that. But, like you, I was very surprised several years later when I was traveling in another state and found that I was not supposed to pump my own gas.
I live next to Oregon & it was a “peoples initiative” a true form of democracy when the people have opportunity to overturn law passed by their government or vote in new law their govt is dragging their feet on (legal in 23 states) & the selling point for the Oregon law to mandate full service was the high unemployment among teenagers. Big Oil turned stations into self-service because it lowered the price of gas which is how it became so easily accepted. Oregon said bullshit and passed the peoples initiative forcing that one extra employee, a teenager generally, to pump the gas. As for higher gas prices??? Gas is cheaper in Oregon than it is in California or Washington State who took advantage of the lower price by increasing the tax. 46 years later it is still full service in Oregon but it’s only for gas. Everything else has turned into a high priced snack, beer & pop service station.
NJ is now looking at self service. On my travels on the East Coast I would enjoy my stops in NJ for gas and a clean windscreen
Yes I remember my grandfather getting this kind of service in New Jersey when I was a kid. I was a bit surprised since it was the early 80s
The last full service station I remember going to with my dad was about 1985. It was a small independent station near my house that looked then to have been there forever. Still Remember the ding ding bell, the guy with the change dispenser on his belt, having the windshield wiped clean and the oil checked. The station closed shortly after that.
i love that 1957 pontiac star chief, wish i still had it......
There was a real "Service station" in Mackie Road, East Bentleigh, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, where they checked your oil, coolant, washer fluid and cleaned your windows. You didn't have to tip as its not customary, but they charged more for gas. It survived up until about 2000. East Bentleigh was an elderly area, with people who bought their houses in the 40s living there, who were used to Service. Once they got too old to drive or passed away, the business couldn't cope.
Anymore now, it's rare to find air and water at a station and when you do they're usually not working.
At every station here always working, though of course here in South Africa it is full service only, so most people have absolutely no idea as to how to fill their car, or check the oil or fluids. Me, I always do it myself, as I had the training years ago, though have not filled aircraft in a long time, but still a habit to do your own car, plus service it a lot myself.
They're there but cost buck or two too use and you have to use them.
Or a $1.50 and only fills to 40 psi..
@@donlove3741 You can request to use air/water for them to turn on inside, they have to by law.
Now they charge Two dollars for air at least here in Northern California.
A favoriteTactic of some pump jockeys when checking oil was a maneuver known as short sticking. The maneuver is self explanatory and helped to move the oil.
A lot did that, but would make a show of showing you the can label, and taking it to the oil can punch in the middle of the island, carefully punching the 2 piercings into it, and then going to fill the engine, then show you the empty can and the now full dipstick. Then carefully place the can in the bin, because they needed it to look like new on the shelf when they went to select it. Sell the same can for at least 6 months, pocketing the money, or selling the other unused cans at a discount off the station, or filling the vehicles you had off the books for service.
Or cutting belts, and selling new ones.
@@40intrepid Or when inspecting the battery cells for electrolyte levels, to drop in a piece of Alka-Seltzer to neutralize the battery acid and shorten the battery's life; it made for a battery sale in the near future.
@Martin Jones if you mint Commission on some things.
@@bloqk16 o.O
The 50s, those were the days.
My grandfather thought like this! God I miss him!
Imagine if today we still had a pit crew every time we pulled into a station!..DING DING..out comes the crew!..wish I had a warehouse full of those cars today...and $6.18 for a fill up and oil change..
@@ForzaJersey Not sure I understand, ha! It only cost the guy $6.18 to fill up his entire tank, check the oil and water (and perhaps add to it)... perhaps w/ the earnings in those days it's all the same, but we sure don't get that kind of service today.
The customers preferred the cheaper self service
@Allis Chalmers Quick change oil, you place a suction tube in the dipstick, and suck out the old oil. then add fresh, and leave the old filter in place. New oil, same old filter, because to change the filter is a few minutes more labour.
SeanBZA The suck oil out of the "crankcase" and dump in 4 or 5 quarts of oil was a common practice back then. Remember cars had carburetors and for the most part were jetted to run rather "rich" which along with the "choke" on the carburetor that were set kind of tight caused the oil to become fuel contaminated fairly quickly even if the car was allowed to run for at least an hour between shutdowns because engine did not have PCV systems, and ran 165 to 180 degree thermostats which meant that average operating engine temperature was below 185 degrees. Lastly engine oil were straight weights and had lots of paraffin in them (Note the comment by the Service Station Attendant your engine is fully warmed up so the oil will flow freely and it's been 1400 miles since your last oil change). Back then oil change not filter change (if the engine was equipped with one) had pretty short service intervals, normally it was lubricant the chassis and change the oil filter every other oil change in the 1950's which was a lot longer than vehicles made prior to WWII had much more intensive service intervals for example most were supposed have there chassis lubricated every 500 miles and some even more often. People need to remember that they should not judge standard and acceptable practices of the past by today's standards. StaySafe StayHealthy and Have a nice day.
@@gullreefclub I know, monograde oil, earlyAPI scpecifications and thus a really short oil change interval. Yes, I have lots of tales from my father, who ran a dealership in the era between 1947 and 1966, of the short service intervals, and had plenty of vehicles and mine machinery with a 1000 hour/ 2000 mile service interval, which included lapping valves, adjusting valve train and decoking the engine as a standard thing, basically every second oil change. Especially for the copper mine, where each heavy vehicle would have a monthly service schedule, and a quarterly overhaul, because they were run pretty much 27/6 in the mine. He was fond of Fargo, because the service kit for the decoke was almost entirely a load of assorted copper crush washers, defining all the galleys in the head, and easy to do in an afternoon. He dreaded the Merlin engines, as those he typically had to swap in the service spare engines, and spend up to a week doing the rebuild. He celebrated when they were finally scrapped, and the new bulldozer that came as the first had the job to dig a big pit to bury them, as scrapping them was not economical, rail freight would cost too much for the value of the steel. The other way the train ran near empty, so they could get the new ones in ultra cheap, but to scrap it you would lose copper carrying capacity. He had fond memories fetching a specialised mine vehicle, which came as a RORO cargo to the closest port, Lourenço Marques, and which took him 2 weeks to drive up, as it was moving at basically walking pace, and it was basically a pair of diesel electric locomotives with road wheels. Manual on the seat, saying "Read me fully before starting" which had full instructions as how to drive, how to service and what to check every hour. Another half was devoted to dismantling it to be shipped back to the USA, as it was meant to be returned after delivery, another 2 week trip, but at least it was a lot faster and lighter, and had a lot less wheels on the road, plus he did not have to wait for power lines and phone lines to be cut down as he passed, though he was still limited on many bridges.
Last time I had this type of service was in 1992 in Tampa, FL. The station owner was 78 years old. They did all this, plus had an ace mechanic who ran the service bays (Tim) where we had all major repairs and overhauls done on our 13 cars. Their overnight attendant would even sell and install a new tire at 3am if you needed it, or do a repair using their complete stock of belts, hoses, fuses, bulbs, filters, batteries, tires, etc. It all ended later that year when the man sold the station to a corporation who remodeled the service bays into a venue for selling vice: cigarettes and lottery tickets and junk food. They still sold gas if you pump it yourself, but there were no parts or service of any kind at any hour of the day, other than an attendant inside taking money. Tim moved to pep boys and we followed him but we quit him soon after because the boys didn't have the good quality parts and didn't let him spend the time required, and Tim was always unhappy there, like his world had ended.
Belts, hoses, fuses, bulbs, filters, batteries and tires for every make, model and year of car on the road? Way too much inventory to be profitable anymore. Back then all you had to worry about is whether it was a Chevy, Ford or Dodge - and even then they likely took the same parts.
Not exactly but the numbers of service parts were considerably less, due to simpler vehicles and more interchangeability.
Incredible service. This actually should be required watching for all service industries today. There just are not enough young workers around to have this kind of service today. Back then the society was very young with loads of young people looking for jobs like this. Not so today. Aging population. Of course today I can go into any gas station just about and buy all kind of Mac and drinks and have a nice clean restroom. Back than the service stations had a coup drinks and a couple snacks and that was it! Some mart person figured that out.
10:20 Wow, that's Michael Emmett playing the instructor! He starred in two classic '50s thrillers: "Night of the Blood Beast" (1958) and "Attach of the Giant Leeches" (1959). Never knew he did this film.
I remember in the late 80s they still had service stations that had the bell chord on the floor telling the attendant that a car pulled into the station and they still came out to fill the tank up at least. That ended when self-service became the norm in the 90s.
There are Standard stations still to be found in the US. There's one in Las Vegas, Nevada; and one in San Francisco. From what I've been told, because of trademark legalities, if Chevron wants to hold onto the Standard name trademark within the Chevron corporation, it has to operate a minimum amount of gas stations with the Standard name/logo to be in compliance with the US trademark regulations. Failure to do so could subject the Standard name to trademark abandonment status. It bowled me over when I saw the Standard name with the Chevron logo, as I had not previously seen that combination in decades.
ahhh , the good ole days...
Nothing is perfect, but this is fascinating for sure.
The part where the attendant shows the lady that she is low on oil reminds me of the attendant at the Chevron station where I used to live. He wiped the dipstick to show a lower level because i checked it the day before. I told him not to add any and when I got home I double checked the level and it was full.
It’s mind boggling that businesses can’t see the potential to bring love back
To provide the labor costs for the paycheck of who knows how many people per day costs much more than it did back then. And same goes for the car washing industry, which most are self-service or automated for the most part since having 3 or 4 guys washing a car for $5 isn't profitable. They're going to have to charge much more now for the same thing and it isn't guaranteed people would be willing to pay all that much for that kind of service.
@@GeneralLiuofBoston1911 The airline industry is a good example of why it won't happen. You watch old videos of air travel in the 50s and 60s, and the comments are full of people bitching that you don't get that kind of service anymore. Tell them they can if they fly 1st or business class, and they'll say it's too much money. They want 1st class service for the same seat prices as if they took the damn bus.
@@almostfm I'm in much agreement. I don't think most people understand they need to pay a premium price to get premium service because at that point, the people working for gas stations nowadays might as well be mechanic shops - oh wait, some actually are like that. But cost is still there and people love to spend as much for as cheap as possible.
We have a gas station in town that offers free air, vacuuming and trash containers. This station does 10 x the business other stations do, and they’ve just added their 4th location. Smart people.
@@GeneralLiuofBoston1911 And today they would also have to cover health insurance for the employees.
Narration by the late, great Mike Wallace!
I love where the gas cap is hidden. Cool!
On 1956 and 1957 Chevrolet cars
Unfortunately, nowadays most people would be upset it took so long. All that service is great but everyone is in too much of a hurry now.
Ther was a chevron station down the street where I grew up us kids would hang around, thats when they had air and water and you'd run over the hose to ring the bell ......gawd how. I wanna. Go back😪
They really did all this, I remember it.
Had a few of these jobs as a teenager. Never saw a Mercury Montclair with an Olds engine, though. We pushed cigarettes too, major brands on the isle, rest inside.This service brought in lots of customers in an era when everyone smoked. Customers EXPECTED fast and prompt service, and we got tips in bad weather and unusual circumstances. It was great work, and you made friends with most of the regulars. There is no profit in gasoline, so money was made on service and repairs. Cigarettes and oil made profit on the drive. Don't remember ever offering to tighten body bolts, though
Very observant on that engine, obviously a different car. Never heard of tightening body bolts either. That would be a Model A Ford kind of job.
They couldn't afford a continuity checker.
It was such a nice business concept, in an age when cars and trucks were simpler and more amenable to it. There are still stations with garages, but the customer has to ask. Maybe that is for the good, because there were perennial problems with unscrupulous stations that would try to sell unneeded things and attendants that would go along with it for fear of losing their jobs.
Yes. I think that's one of the reasons they did away with full service-too many problems with sabotage of belts, etc and just straight up lying about needing a new this or that. They would especially prey upon women who, face it, simply knew less about cars. Also, I remember my dad wouldn't let them check under the hood. Word was getting around. Real shame, though. Done honestly it was a great form of customer service.
Its hard to believe there was actually a time like that in America.
The late 1950s was the best time for cars restaurants and all businesses it was 100% customer service
What planet is this? Oh that's right this used to be America. And I'll take the Supreme fuel with 110 octane please.
No ethanol!
With the full load of Midgely's Tetra-ethyl lead as well, none of this rubbish lead replacement, you wanted the exhaust to be nicely furred white after every ride.
@John Beidleman Sunoco Dail a octane in the 60' early 70' went past 110 octane some engines in the 60's such as the 426 Race Hemi 12 1/2 compression ratio and the Max Wedge before that also some 50's early 60's had sodium cooled exhaust valves so high octane wouldn't burn them. I had a 354 Hemi factory 2 4 barrels and sodium exhaust valves.
@John Beidleman I'm and old person when I was a kid in the late 60' regular off brand was 96 octane and American unleaded premium was 105 white gas which was the lowest octane for premium fuel I myself have bought 115 octane Union 76 fuel in the 90's my 343 SST ambassador loved it.
@John Beidleman you get better mileage.
This was a good job back then. Now, being a mechanic or technician is frowned upon.
You know why because NOWADAYS mechanics and technicians SCAM PPL!
As opposed to the idiots being turned out by university now.
@@edgardovilla199 lol 😂
My wife and I pulled into an older service station in Humbolt County a few years back, the attendant came out filled up the gas, washed our windshield and asked to check the oil. I was so pleased I left the attendant a $20.00 dollar tip. The only thing that was missed was the air hose that rung the bell when driven over.
Before my time , but if they had stations like this now I'd be there!
Customers preferred cheaper gas. That's why full service went away. At today's prices, a fill up would probably cost $5 -$10 extra. That's if you don't get short sticked on the oil check.
Now I finally learn the secret behind these good condition barn finds! In the early 70's, I remember one Chevron or Shell station in New Hampshire giving this full type of service. I'm guessing it all stopped sometime in the mid or late 1970's? That's when I seemed to notice it.
The customer is not always right. But the customer is always the customer. Customers make paydays possible
I remember when I was riding with my parent's full service station fill your tank and check the air and oil while the gas was pumping. I started driving right at the end of full service station. My friend's used to work at them but they were very few this was in the early 1980s. My Pop's flip his top when they charge for air and water.
Sinclair, Leonard, White Rose, Fargo, Phillips 66 are some of the stations I remember in Michigan
Today you cant find someone who can make change unless the register tells them the amount .I started out in Strassers Esso Station in Darien Conn in 1969 and we had a wooden cash register with a handle you pulled back ,non electric.Man I d go back in time to the 50 s or 60 s without question !
14:40 "That attention to detail lets the customer know you're interested in his money-- I mean safety."
I wish I could go back in time.
Ahhh Yes ! Back in the FULL SERVICE days when I was a kid. I'd crack the window & INHALE those gas fumes . Smells soooo good ! 😂🤣😂🤣😂
I think if someone opened a Vintage Style Gas Station with this type Service it would be successful...