Wednesday, July 11, 2012

What, Another Friday the 13TH,,,,,,?

I was surprised when I saw that Friday was the 13TH.  Seems to me we just had one of those, or maybe it's just my imagination. It doesn’t matter much to me, I’m not very superstitious.  I always like to turn it around and say that 13 is a lucky number and Friday the 13TH is my lucky day.
Of course anymore, every morning I can get out of bed and walk and talk, I figure it's my lucky day! It seems the older you get the more you appreciate each and every day. We go for a hike out in the park every morning and I often tell  Ms. Pat “It’s good to be Alive!” AMEN.

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I ran a picture of this is my Blog several years ago, but my neighbor has had it all painted up like new so I thought I would put it up again. Since he is retired from owning his own Oil Company, he has an old Gas Pump and a Bulk Delivery Tank on display in his front yard.  It really takes my eye and brings back many memories.  I wonder if any of you can remember when a Gas Pump like this was actually in use…. I know I sure can but I also know that not many of you are as old as I am!

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When I was a kid, there were a lot of these gas pumps in use at "filling stations" in town.  I will admit they were soon phased out and replaced by newer electric pumps but these pumps were neat. They were not electric in any way. You had to pump a handle on the side which pumped gas up into the glass chamber at the top. There were numbers telling you how many gallons you had pumped. Then you took the hose and gravity ran the gas into your vehicle. I believe the price of gas was somewhere around 0.19 to 0.20 cents per gallon.  Unbelievable isn’t it?

Back in those days it was unheard of to pump your own gas.  It was always done by the station attendant.  He also would wash the windshield, check the tire pressure, the radiator and anything else you wanted done.  We’ll never see those days again!! But I love seeing this old pump every time I drive in our driveway…….. more memories of the past..

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Kent and Peggy, fellow Foretravel owners, stopped by to meet us yesterday afternoon. They were visiting and enjoying the wonderful Black Hills and were staying at a campground not far away. The Foretravel Owners Forum let them know we lived in the area, so they gave us a call and stopped by. They are from the Oklahoma City area and have their house up for sale and planning to travel and see some of this great USA.  It was so good to meet them and we also enjoyed their beautiful dog "Trip". Thanks for stopping by folks...enjoy the Black Hills and travel safe.  We will see you down the road.

It is a GREAT WEEK!!!!

We continue to have our daily "rain dances" but they don’t seem to be working. That little 6/10 of rain we had a week ago is the last we have had and it's getting dry again.  So please send some rain our way....and keep "dancing".  We get a few threats but it seems to always go around…… 

Thanks for stopping by and come on back Sunday……we’ll see what kind of foolishness we can drum up.

Travel Safe!

Mike

This Blog is Published every Wednesday and Sunday..

10 comments:

Jerry and Suzy said...

Before I realized it was a manually pumped pump, I was ready to jump aboard. When I was a kid, a nearby station had the glass top pumps, but I suspect they were electric. No, I'm not quite as old as you, Mike, but I'm gaining on you. Just a few years back we toured Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks. On one drive way back into the end of the world there was a station (much needed by the time we got there!) that had a glass top pump like that, but electric, of course. We paid an arm and a leg for the gas, you can be sure!

Anonymous said...

Always enjoy your blog. Hope to visit there someday. I saw that the Taco Soup recipe was requested & living in the northeast, I would also like to have it. Something different here, if not too much trouble. THANKS!
Elaine

Sue and Doug said...

gas at 19 cents a gallon?..can you imagine?..great post today Mike..love the old pump..not that I was alive way back when!..have a lovely day..a good day above ground is indeed a lucky day!!!

Rod Ivers said...

I can't see in the picture if the handle is still on the pump to fill the glass. When I was a kid, we did have a few old stations with these pumps, but mostly they were closed up.

But remember how they had to have glass viewing windows on the first electric pumps with a vane like fan inside that went around, so people could actually see the gas being pumped into their tank? A carry over from being able to see the 10 gallons in the glass run down the hose and into your car, I'm sure...

And yes I remember paying 19 cents a gallon...

Rod

Paul and Marsha Weaver OCT. 17, 2009 said...

I remember seeing a pump like that down on my dad's farm. What a great looking gas pump.

I didn't mind someone pumping my gas, especially on rainy and COLD days ;)

Janna and Mike said...

When I call Mike's Dad Nat (90 yrs old) in the mornings and say, "how are you Nat?" He says, "made it through another night!" I say, "that's a good thing when you are 90 years old!!"

Al Bossence said...

Every Friday the 13th is a big day in southern Ontario for motorcycle people. It means the gathering of bikers for the whole day in a little town called Port Dover on Lake Erie. Kelly & I rode down a couple times years ago but probably won't go again, Thousands upon thousands of people & that's just too many humanoids in one spot for me now. I remember seeing those glass gas pumps but don't recall ever using one. I do remember .25 a gallon. Went to Sarasota Florida in my 61 VW Beetle for about %17 one time....

Sharon Del Rosario said...

We like Friday the 13th as we got married on one! Can't remember those gas pumps in operation but have definitely seen them in old gas stations before they were removed. And I paid $.25 per gal for gas in my first car (high school).

Anonymous said...

Howdy Pat & Mike,
In my youth we traded at Gus Schultz's gas station out in the county, who had a self service pump like your neighbor's.. At 9 or 10 y.o. I'd be allowed to fill the tank
in the car from the pump.. Yes, I can remember how hard the lever-handle was to swing back and forth and it seemed the gasoline only trickled into that cylinder.. When it hit the 10 gallon mark I could rest and let it run into the tank.
After filling the tank, which took 16 gallons, I ws allowed to get an ice-cold RC cola from the red Coke
Cola box full of crushed ice; IT WAS SO GOOD!!!
Thanks, for the memories!!
Sure hope you get a 'frog-strangler'!!!
butterbean carpenter

Elaine said...

can't say I remember those pumps while they were still in use..(does that make me a kid?)....but I have seen them in museums..I do remember being able to put 2.00 worth of gas in Dad's car and drive around all evening without the needle hardly moving...(so there that does tell my age :)