Gas Station Memorabilia

Take a drive down memory lane with this rare collection of gasoline station photographs from both public and private collections, touring a much simpler time in American history. Since its inception in the early 1900s, the service station has been an icon of the American roadside and a catalyst of our childhood memories. Included is a brief history of the development of the gasoline station in the United States and details about many of the companies which punctuated the roadsides with their buildings, including the Standard companies, Cities, Mobil, Phillips, Gulf, Shell, Texaco, and Conoco. Filled with over 500 black and white photos, Roadside Memories captures the essence of American life over the first seventy years of this century. Captions provide station location and era identification. These nostalgic photos aid both the collector and historian interested filling up on high-grade service station pumps, classic advertising, architecture, and classic automobiles of the 1920s-70s.

From the curbside gas pumps of the 1920s, to the full-service, uniformed attendants of the 1930s-50s, to today's self-service stations, Witzel thoroughly educates the reader about the history of a little considered, but important need for the motoring public. The text is well written and traces the gas station's history chronologically, while the illustrations provide the reader with a poignant reminder of a time when many things in life were much simpler. -- Vette Magazine - Book of the Month, September 1997 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

The most significant features of our landscape are often invisible to us. For example: how often have you wondered about the evolution of the gas station? How many gas stations are there in the U.S.? Are gas stations increasing or decreasing in number? What do Bauhaus and feminism have to do with gas station architecture?

Whether or not these questions have kept you awake at night (or been asked of you during job interviews), this delightful hybrid between architectural history, economics, pop-culture studies, and geography will give you unexpected insights into one of the more important components of the American landscape. Illustrated with more than 150 maps, photos, and drawings, and highly recommended. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Tom Clark's collection of short fiction, The Last Gas Station, is in two contrasting parts. It opens with 23 very short prose pieces amusingly surreal California vignettes, some no longer than a page, peopled by denim-clad cowgirls, itinerant lover boys, Martin Heidegger, Boris Pasternak, Muslim college students, Vietnam vets, Ty Cobb, Ted Berrigan, and a great dinosaur poet of the Jurassic period. These are followed by the novella "Incident at Basecamp," an odd matter-of-fact account of a close encounter between a young married couple and a spindly, three-toed, mind-reading extraterrestrial somewhere deep in the Rocky Mountain wilderness.

"Clark is versatile," wrote the Los Angeles Times; he's "a poet turned sportswriter turned novelist" whose range is brilliantly showcased by this substantial collection. The opening sketches are playful and delightful, but "in the tradition of 'biggest is best,' The Last Gas Station closes with a wallop: 'Incident at Basecamp' [is] a sturdy science-fiction novelette."

Move Star and Rock 'n Roller, Big John Burns, is an original but could easily be mistaken for "The King." Along the 'Mother Road," Rte.66, in Cuervo, N.M. to fill his 1000 gallon tanker with high octane fuel at literally, The LAST GAS Station on Earth, John is challenged by other-worldly "Trophy" with a bet that will steal the world's history! Amidst classic cars, hotrods, and good old fashioned Rock'n Roll, this is an action adventure and romance with a Sci-Fi twist with characters like Chilly Pepper, Toodiefor, Stangy, Hotshot, Brody, Chino and others that will test your trivia sense. As you read this movie bound story, see if you can guess the songs and the artists.
"This is the book that made this writer an author! Great style and a great story." Well known Agent / Editor

Tomorrow, soldier. by Paul F. F. Hood is an autobiographical novel in four parts: Part One, subtitled Gun Oil; Part Two, subtitled Perfect Proposal; Part Three, subtitled Himmler's Gas Station; and Part Four, subtitled Return of the 8017 Elite SS. The novel, set from the end of World War II through the onset of the Cold War until the beginning of the Korean War, chronicles one soldier's ongoing quest for a "normal" life. Instead, Paul F. Barker, an army Staff Sergeant, finds himself in the midst of a characteristically abnormal world in-between-the-wars. He struggles with the trauma of surviving and remembering wartime horrors as well as the effects of global espionage on his friendships, intimate relationships, and business dealings. There is nothing "normal" here, nothing is as it seems, not even Marlene Dietrich.

B. J. Summers and Wayne Priddy's Value Guide To Gas Station Memorabilia appears in its updated second edition to provide the latest values to signs, cans, maps and more from vintage gas station days. Bright medium-sized color photos throughout compliment chapters conveniently organized by memorabilia type - signs, containers, thermometers, even pumps and globes - to make for quick, easy browsing and reference. -Midwest Book Review

The corner gas station -- every town had one where kids could buy soda, town folks could shoot the breeze and every fill came with a free window washing. In this handy Warman's reference, well-versed enthusiasts and fans of anything petroliana get the most comprehensive guide to gas station collectibles on the market.

This full-color reference features more than 2,000 spectacular images and chapters devoted to gas pumps, globes, oilcans and related advertising signs, containers, and filling station signs from Mobil, Standard, Texaco, Sky Chief and more. Descriptions and prices, fake and reproduction information, and an interview with one of the world's leading collector, Oakland Raiders quarterback, Rich Gannon make this the essential guide for any collector.

-2,000+ full-color photos for easy identification

-Details on fakes and reproductions help collectors avoid costly errors

-Current prices offer enthusiasts a clear picture of today's market