Who remembers these old gas pumps with the rolling numbers?
Posted by MikeDavJ@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 282 comments
This is one of two of these old gas pumps located at Wolfe’s General Store in Slate Run, Pa. Both of which are still in use. It is nostalgic to watch the numbers go around as you pump.
JaysGoneBy@reddit
I remember them from before they had to have the 'Pay First' sign
plantsoldier@reddit
They still exist to this day. Last one I used was less than a year ago in Hyampom, CA. The mostly still exist in small, rural towns where there is literally only a few hundred people in the town.
Example I used is in Northern CA and has a population around 230-250 people.
There is the gas station/convenience store and next to it is the bar/restaurant. There are no other standalone businesses in town as it's a combo weed/agriculture town in the valley of the Trinity Mountains which are part of the Klamath Mountain Range in the largest/poorest county in CA.
moxiemoon@reddit
My first job was at a gas station like this in a small town in Iowa, only it was before they had to prepay and it was a trust system where they paid after pumping. Gas was 89 cents for years. My first day actually, someone drove off with the pump in their car and gas spilled everywhere. The manager sent my 16 year old ass out to the parking lot with a broom and some clay kitty litter to clean it up. The stains never came out of my new leather K-Swiss shoes 😭
Had to go out and read the dials on the pumps every night and reconcile them with the sales on the console. The console would beep when someone lifted the thing to start the pump and I just had to try to remember who was who when they came in or they’d tell me the pump number. Had several drive offs over the years; had one guy get mad when I didn’t start the pump but he hadn’t lifted the handle and he just kept angrily motioning at me until I went out and lifted it. He was still so mad that he came in and pissed all over the men’s room.
From time to time we had to open the manhole covers and take these huge wooden sticks and “dip the tanks” to see how much gas and water was in there.
This was before debit cards and price scanners and I also had to manually type in prices from the tags on everything, and if they didn’t pay cash I used an old school swipe credit card machine. If it didn’t read I had to use one of those machines that swiped over the card and made carbon copy imprints of the card.
All while fending off underage guys from school trying to sweet talk me into selling them cigarettes, mopping up mud on weekends from the hunter guys that came in to buy mug refills of coffee, cans of Skoal wintergreen and shotgun or rifle shells (yes we sold ammo too); bagging ice by hand and stocking the cooler; taking in and sorting dirty stinky empty cans and bottles for deposit refunds/recycling; and constantly making coffee. One winter, my boss and I literally got snowed in and we slept in the back room on beds made with mop heads until the plows came in the morning.
Man, those were the days.
goombatch@reddit
My first job too, but at an run-down old station in a wealthy suburb. Prices were higher than any other place around, locals wouldn't shop there. It was a busy route into the main city, so mostly out-of-town folks bought gas there. I learned a whole lot of not-so-wholesome things working there from age 14.
Jagerhall@reddit
I remember running over the bell hose and the gas station attendant came out and pumped the gas, cleaned the windshield and checked the oil.
goombatch@reddit
My summer job in the mid 1980s!
Ok-Form-8646@reddit
Mine also checked the water.
SportyMcDuff@reddit
Also had free air on the pump islands.
goombatch@reddit
I worked at a gas station when I was underage in the 1980s. On the weekends, the mechanics and some other guys who worked there would come in on my shift and pay me to look the other way... they would then disconnect the meter on a Super Unleaded pump and fill their cars. The owner would stick his tank every month and try to figure out why he was always about a 100 gallons short. There were other scams at that place, many of them perpetrated by the son of the owner.
FotoFanatic44@reddit
This image brings me back to the 70’s with my Father teaching me how to use one of these pumps to refuel the family Plymouth Satellite with the fuel tank behind the rear license plate.
Trojan20-0-0@reddit
They still exist today.
OLovah@reddit
I started driving in '92. My first solo fill up was .88/gallon and the total was $8.88. (in an 'Chevy Sprint, coincidentally.) My BFF was with me and she yelled, "WHY DIDN'T YOU FILL IT ALL THE WAY UP!?!" I DID!! It was just that little and only needed 10 gallons.
Clink72@reddit
I still use 1
heliskinki@reddit
I used to use them every weekend as a part time pump attendant.
Those numbers were hypnotic, especially when baked.
Wayne1616@reddit
And gas back then was .99 a gallon
lhoyle0217@reddit
I still use one!
Sasselhoff@reddit
Filled up on one quite literally yesterday. Gotta love rural Appalachia.
Lexfu@reddit
Still have them
lord_scuttlebutt@reddit
Ooh, I actually used one in very rural Alabama a few months ago. I was shocked that the pumps were active and working.
Xavelle@reddit
I was about to say the same. The store down the road from my house has these type pumps. Very rural Alabama.
mechant_papa@reddit
I remember the sounds. The clunk as you switched on the pump after taking the hose off the hook. The hollow sound as you inserted the nozzle in the gas inlet. The mechanical clicking as the numbers turned. The rythmic hum of the pump. The rythmic dings as the gas flowed . The snap as you released the handle and stopped pumping. The clunk as you turned off the pump. The rattling as you put back the hose .
Few-Conversation6979@reddit
Over the years the numbers rolled faster with rising prices.
LaVida2@reddit
r/FuckImOld
FormerCollegeDJ@reddit
Raises hand
I also remember when leaded gasoline was sold and displayed on the stations’ signs.
Interesting_Home_128@reddit
To this day I still have to check to make sure I am not pumping "regular" gas.
penguin_stomper@reddit
I had to stop for gas in NJ a few years ago. Told the guy to fill it with unleaded. Maybe the 3rd time in my life (last time was around 1993) ever using full serve, saying that was just reflex from what I saw my parents do when I was a kid.
cnation01@reddit
Station up near my hunting camp still has this type of pump.
no_crust_buster@reddit
Same with me. Not too many of them left. Almost like finding a telephone booth.
Ambitious-Ocelot8036@reddit
At the parkway gas station where I worked we would "hang" the pump at 0.99 when someone bought $1.00 worth and not shut it off. We'd direct the next caddy or Lincoln to that pump and pocket the dollar.
Tech-Mechanic@reddit
Back when it was worth your time to steal a dollar, haa.
Ok-Form-8646@reddit
When a dollar bought 4 packs of cigarettes.
Open_Mortgage_4645@reddit
I remember not paying until after I pumped my gas. They got rid of that shit almost as soon as credit cards became widespread.
dawa43@reddit
Back when the price of gas didn't change twice a day
Muted-Garden500@reddit
It did during the embargo in the 70s. If you could get it. Diff places had diff systems. Last letter of your plate A thru M got gas on certain days. N thru Z got it the other days. Was a wild time.
SuitablyFakeUsername@reddit
The old pumps could only accommodate gas prices below $1.00 a gallon.
I was fortunate to grow up on a ranch where we had our own tanks of gas and diesel. I didn’t have to pay anything but prying the key out of my dad’s tight fist took some effort, being the bipolar CPA that he was.
mb-driver20@reddit
Not true. There’s an old station in our town that still has pumps like that. He sells gas, cigarettes and rents U-Haul trucks.
SuitablyFakeUsername@reddit
Just because the one pump in your town that you have seen could accommodate prices over $1.00, does not make my statement untrue.
Gas did not break $1/gallon until the late 70s. Before that, there was no dollar dial spinning.
OddbitTwiddler@reddit
I recall a trip to Alaska in '74 diring the oil crisis, in canada the pumps could not price over 1/gal so you paid double the price and the rate was 1/2 price
SuitablyFakeUsername@reddit
Exactly. There were a few different work around - that is the one that I remember the most. That the price shown on the pump was 1/2 of what you would actually owe and you had best be paying attention. I last saw one of those on a very isolated stretch of highway in Nevada around 1989. I bet there still dome in use.
Hawkwind68@reddit
[DINGG…..DINGG…..DINGG…..DINGG!!!] “check under the hood for ya sir?!….”
OddbitTwiddler@reddit
Back in the day the rolling numbers wasnt the orice but how much so far pumped. Today the price rolls as you look for your credit card or wait for the loan approval.
Not_a_fan_of_me@reddit
Secret trick: you could put the nozzle in your gas tank, turn on the pump, and hop on the hose to siphon out about three gallons or so of gas from the pump. There was an old Co-op self service pump outside my town that I would hit up about three times a week.
a4evanygirl@reddit
Who remembers those prices!!
Shackdaddy161@reddit
.32 for regular, .45 for ethyl or premium or go to the airport for " hotrod" gas at .51.
thecyberwolfe@reddit
I grew up in Oregon, one the the two no-self-service states. Worked in a couple different stations pumping gas on these, then 20 minutes trying to shine a flashlight juuuuust right to read the internal meter at closing.
gnortsmracr@reddit
I’ll add that I remember them when those were leaded and unleaded.
SuitablyFakeUsername@reddit
Regular or ethyl
Warhammer517@reddit
I remember my local Champlin, Conoco, and Kerr-McGee gas stations having the pumps marked as Regular and No Lead.
SuitablyFakeUsername@reddit
Ethyl was a brand name for leaded gas. When unleaded became the standard, many of us had to buy small bottles if lead to add to our gas tanks.
Warhammer517@reddit
I remember the lead additive that you're talking about. An auto parts store in my area sells it.
Gr00vealicious@reddit
Ethyl Merman or George Zipp?
RadioSupply@reddit
I love it when I notice a machine with a lever and just smoothly slap it down like I Know Things.
OrrieH@reddit
and the Fun little Balls on the Side in the glass bubble to show its Flowing.
kwiscalus@reddit
And a guy in a uniform would come out and pump your gas
ArtistAsleep@reddit
You had to drive over the hose that rang a bell, simpler times
kwiscalus@reddit
ohh that's right!
Warhammer517@reddit
I can hear the motor kick in when the lever was lifted.
zandarthebarbarian@reddit
Of course
hoardac@reddit
Drive by 4 of them every day.
phunny-words@reddit
Believe it or not my workplace has a fleet of vehicles and our own fuel pumps on property and still have the roller numbers
browsin4fun@reddit
I remember them, and if you go out to the rural areas, you can still find them here and there. Also, when I see this, I think about that movie The Jerk when Steve Martin was working/living at Jackie Mason’s gas station lol.
LemonPartyW0rldTour@reddit
“He hates these cans!”
fliTDI@reddit
Prices over 1.00 $/gal required new internals.
bishpa@reddit
Or, they just set the machine s if the price per gal were half of the actual price, and the doubled the resulting total. There's a scene in On Golden Pond that captures this. People weren't pumping their own gas back then anyway.
ApprehensiveAd5446@reddit
I am surprised those things don’t spin right out of the pump with current prices!
schenectandy@reddit
Running on fumes driving through upstate NY, I stopped at a country store with rolling dial pumps, thinking they were kitschy decorations but that someone inside would know where I could fill up. "No, those are real! How much you need?" 🙂↕️
TP_Crisis_2020@reddit
There was a little bumfuck gas station in the middle of nowhere in Arkansas that still had one of these pumps running in 2016.
HoneydewThis6418@reddit
I worked at a truck stop in the late 70's and we had those pumps. Anyone could just come up and start pumping gas or fuel out of them so one or two people had do keep any eye on all 10 pumps.
I was working there when gas went over $1 a gallon and the pumps only registered 2 numbers (0-99) so we put little $1 stickers on the pumps at the start of the price per gallon.
Crazy times. Some gas stations were running out of gas and there were big lines to get gas where it was available.
Big_Difference_9978@reddit
They still exist in upper michigan
MountainCry9194@reddit
Same in northern Wisconsin.
bonitaappetita@reddit
When I was 16, in 1986, I worked at a full-service gas station where we had these pumps. It was the kind of place where we washed your windshield and checked your oil as a courtesy. Gas was 96¢ a gallon and I made $6 an hour with the occasional tip.
ZiggoCiP@reddit
I still use one at my local marina. Still works, and it's a sort of slow marina, so no ones losing their shit about it.
Also most people have accounts, so you don't even need to pay when you get your gas. It's a neat novelty.
HammerT4R@reddit
All the marinas I've been to still use this type (all inland areas for me). Probably because they aren't undercover like a regular gas station so I'm just going to guess they're more weather resistant than the newer digital ones.
kamshaft11975@reddit
Checking in. My username should give away everything as I watched my parents fill up right before seeing ET on opening night.
SidewaysSynapses@reddit
At the drive in!
kamshaft11975@reddit
Omg, dude 😭
Drive-ins were the best!!!
RandomObserver13@reddit
Worked at a gas station when the leaded gas was phased out for “unleaded plus” and had to try to read 8 pumps worth of those little “odometers” on each pump (you can see one on the left pump here) and do a boatload of math before the next customer showed up, or I’d have to do even more math. All a one person show. Was a blast though.
TheCervus@reddit
I still use these when I have to travel in parts of rural North Florida.
gargoyled1969@reddit
The last job I had before I left for the ARMY in 1988 was gas pump attendant at a Phillip's 66. It was fun!
classicsat@reddit
I do. They went away with full service stations.
Even the couple full service stations around me have electronic/computerised display pumps.
Nerdious-Maximus@reddit
One of my first jobs was at a gas station and I had a special key to reset them and I carried one of these on my belt too
CaptNorm2239@reddit
Dang
Ninja-Mike@reddit
I remember having to ask for Regular Unleaded (vs leaded)
terrymorse@reddit
Who remembers when the highest price the machines could display was 99.9 cents, followed by the big kerfuffle when prices went above one dollar?
EssaySuch1905@reddit
For many years esp in a lot of mom and pop truck stops seeing i started driving otr in the early 80s
Drinkdrankdonk@reddit
My grandparents had a gas station and campground in the mountains in Washington and I spent my summers there working at the station. Even had leaded gas.
747WakeTurbulance@reddit
Almost all the marinas where I put fuel in my boat still use these.
w_benjamin@reddit
Got one at our station for kerosene...
ConsequenceNational4@reddit
Yes..still see them in some old communities.
Bitter-Army-8747@reddit
.. and you would fill your car that had the same style odometer!
PissedCaucasian@reddit
Dude. I remember the question,”unleaded or regular?”. My mom was driving of course. I’m not that old.
DreadpirateBG@reddit
Yes and how about the ones that had the rolling ball bearings or whatever they were in a glass ball on the side to indicate the gas was flowing.
RustyDawg37@reddit
Yep and I remember the ones you could type in the credit card number from the receipt the last person left hanging from the machine. Wild times.
AdAggravating8273@reddit
Come to Wisconsin. We have plenty to choose from.
Dramatic_Channel52@reddit
Ope, scuse me … just tryin to get to the bubbler
ZappaLlamaGamma@reddit
Now they’d look like a never ending slot machine that never pays out.
Tech-Mechanic@reddit
I've used one within the last month. There are still a few lonely gas stations out on the high plains in eastern Colorado that have them.
GilletteEd@reddit
There’s one at our local reservoir that’s still in use!
thewalruscandyman@reddit
It's been a minute since I've seen one, I know that.
Only_Arachnid1841@reddit
I still go to one on the regular. Charleen’s in Richmond, ME.
RandyRVA@reddit
When I worked at the 7-11 in high school, people would fill up and then leave the nozzle on the ground so the cash register wouldn't beep that they were done. Then they drove off. Our manager actually tried to make us pay for them!
Just_A_Lucky_Guy469@reddit
You kidding? There's a little country store near my mom's place in New Hampshire that still has them, still dispensing gasoline!I tell you, it's a cool feeling to operate that kind of history.
UrbanGimli@reddit
These were a treat to see/hear/smell. Going to the gas station as a little kid was an all senses excursion. Back when they had attendants, filling up the gas, checking fluids, tire pressure. It was "neat"
Top_Management7550@reddit
Not only do I remember that, but I believe there was a time when you could pump your gas first and then pay for it after.
mike_speaks@reddit
haha just posted the same comment
Top_Management7550@reddit
It's a trip to think that was possible. People were a lot more honest while others were more trusting back then.
Exciting-Way-6248@reddit
I worked in a refinery and they still use them for their vehicles.
mike_speaks@reddit
I think i remember some stations around that would not require prepay either....perhaps they glanced out the window and turned the pump on if they recognized you....
mike_speaks@reddit
ok lots of others saying the same thing here.....
CpnLouie2@reddit
I worked at a gas station a while back. (OK, fine, it was a LONG while. Happy?)
We had these that originally only had three places for the Price Per Gallon, so it could only go up to 99.9Cents per gallon.
The station had to shut down with full in-ground tanks for almost a week during a gas shortage while they ordered new internal mechanisms for the pumps.
The owner earned his UnHappy Camper Badge that week five times over.
UseACoasterJeez@reddit
I was hoping someone would mention the ones with the 99.9¢ max.
That was chaos for a while when gas broke $1/gallon, but then stations also had to add a "1" or another slot to their pricing signs by the street (and none were electronic, someone had to go out with a pole to change the plastic number plaques). Eventually they got new signs, but I remember most stations just used electrical tape to fashion a "1." on their signs.
Especially since I live in California, I'll live to see the transition again, to pumps & signs that go to $99.99.9 Hooray?
Key_City_3152@reddit
I remember when gas went over $1 a gallon, and the fact that the pumps could only handle up to $0.999/gallon was a big deal. I recall several different schemes to get around that limit…
Low-Mathematician633@reddit
$0.53 per 1/2 gallon.
FastFishLooseFish@reddit
I remember reading about it in Newsweek. And now we're alive to potentially see the same issue with going to $10 a gallon....
androidguy50@reddit
I definitely do. Even when the attendant would pump the gas.
KartQueen@reddit
I remember leaded or unleaded. Also the gas crisis with huge lines and you could only go on certain days. Lots of interesting words from my dad during that period.
player1dk@reddit
Oh those new ones where you pay before pumping :-)
Zaphod1620@reddit
I used to use those as an example of how number placeholder values work when I would teach subnetting. I doubt that example would work anymore.
deadmonkeyboy87@reddit
Guess what they still exist in the wild in alot of places
Mondschatten78@reddit
The family owned store at the end of my road has two currently in working order.
Pointedtoe@reddit
We still have one!
SadCheesecake2539@reddit
There's a place by my house that still has these gas pumps.
ro_thunder@reddit
And, someone would come out - check the oil, top off the washer fluid, etc.
Aggressive_Dot5426@reddit
That’s me in high school. Haha. The damn credit card thing was a pain . But most paid cash and quite a few tipped when we did the windows etc
TosaFF@reddit
I remember my dad giving me two $50 bills, was told to go full up both fuel tanks on the van and buy him a carton of cigarettes, put the change on my dresser. 😳
Those two $50 wouldn’t buy one of those things, let alone all three.
growflet@reddit
You brought back memories of my mom giving me some money.
I was supposed to walk to the convenience store, get her a pack of cigarettes, and I could get a glass bottle of coke from from the cooler, and give her the change.
Little me felt like I was getting away with a scam because I could turn that bottle in for a deposit later, and that was enough to buy a snack.
SheriffBartholomew@reddit
I just encountered one a couple days ago while driving interstate! It was pretty neat TBH
Long-Trade-9164@reddit
Yep, pulled the pump nozzle out and turned the lever to the left and watched the previous pumped gas numbers reset all back to zeros. When you were done, you pushed the lever back to the right and hung the pump nuzzle back in. Then you'd pull down your license plate and put the gas cap back on and let the plate flip back up.
___po____@reddit
Don't forget the humming noise from the pump motor kicking on.
kathatter75@reddit
I had to show a classmate how to use one of these. She was so confused.
texan01@reddit
weird that I can hear that pump whirring away from here.
MaximumJones@reddit
Whoa, you to an see these pumps up close on Google maps Street view. That is very cool.
cchaven1965@reddit
The ding sound they made as it incremented as well.
Martian6261@reddit
I think it was ever .10 increment. Ding.….., ding……, ding. Of course back then, at .35 gallon, would fill 10 gallon tank for $3.50, so the dings were farther apart than they would be today. Today it would be, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, etc
Unless it only dinged at $1.00 increments.
cchaven1965@reddit
I was thinking it was at .10 intervals as well. Dollar would've been too far apart and too few.
Martian6261@reddit
I meant that if they had kept the ding, that today it would be constant dinging, at a dollar it would be similar to old times.
becuzofgrace@reddit
Click, click, click….
Wyevez@reddit
There's still one in a tiny town near me. It's not controlled from inside the store so it's honour system as to how much gas you pumped. You pump and then you go in, tell them what you pumped and pay.
2outof3_aintbad@reddit
Gosh I’m old
Experiment_262@reddit
I use one weekly, county vehicle and they have never upgraded their pumps.
tunaman808@reddit
All of us, I imagine.
eqpmgr@reddit
much easier to stop on $3.50 to fill a tank... IYKYK
funvibes77@reddit
Even better. Remember pumping first then going inside to pay?
Cake-Over@reddit
Gas pumps with nixie tube numbers
dontaggravation@reddit
I just used one of these in a very remote spot in Wyoming. They were genuinely confused when I tried to pay before pumping
Revolutionary_Lie199@reddit
Yep, pumped then paid back in them days.
PaltryCharacter@reddit
There are some shitty gas stations that still have these
PabloFive@reddit
$.8599
Dr_Overundereducated@reddit
Maybe 15 years ago, a friend and I were on our way to a camping trip when we stopped at a gas station in the middle of nowhere. There was no pay at the pump and we were genuinely confused for a minute, then remembered to go pay inside. Once inside, the attendant looked at us like we were stupid and told us to pump the gas then come back and pay for it. We got a good laugh at ourselves.
queenaemmaarryn@reddit
vaguely...I remember when attendants filled up the tank for you and washed your windows...and asked if you wanted "premium or unleaded"
MikeDavJ@reddit (OP)
There is a gas station near me that still does do that.
08_West@reddit
Back when regular meant “leaded”.
Zraax@reddit
And the ding-ding when you drive over the rubber hose
Prestigious-Newt-110@reddit
Who remembers pumping the gas first and then paying for it?
WaterwingsDavid@reddit
These are cool!
smarmy1625@reddit
you can still find the hand-pumped glass bulbs + barrel setups if you search hard enough
https://c7.alamy.com/comp/A5DA2T/old-2007-foreign-asian-gasoline-or-petrol-filling-station-with-hand-A5DA2T.jpg
j2142b00@reddit
Fuel supply location 1/8 mile from my office has 4 of them up and running. You go there when you want the good stuff, you can also get any flavor of race fuel also.
lokis2019@reddit
The fly over states are full of them
Correct-Condition-99@reddit
Still have them at work.
blatantinsanity855@reddit
...old?....I still see them around, now and again.
ActuaryFew6884@reddit
They had these up until a couple years ago at the Bowman service station in Hagerstown, MD
Tramp876@reddit
Too bad it wasn’t $.60/ gallon like it was in 1986 when I could fill my chevette for under $10
WeekendLegitimate615@reddit
As for the pump I still use one just like it every day at work. Exception is the boss pays.
Beginning_Lunch_9113@reddit
It was more satisfying.
RickyWVaughn@reddit
I remember when you pumped gas first, then paid.
Raptor28570@reddit
Is it my imagination, or were they a lot faster. Takes forever to fill a tank now.
Scoobysnax1976@reddit
New ones captured the gas fumes from your tank. They were definitely faster in the old days.
boilersnipe@reddit
🙋🏻♂️
boilersnipe@reddit
🙋🏻♂️
Defiant-Difference17@reddit
Literally just saw one in Oregon. Wow! I was like look at that relic 😆
herpderpley@reddit
I memba!
smalltalk2k@reddit
And pumping leaded gas as a child!
ChapterOk4000@reddit
Yup, and they only went up to 99.9 cents
SusannaG1@reddit
Yep. I remember the generation just older than that, too - those were still pretty common in rural areas when I was a child.
emmadonelsense@reddit
Still around. One town over has two and they still pump your gas for you, give you a newspaper and clean your windshield. It’s charming.
zealousreader@reddit
With the little ball flippin around in the clear bubble.as.you pumped.
Motor_Struggle_3605@reddit
I remember rolling up on my Honda Spree, filling the tank, and handing some change to the cashier.
-Granby-@reddit
I remember rolling up, filling up and then hauling ass.
Fantastic-Setting-26@reddit
Yeppers
eightfingeredtypist@reddit
The prices on that pump look current, like $5. a gallon.
I don't miss the old pumps. Paying at the pump means I don't need to go into a store. When I was a kid I worked in a has station with the old pumps that were not able to be set for a certain amount. People would ask for a certain dollar amount, and it was important to not go over.
MikeDavJ@reddit (OP)
Price is current. They are working pumps.
MikeDavJ@reddit (OP)
Price is current.
baditup@reddit
With leaded gas in 'em, even!
auld-guy@reddit
Sure. I used to sell them.
greatlakesseakayaker@reddit
I remember full service gas stations
Intelligent-Monk-426@reddit
I told you we should get more than $5 worth!!!
Rpc_78@reddit
There is still one in west Reno at a commercial fueling station.
KuchDaddy@reddit
No credit card slot!
KuchDaddy@reddit
I live in a rural area and there are still a few around.
Coyote_Hemi_B58@reddit
I’m a ups guy, we still have them on property lol
sierrabravo1984@reddit
I work for the county and our fuel farm has suuuuper old gas pumps from like the 70s. They still work so why upgrade?
RevToy@reddit
I remember using one of those to pump leaded gas.
YellowBreakfast@reddit
I used one a few weeks ago.
Some rural and also commercial (fleet card) fueling stations still use these.
BMisterGenX@reddit
I remember when both those and digital existed simultaneously.
rory_breakers_ganja@reddit
And when gas was priced by the 1/2 gallon, because the mechanical pumps maxed out at 99 9/10 cents.
Interesting-Air-223@reddit
Yes, but the cents was 2 rolling numbers, not a single with 5 or 10 cent increments, what ever this one shown has.
Quirky_Operation2885@reddit
I just used one several months ago. I could believe it still had a current weights and measures label on it.
DramaticErraticism@reddit
Yes I do remember the thing that was everyone in the country when I was younger.
NerdfestZyx@reddit
I found one of those still in operation about 4 years ago. It was near the North Carolina/South Carolina border. The “gas station” was a converted single story house. Mid-70’s linoleum and faux-wood wall paneling. It was like a time capsule.
GreenHillage25@reddit
I remember when a pint of Bitter was less than a quid
RalphWastoid319@reddit
We still have one outside for our fleet vehicles.
moneyman74@reddit
I thought the digital ones were awesome when I first started seeing them. The old school digital not the 'screen' style we have now.
BackgroundGrade@reddit
ssshhh_ding_ssshhh_ding_ssshhh_ding_ssshhh_ding_ssshhh_ding_ssshhh_ding_ssshhh_ding_ssshhh_ding.....KAKLUNK
Veggyhed@reddit
I really enjoyed the sound, same as the sound from my old bedside alarm clock lol
DustyRacoonDad@reddit
Go travel the parts of the US further from the big cities.. you will still see them.
MindFluffy5906@reddit
Just saw them the other day!
T206V70R@reddit
I worked at a Chevron station and remember the company having to retrofit the pumps to have 3 digits for the price when it finally went over 99.9 cents. Up until the pump upgrade, we had to display .50 per gallon and double what we collected when it was sold for a dollar per gallon. At this Chevron we washed all the windows, checked the oil and the tire pressure. Every fill-up.
Low-Tie2969@reddit
oh yes - i used them
casewood123@reddit
Still see them here in rural Vermont.
snark_maiden@reddit
Remember them?! I pumped gas from one in BFN Northern Ontario last August 😄
Guilty_Eggplant_3529@reddit
The last time I was buying kerosene, maybe 5 years ago. Most of the pumps were still this type, when you could even find them. PITA to use, how do I know how much money I need to fill something, unless it's a new vessel of X gallons. Pay before pump sucks anyway you look at it.
ParticularLower7558@reddit
That one goes over a dollar price. I can remember when they only went to .99 cents. And when gas went over a dollar they would set the pump at half the price and you paid twice the amount that the pump said.
Stressedmama58@reddit
imagine how fast they'd be spinning nowadays....
Cjeannie1972@reddit
And gas was only 97 cents a gallon
Tralfaz1138@reddit
I think I've lived through just about the entire evolution of gas stations. It's wild how my earliest experiences were no self-serve, the guy who will wash your windows and check oil, the gas station would also repair cars and the only thing they sold beside gas was things like oil, tires and windshield wipers.
Now you almost never interact with a person, when you do it's to buy candy, a drink or a lottery ticket, and the only service on your car they handle is an automated car wash that may or may not beat the crap out of your car. It's definitely been a while since I've seen an old school gas pumps. Last time was probably on a road trip someplace.
purpleskyblues@reddit
And gas went into the rear license plate. Lol
Daghain@reddit
I had a car like that. The spring on that sucker was unbelievable.
I_Galactus@reddit
I can smell this pic.
BullTerrierTerror@reddit
One day my dad said put $20 in it and I for whatever reason went 10 bucks over. He said we’d pay him back later and sure as shit we never did. But he always had time to get scratchers.
ProBuyer810-3345045@reddit
I sure do! And I also remember that you could pump your gas first and THEN pay!
Bright-Form730@reddit
Got so much free gas in high school with this. My car had a tag that folded down for the trunk key, so I’d just lower it and take off!
HeinousWalrus@reddit
My uncle would get out the car and ask for let’s say $10 from the attendant, and then he’d start shooting the shit. Sometimes the attendant would go over and since my uncle only asked for $10, that’s all he’d pay for. Sneaky.
Luvsseattle@reddit
Still see them, usually dispensing oils in more rural areas though. But even these are not all that common.
Harold_Spoomanndorf@reddit
DO NOT...use one of these late at night after nine hours of continuous driving !
It will lull you to sleep and you will end up with fuel flowing down your quarter panel
Economy_Care1322@reddit
My first job was using these at Hess gas station in Hazlett, NJ
Lostboyintheforest@reddit
Oh I remember them and the old line that rang the bell when you pulled up to the pump ⛽. On a side note....that isn't too far from me 😄
earinsound@reddit
yes—and 80 cents a gallon
Bceverly@reddit
I remember when gas hit $1.00 a gallon and the station by me put a piece of tape to the left of the price with a “1” on it because they didn’t have that many digits on their old mechanical pumps. lol.
ManQu69@reddit
In uk i used one where you had to slide a lever over to start the pump and the watch as the numbers scrolled on past while filling
Schtweetz@reddit
Tick, tick, tick, tick…..clunk!
newguestuser@reddit
I remember the tech having to replace the guts and cut out the hole to add the dollar slot to the price display.
Antelope-Subject@reddit
The good old glory hole at a gas station.
WileyCoyote7@reddit
I remember, even back when it had “Leaded” fuel. Lived in Oregon though so always had someone pump it for us.
commonguy001@reddit
I still use one of these in a small town we visit.
You fill up, walk across the street and tell them what type of gas and how much. Was a shock the first time, now I enjoy it. Fast pumps too which is nice when filling up a truck.
Old__Medic_Doc_68@reddit
I work for a county that still uses these types of pumps to this dad.
Odd_Tie772@reddit
Easy to steal gas
-The-Big-G-@reddit
We have a station around the corner from me that still does. When gas hit $4.00 he couldn't properly display the price as it only went up to $3.99. Not sure what he's doing now.
Civil_Inspector_5697@reddit
Yup!
AHollyS@reddit
Who remembers when some with a key had to reset the pump each time.
Sufficient_Stop8381@reddit
Or being able to pump before paying
OIL_99@reddit
I remember it without the sign.
botany_bae@reddit
All of us do.
MtnDewCodeRedFreak@reddit
I do remember. And the 76 gas stations.
Nettwerk911@reddit
You used to be able to pump the gas before you paid
Historical_Project86@reddit
They still have those in some places in the UK. I was in mid-Wales and needed to stop for fuel. I saw the rolling numbers, and a pick-up truck blocking access to the pumps, and I didn't stick around long enough to see any kids playing any banjos!
User-830733@reddit
Is Wales the Appalachia of the UK?
Historical_Project86@reddit
We have a few dotted around the UK. :-)
Silly-Shoulder-6257@reddit
I remember gas attendants!
mdwieland@reddit
I'm more fond of the PRICE of gas when those pumps were commonly used.
MountainBrilliant643@reddit
Remembers? Someone doesn't live in a rural area. They're not gone. Just go to some poor town where the gas station can't afford to upgrade.
vectaur@reddit
Exactly. The marina on our lake still uses these exclusively
Automatic_Project388@reddit
I’ve worked on many of them. I work for the company that made this one. The last pumps with mechanical registers will roll off the line this year. The parts for the registers are no longer available.
Weekly_Leg_2457@reddit
I remember these! As a teenager I worked a summer at a gas dock. The hardest part was getting the numbers to stop at a precise amount. If a guy pulled up in a boat and asked for $50 of gas, you had to get it to $50.00 on the dot. It took a little practice, but by July 4th, I was a pro!
Skyne@reddit
Remember? I have a functioning one in my town...
1Boxer1@reddit
We had these at my job up until about 6 months ago when our tanks had to be removed and the entire fuel station was torn down.
morganwater@reddit
I use them on our work trucks
OnceFastManny@reddit
I used a pump like this in Dell City, Tx a couple of years back. It brought back some memories!
Illustrious-Egg-5839@reddit
I still know where some are.
TheHandsOfFate@reddit
I would think all of us remember them.
Full_Mission7183@reddit
In high school I worked as a pump attendent at a Getty, these are what we had.
neanderthalman@reddit
And the clear bulb in the side with the balls that would flutter in the flow.
ZZoMBiEXIII@reddit
I grew up in a town of under 5k people. Pretty sure they still have these. 🤣🤣🤣
Karena1331@reddit
I was going to say, there are some small towns near us and they still use pumps like these.
darkest_irish_lass@reddit
And the change thingy that the gas attendant had, so you never had to leave the car. He'd pump your gas, check your oil and tire pressure, etc. then you'd pay him and be on your way.
Kodiak01@reddit
This brings back one of many, "My father was a money grubbing asshole cheat" memories.
Back in the late 80s, there was a little mom and pop gas station on Main St in Mashpee, MA down on Cape Cod which had pumps like these. I remember my father pumping $10 worth of gas, resetting the pump, pumping $10 more, and only paying that $10 inside afterward.
This was right around the time he stole all the money I was saving up from my Sunday paper route, claiming he had already given it all to me.
That bastard is dead now. I hope he found the peace in death he never afforded anyone around him in life.
Badrear@reddit
I don’t think I’ve used one like this since I stopped working at Denver International Airport 20+ years ago. It wouldn’t shock me if they’re still using them.
JD_tubeguy@reddit
I remember.
MuttsandHuskies@reddit
There’s still at least one in West Texas. I can’t remember the town exactly but I remember it took ages to put gas in my vehicle after about 10 minutes. I stopped. It was two dollars. I just put enough to get to the next gas station.
darktideDay1@reddit
The store down the road from me still has a pump like that. So I still can stop right on the dollar!
Ok-Sport-2558@reddit
I remember trying to stop on the dollar or at least on the quarter. Because you could only pay cash and you didn't want to get a bunch of change back.
Trolkarlen@reddit
I also remember those cool Coke machines where you opened the door and pulled out a glass bottle with a bottle cap. There was an opener on the machine. I'd get one when my grandpa would gas up his truck.
https://www.vendingtimes.com/articles/florida-museum-showcases-coca-cola-vending-history/
cirkis@reddit
Use one on the lake all the time
happycj@reddit
I used one last year in eastern Washington while on a camping trip on my motorcycle.
MaximumJones@reddit
Does it not have the steel guardrails on either side of the pump? I thought those were required by Federal law.
SnooCapers1425@reddit
That thing would sound like a winning slot machine with the prices now...
Impressive-Yak-7449@reddit
Still got one at my work
Julian_Thorne@reddit
Yep, I remember the sound they would make as they rotate
hippiechick725@reddit
I can hear the clicking!
CaydeTheCat@reddit
And they say you can't hear pictures...
sven_bohikus@reddit
I remember when gas went over $1 a gallon and they sold half gallons until the pump was replaced.
tlcnet@reddit
When I was a kid, I loved the sound the handle made as you pulled it to reset all the numbers I remember always asking to do that part at the station.
MikeDavJ@reddit (OP)
I’ll make a video next time I get gas there so you can hear it again.