Gas Stations & Garages - The Early Years (1920s-1940s)

[@raagtop363]

I hate to just parrot what others are commenting, that is show both color and B/W. Those of us who grew up in the bygone days did so in color. Everything was just as brilliantly in color as our surroundings today. AI colorization, while never historically accurate, adds a depth and realism that grayscale just cannot match. So as you apply your magic to these amazing historical photos, give us a fair amount of both. And thank you for these great video peeks into our past.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks so much for your well-considered response. I tend to lean on the colorization side myself. When I look at both shots side-by-side, the color just seems to look more realistic and "current" so to speak. You phrase the explanation well - thanks!

[@MH-fb5kr]

b&w is fine

[@thekurtcobainfoundation4200]

I like both colored and black and white. I just love old photos period.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Me too! Thanks!

[@aussie8114]

Old enough now to remember dad pulling into the service station and asking the attendant to fill her up and could you check the oil please. Definitely 100% black & white.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

I remember that too - I was always confused when my mom would let them, "keep the change." Thanks for your opinion on color vs. black & white!

[@cristianabarsuglia629]

We like when they start out B&W and then fade to colorized. Love the old photos! Thanks for the memories.

[@philarchambault5767]

any way you want all videos are perfect and thank you fore the trip back in time👍👏👍

[@peterkenny3994]

I am a 70 year old over in the UK, and I have just one word, brilliant, 😊😊😊,

[@TheHistoryLounge]

And I have two: Thank You!!!

[@nickkercheval2704]

I remember in color. That’s how I like it

[@classicmoviesvault]

I love the music choice for your videos. I love the old gas stations. It is so common for car collectors to buy vintage gas pumps or a replica of one!

[@bobswett4712]

Being the ripe old age of 89 I can relate very well to this as I worked at stations just like this. I missed it so bad, I built a replica complete with pumps in my backyard !

[@user-sw9jo7fe3d]

Before my time, but I can still remember how cold the drinks were stopping into a SERVICE STATION during our yearly summer trip down south. Mom, Dad 4 kids and our dog..with no air conditioning! Best time of my life.

[@frebnewman6403]

Love the pic with Sam Drucker as the owner. I got the Petticoat Junction reference.

[@justdoingitjim7095]

The year was 1968. I was 14 years old and had just bought myself a 1961, 125cc Yamaha motorcycle, with my own summer job money. Gas was just .25 cents a gallon. I could fill up my tank for .75 cents and drive forever! A little trick to get some more gas was when you got the amount you were going to pay for, you shut the pump off and then with the filler still in the tank you'd squeeze the handle again. Any gas still left in the hose would run down into your tank. Sometimes you'd get a whole pint or more depending on how long the hose was! And in a small motorcycle that meant another 10 or 15 miles!

[@ivanleterror9158]

@ 1:31 We still wore those same white uniforms and hats at Standard Stations in LA in the 60s. Also a special service station belt that had an extra flap over the buckle to cover it from scratching a customers car while wiping the windows.

[@TomSpeaks-vw1zp]

My uniform was blue. Leather covered belt. Standard Oil of Ohio. (Sohio) Top of the line customer service in those days.

[@ivanleterror9158]

@@TomSpeaks-vw1zp And if there was only 1 car at the pumps some managers had us do all the windows so no one was standing around.

[@michelle-lz8tg]

back during a time where a visit to the local filling station was a pleasure and often looked forward to...

[@user-lt1bf4hg5h]

Great videos COLOR really brings them to life

[@bruceheishman7831]

Black and white is awesome. Thank you!

[@dave-uf8ir]

Wonderful either way is good luv it cheers 😊

[@knocknwalk]

Original black & white, of course.

[@ChristineHK]

B and W is fine. Colorized is not bad either. Love the vintage photos.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks for you input. I’m glad you’re liking the old photos!

[@dalehammond1749]

I'm 76 and recall the full service gas stations and regular gas for as low as 19.9 cents a gallon. America was mostly united, patriotism was high and the American Dream was a reality. Then along came the 60's.

[@ralphh.2200]

We see in color...yes o color, thanks for the site.

[@philpique3187]

Great photos! I am happy to see them in black & white.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks!

[@donwensil5027]

Love all of it

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Wonderful - thank you!

[@pepaw4431]

I absolutely love your channel no matter color or black & white- Please keep 'em coming- Thx!!

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks, @pepaw4431! Definitely more to come - thanks for watching!

[@ds1v0r19]

Definitely in black and white!

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks!

[@craigroberts3982]

loved it all. thank you

[@TheHistoryLounge]

I’m glad - thank you!

[@severkola]

Thank you for your work! I paused almost every photo to look at the details in more detail, it’s very interesting 👍

[@TheHistoryLounge]

I’m so glad you like it! Thanks for letting me know!

[@ChrisACiufo]

Wow. Enjoyed that a lot. Getting gas is so routine we don’t even think about it, but these pix show a wonderful collage of time capsule moments of everyday life. I noted in some that the war was only a year away, or a couple of years in the past. Life for most was never the same, but all stayed the same at the service station. Also: loved the music; a great addition.

[@Fair-to-Middling]

7:01 Good old "Orge-gon". A most pleasurable place to visit!

[@douglasweller9709]

❤the photos the way they were taken. Ha Ha the one one guy is smoking at the pumps , cigarette is in his left hand.

[@fasx56]

What a lovely Time Shot back to the Yesteryears to see the Nostalgic Cars that our Grandparents Drove. They have a Beauty distinct to the car styles of that time period. Thank you for doing the photo research and producing this video. The Black and White photos are fine with me.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks for your comments, and for your take on the colorization - I appreciate it!

[@nolanyoung4480]

Sam Drucker the same name of the character from Petticoat Junction!

[@rupturedduck6981]

The old photos in black and white are O.K. but colorized brings out more detail of what things may have actually looked like at the time.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks! I feel like the color does tend to make things look more "real."

[@johnanderson3700]

I remember attendants wearing uniforms added a sense of dignity

[@TomSpeaks-vw1zp]

There were many professions back then that had their own uniforms & dress codes that designated what profession it was. Your description is correct. Dignity, something lacking today.

[@johnathanlee5478]

Having a tire gauge and a pen in my left shirt pocket was cool. And if left at home made a sucky day lol

[@mike-jc9zd]

I really prefer them in color that is great the way that you're making it it brings it more to life thank you

[@timothymooney4466]

I imagine for most of this audience remembers time when you couldn't colorize so b&w is no sweat. Good pics!

[@johnboydTx]

Black and White is good 😊 👏👏👏I Enjoyed It 👍😉

[@andysvehiclehistorychannel]

Amazing shots love the last one i hope you colour more.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks, and thanks for your input! If you look closely at that shot, you may notice a bunch of floodlights in the parking lot. I researched the photo, and discovered that it was their grand opening in, so they were lighting it up for publicity and photos.

[@brianwalsh8972]

I prefer black and white photos...thanks nice work.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks for the input - I appreciate it!

[@irideanolepaint8879]

black & white loved the way folks dressed back then.

[@eljabito4382]

Black and white please great video 👍💯 old times 10/24/23. 🇺🇸

[@dougsather2939]

Black & white. Nice pictures. I think I'll take my 30 A coupe out for a drive 😇🙏

[@stevie764]

Black and White, as they were taken.

[@phillipstephens3079]

Thank you, Thank you…brought back a great visual of bygone days 👏🏻. Imagine .19 cents a gallon and also pumping your gasoline AND washing your windshields…geezzz !

[@JP-nk4sv]

Thanks great stuff

[@klausrain111]

wow, that 49 Buick was beautiful! back in those days Buicks and Pontiacs were my favorite cars, looks wise anyway. I didn't start driving until the mid -60s, and my dad got me an MG.

[@D.E..]

I just recently found your channel, and I'm really enjoying it. And I like the black and white, but either is fine.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Hey, @D.E. - I'm glad to have you here, and thanks for your input on the colorization!

[@valentinestation4275]

I live in an old gas station, these pictures are awesome!

[@hestheMaster]

I would love to see a video of the before and after colorization process if that is possible. You could start one shot in black and white and an invisible bar goes across slowly from left to right with it becoming a color shot. Call it a step up in the game, and a good one to entertain the viewer! I think I have a set of DVD's of the Three Stooges in color where they did just that. It also explained how difficult it was to find the correct color of objects that no longer exist so they had to guess. You do some excellent color rendering for us Kevin, so thanks for that!

[@johnathanlee5478]

I worked at a chevron and a Exxon service station that was some good times and people and I’m glad I got to be apart of that life.

[@gmans7859]

Yes, to think back. I worked first at Union 76 (became just 76), then later up the street at the Chevron. At 16-17 years old I was trusted enough to be given the keys and open up each morning. Fun Times. The 76 station was the 'Ford' camp and 3 blocks up the street the Chevron was the Chevrolet Camp. You can guess the rest.....

[@johnathanlee5478]

Sounds familiar lol full service was good even when ya got to know the regular ladies if ya know what I mean 😂

[@johnathanlee5478]

@@gmans7859 I started at chevron then went to Exxon and being known of that it took a while for everybody to get used to me at Exxon. Yea there was hate lol

[@cemu1065]

I find them both equally sorrowful yet entertaining

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Great description - I feel the same way!

[@corvettesforever4619]

Excellent video showcasing a snapshot of Americana. Black and White is the only way to go with these historic photos.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks, @corvettesforever4619!

[@martinthorne8543]

Back in the '50's of my youth, there was a newspaper comic strip named "Gasoline Alley."

[@29madmangaud29]

Loving it, either way> "Both" colorized and B/W. Thanks!

[@Budnorth3637]

Hi, either way, they show some beautiful memories. Automobiles had so much character back then. And how about those “career service station guys “……in uniform. As Bob Hope used to sing, “Thanks for the memories”. Northern Ontario

[@robbiemccrory9697]

Fantastic video. I enjoyed the video as it is. My grandfather had a grocery store for about 40 years. He was Postmaster from 1920 to 1955 , the year I was born. I wish I had pictures of him behind the counter in the store. He sold Amoco gasoline beginning in 1924. Our family is still doing business with the same Distributor. Thank you for the video of stations from years ago.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks for sharing the info about your family - that's awesome. I'm glad you liked the photos!

[@arnoldalt2571]

I thought Mr Drucker ran a general store in Hooterville,

[@tomlusty8376]

I worked in a Sinclair gas station,late 50's,early 60's. We had houseccharge accounts for regular customers. Owner wore a uniform with a bow-tie every day. He would go out to cars at the pump just to talk with his customers.

[@alphasigmasezon8597]

1:46 a little car ? 😮

[@MemoryLN]

*I remember in color. That’s how I like it*

[@johnkoval1898]

Those pumps and advertising signs would demand thousands today.

[@haroldadkins770]

Wonderful it makes no difference to see what life was like thanks

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Wonderful - thank you!

[@lawrenceflynn2447]

Great video….black and white.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks, Lawrence!

[@gnolan4281]

Sharp images! I used to work in one of those on the graveyard shift.

[@opus1952]

Black & white please.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks for your input!

[@RickaramaTrama-lc1ys]

Great video and thanks for sharing with us as many memories come flooding back of my years as a teenager in the 60's and I worked at a Texaco Station and American Oil while going to Junior College and the stations at that time were just the same and gas was 33 cents a gallon and Kerosene was only 15 cents a gallon and we pumped that from big ground tanks behind the station. We pumped their gas~cleaned all their windows~checked their tires if they wanted including the spare then checked the oil and water and after all that we gave them green stamps to boot. All us young men who loved cars then got jobs in one of the many stations in our small town and I really miss that life back then. Cars today make me ill and don't even want to mention EV's. I think we have really screwed up America with all this crap and I'm sort of glad my years are numbered on This Earth and I won't have to see what's coming for the Human Race~!!

[@keithmosseyklr650]

black and white really shows the times. ty

[@WilliamCooper-l6f]

This was nice. I think that you could focus on the seasons better, because you have thoroughly covered gas stations. I'd like to see things related to Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, prom, sports, camping, Winter, music, technology, historically significant moments, hot rods and 50's Doo-Wap, law enforcement, fire trucks, churches, movie production stills, and incredible places that are gone. Don't let me down, because I'm counting on youuuu!

[@Paulman50]

I realy like the colour ones, but to give a bit of both would be good.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks - that may be the best solution...

[@jaimscox2]

I miss those simpler times and I'm only 53, definitely born in the Wrong ERA... Thank you for the memories. (can I go back now please)

[@brad2548]

I'm only 63. As a kid in 1970 I could take a quarter into the store and purchase one 12 oz Coke. One box of cheese nips and piece of bazooka Joe bubblegum with a comic strip in the wrapper with such small print you squinted to read the comic. Gasoline in a small town in Hope ,Arizona was .17 cents per gallon. Dad earned about $450 per month.

[@olivedarb03]

I loved seeing these in black and white ! I especially enjoyed the ones in Oregon , since that's where I',m from !

[@deere3321]

I thought Sam Drucker lived in Hooterville?? Great pictures

[@yodoglover400]

He don't look like Frank Cady though.!

[@Dadsezso]

I believe it is best to keep photos like this in b&w. The car colors always seem to come out with a purple haze. If the focus is people then colorized looks better. Thanks for the work you do to create these.

[@bigdog69515]

I like Black and White . Please keep all photos original. Im old fashin. Born in the year !950

[@normsweet1710]

Keep them coming, color or B & W is ok for me. I’m old enuf all Mom ever had was Grandma’s old Brownie box camera …… took good pictures if ya held still 😂

[@FarmsteadForge]

Very enjoyable to watch. Thank you.

[@williamworden3597]

Judging from this video...there were no gas stations back east.😮

[@storiesfromtheoldcowboy8876]

The most recent amazing are the shifts fro b/w to color. They seem to spring to life.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks!

[@user-Dr.]

BW I was hoping to see the old Sinclare station in my out-of-town Neiborhood, loved watching this.

[@diane1390]

I prefer both B & W and colorized. I'd like to see them side by side.

[@ahoorakia]

4:34 smoking next to the pump!😁😁

[@snakebait5118]

Black and white please! My wife and I were born in the early 50's and we remember a lot of these vehicles

[@snailer06]

I wish they had a double like button.

[@RandysFiftySevenChevy]

My first real jobs were at gas stations. My friends knew I was working when my 57 chevy was parked on the corner of the station.

[@bigdaveonfire]

Black and White. Very good video👍

[@bobwilson9994]

Love it. B&W

[@JaredTremper]

I prefer the original BnW mostly because colorization still seems to do some odd discoloring on some of the renderings. Now, when the photo is originally in color that’s another story.

[@johnkoval1898]

All the people wearing uniforms, suits, dresses, ties, hats.

[@TomSpeaks-vw1zp]

Yep, we’ve become a nation of disrespectful slobs.

[@littlepaddy7444]

I would rather see the photos in their original black and white. Colorizing detracts from the image. Thanks, great compilation.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

You're very welcome - thanks for taking the time to comment!

[@cemu1065]

Its not about the colour, whether its black n white, its still colour... Its about the subject! ENJOY

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Than you!

[@Green_Gundel]

Wonderful, oh my Good so nice Pictures!😊

[@Hogger280]

I would like to see them both ways - B&W and Color - like "The Golden Age of Trucking does it; each image starts out as B&W and transitions to color.

[@Blend-24]

At 5:17 the two Chevies are 1951 chevies at the Humble grand opening At 6.36 the “48 Olds” is actually a 1949 Olds.

[@2quintly]

I'm good with the B&W photos. I grew up with alot of B&W film. The video was excellent (as is).

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks, @2quintly!

[@stebstebanesier6205]

Someday when I hit one of those billion dollar lotterys I'm going to open a Service Station. Gas attendants, service bays, vending machines, right down to the announcing bell. I wouldn't care if I made dollar one.

[@connor_flanigan]

1920s - "good afternoon, sir. do you wish your tank filled?" 2020s - "f*** you want, b****?"

[@Go4Corvette]

Black and white is fine, the colored ones never look as real, but sometimes it's all you can get. Thanks for the videos.

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks for watching!

[@peterselten500]

Great to see more old service stations an bw is my choice as some end up to much gray at the end it depends on the photo an what you like

[@TheHistoryLounge]

Thanks for your input!

[@godfellas483]

And there were no "Just Stop Oil" protestors...🙂

[@danroose3813]

That's because people wouldn't of allowed it, PERIOD !!

[@jimclarke1108]

Excellent photos,colour would be more real✌

[@TheHistoryLounge]

I tend to agree - thanks for your input!