The Pain of Filling Up

Hubby likes to take care of filling up our two cars. A few weeks ago he filled his Dodge SUV for $70+. But since prices are slowly coming down, he only charged $52.64 today for a little more than 13 gallons.






When I got my driver’s license and my first car (early 1960s), the price of gasoline was not an issue with me. But I do recall that there would sometimes be “gas wars.” Looking back, I guess gasoline must have been so abundant and cheap that gas stations had to be more competitive. It was not unusual for a main intersection to have four “filling stations” all offering “full service” (checking the oil, washing windshield and all the windows, use of rest rooms, maybe water fountain).

But the “gas war” would be started by one of the gas stations dropping the price by one cent. The others might follow the penny drop or would better it by dropping two cents. It was fun to see how low they would go. The lowest I personally recall was .25 9/10 per gallon. I don’t recall but two grades of gasoline: regular and ethyl. Regular was the only thing I ever bought.



My first car was this beauty: 1962 Ford Fairlane, 2-door, standard transmission, white sidewall tires, an AM radio, no air conditioning but it did have a heater. The top was a creamy color and the bottom part of the body was a soft aqua color. My dad gave his old Chevy truck as a trade-in to help with the down payment. One of my dad’s friends, Fred Hanson, went with me to the State National Bank to co-sign for the loan. But I got the coupon book to make the monthly payments. I wish I could remember the amounts of money involved, but I do recall that I was very responsible and paid for my first car on schedule. I really loved that car. I guess there is always a special sentiment for that first car.