I was in a super bad mood the other day and decided to distract myself from it by looking back through some photographs from just after I got my first digital camera, a Kodak EasyShare Z730. I found some that had potential and brought some of them into Photoshop for some tweaking. The Z730 has a very capable Schneider-Kreuznach Variogon lens but is limited by an average sensor. Details are blotchy at maximum resolution, so I was careful not to crop too deeply. While the original image is a color shot with vivid reds and blues, I liked it better when I converted it to black and white.
I don’t know if Bob’s Century is still operating. It’s way down on the southwest side of town on an old alignment of State Road 37 and the Dixie Highway, and I never get down there. It was an anachronism already when I stopped to photograph it in 2007 – a full-service gas station with a mechanic’s bay. For that reason alone, I hope it’s still going.
Check out these old gas stations I found when exploring Indiana’s US 50.
I worked in a full service Sunoco station when I was a kid, pumping gas, cleaning windshields and asking if folks wanted their oil checked. Damn I’m old! Gas was 39 cents a gallon…and that was 1975!
I remember full service. And I remember Dad grumbling a bit when it went away. Now I can’t imagine not pumping my own gas. Cheapest gas in my driving years has been in the 89-cent range.
This is the kind of station that was around when I was a kid. Although self-service had pretty much taken over by the time I started driving. I remember up until a few years ago there was still a full service station around here that mostly seemed to serve older people who didn’t mind paying a little more not to have to pump gas. I remember thinking that one of these stations might have been popular this year with the winter we were having.
There was a small chain in Terre Haute, Swifty I think, that was full service when I lived there. I don’t think they charged extra for that, either.
It’s no longer operating. Bob passed away a few years back. I took the last photo of the pumps and bay this year and a few weeks ago they removed all but the building. 😕
Oh that’s too bad. Thanks for letting me know.