As unregulated businesses, gas stations in the early 1920s consisted of a small building and pump. Early stations provided basic services, such as lubrication and tire repair, and sold oil, batteries and tires. Here’s a small collection of old photos of US gas stations in the 1920s.
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| The place is a Texaco Gasoline Filling Station (primarily they filled gas tanks). |
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| In case you missed it, this is a Texaco station. |
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| Land wasn’t at a premium then like it is now. Note the wide open layout and the nice row of little trees. This was a Texaco Gasoline Motor Oil Service Station. The concept had become a “service station”, which included more than just filling your tank. They even filled it FOR you, no “self-service” needed. |
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| Looks like an early “mall”. At one location, you could fill up your tank, get a loan so as to look prosperous with a new suit, and have a meal while your spark plugs were changed. |
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| Ford Sales and Service. Look at all those Model T’s. |
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| Dome Gas. You better try it ’cause “It’s Better”. It better be good since they want 23 cents a gallon for it! |
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| Lemans’ Tire Shop. Barney Oldfield tires only $9.99 each. Sounds kind of expensive to me. Note the water can by the side of the road and the barricades around the trees. I guess people just drove up on the sidewalk to get their tires and the trees were in the way. |
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| Here we have Super Motor Fuel. |
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| Note the name of the station “Toot-An-Kum-In”. King Tut was big news in the twenties so why not capitalize on it. This is a really modern looking station with the full roof and multiple islands of pumps. AMOCO Gas (still around today) but what does “filtered” mean. Obviously they consider other gas to be “dirty” |
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| Four Wheel Drive Autos sales and service. The SUV’s of the 20’s. 4WD gas is only 20 cents a gallon! |
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| Simplicity itself. No name gas and motor oil for 20 cents a quart, Wow. |
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| Self service back then to. |