Our best-selling book on American car culture is now available in this new paperback edition! The American Gas Station is a nostalgic history of the service station and the American car culture it helped create. An exceptional chronicle of the birth of roadside architecture, the development of gasoline pumps, corporate trademarks, and gas station memorabilia.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
From the curbside gas pumps of the 1920s, to the full-service, uniformed attendants of the 1930s-50s, to today's self-service stations, Witzel thoroughly educates the reader about the history of a little considered, but important need for the motoring public. The text is well written and traces the gas station's history chronologically, while the illustrations provide the reader with a poignant reminder of a time when many things in life were much simpler. -- Vette Magazine - Book of the Month, September 1997
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
About the Author
Michael Karl Witzel is an award-winning author and photographer. As America's premier chronicler of car culture and roadside phenomena, his work has been published in Invention & Technology, Rider, Motorhome, Volkswagen World, and Route 66 magazine. His "Roadside America" column appears monthly in Mobilia magazine.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Member, American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book gives the definitive history of the gas station.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The American Gas Station: History and Folklore of Gas Stations in America (Paperback)
Do you know when and where the first oil well was found? Did you know that in the early 1900's any shopkeeper with a curb and an idea could have his own commercial gas pump? Do you know what a lubester is? If these answers interest you, as well as the history of the rise of the gas station as we know it, check out The American Gas Station. Michael Witzel takes readers on a hundred fifty year tour of the gas and oil business, from the first gush in Titusville, PA, to the breakup of Standard Oil Company to the advent of self-service stations. Lots of interesting information and great photos - a treat for any automotive enthusiast. - Leila Dunbar, writer, Mobilia.com
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nostalgia,
By
This review is from: The American Gas Station: History and Folklore of Gas Stations in America (Paperback)
We bought this book as a Christmas present for my husband's 85-year-old uncle who used to own a Texaco station in Iowa. We thought he'd like it, but he LOVED it! He started skimming through it immediately, pointing at photos and talking with his grand-nephew all about the old days, old gas prices and pumps, and his own experiences at his station. It was the best present we ever bought him and certainly the best received present this Christmas, 2007.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Before the dawn of the Twentieth Century, when only a handful of Charles E. and J. Frank Duryea's one-cylinder horseless carriages were roaming the countryside and Alexander Winton's first series-produced gas buggies were initially sold, locating liquid fuel to power their simple engines was difficulty. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
curbside pumps, product bulletin, gasoline pumps, station restroom, motoring public, gasoline sales, pump manufacturers Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Phillips Petroleum Company, Shell Oil Company, Standard Oil Company, United States, City Beautiful, Pump Company, Flying Red Horse, General Petroleum Museum, Chevron Corporation, Gulf Oil Company, Tokheim Oil Tank, West Coast, Highway Hostesses, Keeler's Korner, New York City, San Francisco, Sinclair Motor Oil, Texaco Inc, White Patrol, Billy's Service Station, Texas Company, Walter Dorwin Teague, Arizona Historical Society, Gilbarco Inc, Roaring Twenties New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Before the dawn of the Twentieth Century, when only a handful of Charles E. and J. Frank Duryea's one-cylinder horseless carriages were roaming the countryside and Alexander Winton's first series-produced gas buggies were initially sold, locating liquid fuel to power their simple engines was difficulty. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
curbside pumps, product bulletin, gasoline pumps, station restroom, motoring public, gasoline sales, pump manufacturers Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Phillips Petroleum Company, Shell Oil Company, Standard Oil Company, United States, City Beautiful, Pump Company, Flying Red Horse, General Petroleum Museum, Chevron Corporation, Gulf Oil Company, Tokheim Oil Tank, West Coast, Highway Hostesses, Keeler's Korner, New York City, San Francisco, Sinclair Motor Oil, Texaco Inc, White Patrol, Billy's Service Station, Texas Company, Walter Dorwin Teague, Arizona Historical Society, Gilbarco Inc, Roaring Twenties New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 22
books:
See all 22 books this book cites
15
books
cite this book:
See all 15 books citing this book
- Lonely Road by T.C. Thomas in Back Matter
- The Automobile Age by James J. Flink in Back Matter
- Main Street to Miracle Mile: American Roadside Architecture by Chester Liebs in Back Matter
- The American Magazine by Amy Janello in Back Matter
- The Colossus of Roads: Myth and Symbol along the American Highway by Karal Ann Marling in Back Matter
See all 22 books this book cites
- The Gas Station in America (Creating the North American Landscape) by Professor John A. Jakle on 4 pages
- The Gas Station in America (Creating the North American Landscape) by Professor John A. Jakle on 4 pages
- The Sparkling Story of Coca-Cola: An Entertaining History Including Collectibles, Coke Lore, and Calendar Girls by Michael Karl Witzel in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Cruisin': Car Culture in America by Michael Karl Witzel in Back Matter
- Route 66 Remembered (Motorbooks Classic) by Michael Karl Witzel in Back Matter
See all 15 books citing this book
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