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July 1940. "Gas station in Benton Harbor, Michigan." 35mm nitrate negative by John Vachon for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
In 1939 Texaco became one of the first oil companies to introduce a "Registered Rest Room" program to ensure that restroom facilities at all Texaco stations nationwide maintained a standard level of cleanliness to the motoring public. The company hired a staff of inspectors who traveled from station to station periodically to ensure that restrooms were up to standard. The "Registered Rest Room" program was later copied by other oil companies and continued at Texaco until the energy crises of the 1970s.
The two pumps in the middle look to be a transition style from the old visible pumps, using circular gauges rather than the "rollover" ones at the ends of the island.
According to the Google Street View, it's now the U Know Barber and Beauty Shop. Behind it, with the the tire on the side, is the Motor Building.
That's a 1928 or 1929 Ford truck out front, so it would be 11 or 12 years old. The rounding out of the corners started in the mid-thirties and by the end of the decade all the boxy shapes were pretty much gone.
The truck's looking a little tired already. The spare tire is missing from the bracket on the driver's side. Looks like folks have been leaning on the front fenders too, judging by the distance from the front of the tire and the crack about halfway back. I helped a friend restore a 1930 Ford, and it's front fenders looked just the same at the start.
Amazing contrast between the old-styled pickup parked in front of the gas station and the bulkier, more substantial and modern looking cars on the street. That truck can't be 10 years old in that picture, and yet it looks as archaic as a horse-drawn buggy.
Using the word "VINCENT" on the roofline behind the original.
The Indian can trail Texaco all day long but will never defeat them.
I need to see the National Registry of Restrooms. What is its web address?
I've been to quite a few service stations that I wish had a "registered" rest room!
Must have been a really busy place on Saturdays. I wonder if they had a snack bar?
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