Girl Attendants

D

Dave Mellor NJ

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Oilers and shiners
 

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The lady on the left was named Ethyl, and the one on the right was Octane.
 
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Must have been a pretty upscale area to be selling leaded gas back then.It was not common back then.My town is at the crossroads of two state highways,and had 11 stations at the end of the war.The first leaded gas in town was in 1946.I have the pump.I have a picture of a little gas stop here taken in 1939.A sign in the picture says ethyl gas sold here.Many years ago I asked an old guy about that,as he had bought gas there.He said,you have a picture,Johnny had signs,Johnny was a bit of a crook.He never sold leaded gas.
 
I am thinking they own the car. Reasoning is that the guy on the left is dressed in working overalls, the lady holding the fuel nozzel has tied off shirt and not dressed for garage type work. Just my guess.
 
My clarinet teacher also ran the local gas station in my home town. The "visible" pumps disappeared in the early 1960s, replaced with a pump that had a "rotating sphere" and measured out the gas on a mechanical digit gauge.

I remember well the "odor" of his studio where the lesson occurred. A cigar smoker, he was quite a musician with at least three instruments including a full blown "Steinway grand" piano, the first I had seen and surprised he kept a "humidifier" under the piano.

And the sound that humidifier made as it cycled on and off during my lesson.

You never know what you will find in the back-rooms of "Industrial America." There is a LOT of talent out there.

Joe K
 
Those sister's mother is watching from in the window behind. A shotgun, leaning against the wall, next to her.
I don't think either girl would be worth the risk.
 
Joe, I never figured you as a Benny Goodman.

My guess is your teacher cranked up the humidifier just before you arrived.:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D
 
'Reminds me of the episode on "The Andy Griffith Show" ("Goober's Replacement") where Wally the filling station owner reluctantly allowed Goober's girlfriend to fill in for Goober while he went hunting. All of Mayberry's male car drivers suddenly patronized THAT gas station - all because of the novelty having a girl fill their gas tanks. Of course, the reversed role situation didn't last, but Wally made a killing in the meantime!
I wonder if this 1930's picture was just a publicity stunt to stimulate business or whether the girls actually did work at that gas station? I'll bet this photo appeared in the local newspaper and made the girls famous.
Marshall
 
I think the picture is an advertising picture.Girls sell things,whether you want to buy them or not.Same as now.When I was little,somebody explained to me why the active characters of Mayberry were all so happy.None of them were married.Men or women.Except for Otis Campbell,the drunk.I think an uncle explained that to me,probably long before I could understand what he meant.
 
Back when attendants actually serviced cars at service stations, I remember the first women service attendants. It was such a novel thing. It was interesting to see that this actually occurred in the 1930's. It must have been even more novel then.
 
Keith True said:
.......The first leaded gas in town was in 1946.I have the pump.I have a picture of a little gas stop here taken in 1939.A sign in the picture says ethyl gas sold here.......
Click to expand...
Ethyl got it's start as an additive for aircraft fuel. A little would bump the octane 20 points. In the mid 30s Ethyl and Dow teamed up to build a Bromine (that was used to make Ethyl) extraction plant in NC. They were producing 15,000 pounds a day from 30,000,000 gallons of sea water.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH2ku1Jis_o
 
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