Remembering the Service Station

One sure sign of getting old is the frequent use of “When I was a kid”.   This is part of that golden mist of age that makes everything from your youth seem better, and the longer ago it was, the better it was.  While things may be much better in my memory than they actually were, I’m not so far gone as to think that my memories are a true reflection of the past. Let’s start with the thing that men love above all others, cars. 

Even the most nostalgically oriented of us must recognize cars have never been better than they are today. The engineering is fantastic. Cars handle better, are safer, more comfortable and are more efficient than they ever have been. I only have to look back at my first car to feel an affection for the past. It was a 1957 Ford Fairlane with a 6-cylinder engine, a 1 barrel carburetor and a two speed automatic transmission. (if you even know what a carburetor is, then you’re in the nostalgia zone.)

I loved that car, but it was certainly mechanically challenged. It had power nothing, and that included the motor. It had a zero to 60 speed that was best timed in minutes not seconds. If I stepped on the gas pedal the windshield wipers would stop. If the brakes got wet I was lucky if the car would stop. It had hand rolled windows, no air conditioning, and no radio.  A sound system, you must be kidding. 

The first thing I did when I got that car was take off the hubcaps and paint the wheels metallic silver and the lug nuts black. Then I drilled a couple of holes in the muffler and advanced the timing just a little bit to make it rumble like a race car (at least in my imagination). But even I’m not so naïve as to believe that it comes close to anything like the vehicles we have now.

As much of a mechanical marvel as today’s cars are, they are in large part boring. Particularly with the rise of the SUV’s, they are not much more stylish than a box on wheels. The 1950s and 60s were the heyday of car design. What car made today has the style and the elegance of a Cadillac El Dorado convertible or has the stunning beauty of the Jaguar XKE? OK, so maybe we do have to overlook tailfins, but then no one is perfect.

But there is one thing that I do miss, and there is nothing now that can compare to it. And that is the service station. Of course, now we have mini marts and convenience stores with gas pumps out front. While you’re pumping your gas, you can get an overpriced coffee, a hot dog, a Slurpee, and any variety of snacks, beer or soft drinks. But the one thing you can’t get is service.

For those of you not old enough to have experienced the service station I’ll give you a brief synopsis of a visit at a top service station. You would pull up to the pump and the service station attendant would come out to your car. He would clean your windshield, check the oil, check the water in your radiator, check the air in your tires and pump your gas. You never had to leave your car.

Now I know what some of you are thinking; my new car never has to have the oil or the water checked and it also has self-monitoring for my tire pressure. But I just have to tell you, there’s nothing like sitting back and having someone else take care of your car. For the cost of a tank of gas you felt like you were getting top line treatment. I’ve never seen a mini mart that can give me that.