25 Things Every 1950s Gas Station Did for FREE

25 Things Every 1950s Gas Station Did for FREE In the 1950s, you never pumped your own gas. A man in a uniform ran to your car, washed your windshield, checked your oil and tires, and handed your kids a free road map. In this video we go through 25 things almost every American gas station once did for free, from the bell hose on the driveway to trading stamps, giveaway dishes, tiger tails and the famous clean restroom, and the story of how self service and the 1973 oil crisis made them disappear. What do you remember most about the old full service gas station? Tell us in the comments. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 0:59 America Hits the Road 2:41 On the Driveway 4:35 The Man Who Wears the Star 6:05 The Free Stuff 8:18 The Cleanest Room on the Highway 9:05 Help on the Road 10:49 Where Did It Go? 12:21 Final Sources: John A. Jakle and Keith A. Sculle, The Gas Station in America (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1994) Daniel I. Vieyra, Fill 'er Up: An Architectural History of America's Gas Stations (Macmillan, 1979) Douglas A. Yorke and John Margolies, Hitting the Road: The Art of the American Road Map (Chronicle Books, 1996) Smithsonian National Museum of American History, America on the Move collection Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division: gas station photographs (FSA/OWI and Highsmith collections) Music: "Marty Gots a Plan" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License "Sunshine (version 2)" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License #nostalgia #americanhistory #1950s