 | Faye Graves, a native Wichitan, attended school at Friends and Wichita State, concluding at Midwestern Theological Seminary. He has been active in media for many years with Channel 12, KIRL, KFDI, KOOO AM & FM (Omaha), KFRM & KICT 95, as an owner, manager, producer, director and announcer. He has served as President of the Haysville Board of Education. He has also served on several national boards of the Southern Baptist Convention. Faye currently serves as Executive Pastor and Director of Administration and Education at Immanuel Baptist Church, 1415 S. Topeka, Wichita. You may contact Faye by e-mail fmgraves@amenibc.org, or by phone at (316) 262-1452. |
Nostalgia
2013-05-29 09:16:09
Do you remember?
Q-Do you remember the price of gasoline and motor oil in the 40’s?
A-Yes I do. In fact, I can remember (pretty well) the different prices of gasoline all the way from then to present day. And every year since then, beginning with Memorial Day, many families begin their vacation traveling. June is a favorite vacation month as the weather is usually good, the students are out of school and the parents are ready to take a vacation from their workplace.
Is it a shock or what when you pull into a filling station and see regular unleaded fuel listed at $3.65 per gallon? I remember back in 1947 when I went in and filled my ’37 Ford for $0.15 a gallon at the Killion service station. The attendant checked the oil and washed the windshield for free.
These were my high school years and the station had a filtering barrel in the rear of the garage where they would pour used oil and filter it. At the time, you could buy it for a nickel a quart. I guess those days are gone forever. We do miss the “service” stations where you could also get a tire fixed along with the oil checked and windshield washed.
If I remember correctly, in 1969, I could fill up at any Vickers’ station in town, pay 45 cents per gallon, get a set of 6 eight ounce tumblers, and 4 tickets to the NBC Tournament on Vickers’ night. Those days were special.
June was the month years ago that we checked our motors for plenty of coolant in the radiator which was always in front of the engine. Our cooling device was an evaporative cooler attached to the window. We are thankful today for the air conditioners in our cars.
In 1982, I was in Athens, Greece and I could not believe that gas there was selling for $3.00 a gallon. We thought how fortunate we were to not have to pay that much for gas back here at home. Today it’s over $10.00 per gallon in Greece.
Now we must purchase economy cars that get at least 30 plus miles per gallon. Many cars have high powered engines that use premium gas. The goal is to get to one point from the other at a rate your budget will afford. We can always think back to the days of World War II when you could only buy the amount of gas that your ration stamps would permit. I imagine none of us would want to go back there.
Happy traveling.
