That's the old station I mentioned above, Ken. Looks like part of it has been removed since I lived and worked in that area. But it's still a classy looking relic of the past. Thanks for posting it, Tomkat.
Nice! I should have kept the couple of examples, (different companies), from when we sold our last C-store. Oh well.
S'Martin up... I love it. That sign looks properly shot up too... Porcelain over metal? I've always liked those illuminated globes. They added style to what would otherwise be the routine of gassing up. Today you have boxes with LCD displays and keypads and such. No class whatsoever.
Not my photo (it's from the Wall Street Journal), but the Mobil Pegasus logo sign is nice, as is the Sears store sign in the background. In view of crude oil's recent free fall, we'll probably see these prices again in a few weeks.
Hey, I know that corner ! Laurel Canyon Blvd. and Victory Blvd. in North Hollywood, CA. I lived near there in 1977 and used to go into the Sears often. This is the same area where a couple of guys had a huge shootout with LAPD in the 1990's after trying to rob someplace resulting in their deaths but not before they shot and wounded a rather large number of police officers. The Mobilgas station looks like it's on the southwest corner. I think I remember it still being there in 77 as an updated "Mobil" station. That corner is now a small strip mall. Here is a more current screen shot from Google street view. Looks like Sears is still there and both the building and Valley Plaza sign have been updated.
Northeastern Oklahoma saw Sunoco, Texaco, D-X, Phillips, Hudson, Marathon, Clark and Getty, among others. And yes, most of them simply sold gas from the local Sun/D-X refinery, though Phillips was an exception. They brought in their product from their huge home refinery in Bartlesville, and had a reputation for selling a cleaner product which didn't necessitate changing your fuel filter quite as often. Marathon was one of the first in the area to get interesting with the station architecture. They liked to skin their stations with black glass, for an interesting art deco effect. For those who like to model Phillips, they switched from the orange and black signage to the red and white about 1959. And they favored Dodge trucks. I made mine by attaching the bodies from Magnuson (Ford) tankers to the Dodge cabs from Magnuson flatbed trucks. Unfortunately, these seem to be out of production now.
In West Virginia, the brands were Pure, ESSO, Sunoco, Tankar, Texaco, Ashland, Amaco. In Ohio, you can add Sohio.
I know that spot! Mass Ave at Brookline Ave, near Kenmore Square. It is just about mile 25 of the Boston Marathon. It doesn't really look that much different today, the sign now says Citgo. It's a relief to reach this point, from here it's only about a mile and a quarter to go. Thanks for that picture. Given the race has taken place now 119 times it piques my curiosity about how some things go on in spite of changes all around us.
I remember seeing it done, when I was a small boy. But it was not at a gas station, it was on a farm of a family friend.