{"id":1169,"date":"2013-12-02T05:01:54","date_gmt":"2013-12-02T05:01:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1169"},"modified":"2015-01-09T15:42:24","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T20:42:24","slug":"nations-first-drive-in-gas-station","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/12\/02\/nations-first-drive-in-gas-station\/","title":{"rendered":"Nation\u2019s first drive-in gas station"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Another <\/a>
Another view of the Gulf station. (Photo credit: Unknown) <\/div> <\/div>
\"In <\/a>
In 1935 this filling station at Forbes and Murray employed 21 attendants. (Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Here at the Digs we remember a time when gas stations were manned by young men in grease-stained uniforms who filled your tank for about $7, checked your oil and battery and cleaned your windshield. Then you gave him a tip.<\/p>\n

Attached to each of these gas station was a garage bay, where a cigarette-smoking mechanic with scarred knuckles scooted under rusty heaps in search of oil leaks and faulty starters. Ah, we fondly remember his curses.<\/p>\n

OK, we realize this memory dates us, and perhaps even betrays the fact that a member of the Digs staff was, years ago, one of those grease-stained young men.<\/p>\n

But we resurrect this memory for a reason: Yesterday we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the nation\u2019s first drive-in gas station. It was located, of course, in Pittsburgh, at Baum Boulevard and St. Clair Street.<\/p>\n

In the Post-Gazette files, we found two pictures of the pagoda-style building. A canopy covered workers and customers as autos were fueled. Signs atop the building announced \u201cGood Gulf Gasoline\u201d and \u201cSuperior Auto Oil.\u201d Men in the pictures (yes, they\u2019re all men) wear sporting caps or bowlers.<\/p>\n

Before the advent of the drive-in filling station, gasoline was sold at grocery stores, livery stables, hardware stores, even pharmacies. Vehicles pulled next to a curb or sidewalk, where fuel was hand-pumped into a container, then poured into the vehicle\u2019s tank.<\/p>\n

Some drive-in filling stations did exist before 1913, but they occupied buildings and structures that had been modified to sell gas. Pittsburgh\u2019s was the first structure designed and built as a drive-in filling station.<\/p>\n

On its first day, the Gulf station sold 30 gallons of gasoline at 27 cents per gallon (we found one report that says this amounts to $6.39 in today\u2019s dollars).<\/p>\n

Later, Gulf introduced the first free road map and the first restroom opened to customers.<\/p>\n

Much has changed in the past century. Today we fuel our own automobiles in massive stations that sell Big Gulp drinks, pizzas, milk, DVDs, lottery tickets \u2014 even firewood. Some of us buy gas at big box retailers like Costco or Walmart.<\/p>\n

In fact, it\u2019s now difficult to find traditional filling stations that employ attendants and mechanics. And free road maps? We don\u2019t need those much anymore, thanks to GPS devices and Google maps.<\/p>\n

We remain grateful, however, for those free public restrooms.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was located, of course, in Pittsburgh, at Baum Boulevard and St. Clair Street.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesNation\u2019s first drive-in gas station<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1170,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[948],"tags":[957,1167,991,1049],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/tumblr_mwwazvSNA41rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=936%2C666&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2164,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/01\/04\/travelers-flock-to-penn-station\/","url_meta":{"origin":1169,"position":0},"title":"Travelers flock to Penn Station","date":"January 4, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"The station is known to Pittsburghers as Penn Station and was completed in 1903.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/tumblr_mg2fg10beL1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=864%2C1080&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2224,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/12\/07\/young-men-volunteer-for-army-air-corps-after-pearl-harbor-attack\/","url_meta":{"origin":1169,"position":1},"title":"Young men volunteer for Army Air Corps after Pearl Harbor attack","date":"December 7, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Pittsburgh was \u201ccoming to a slow boil\u201d one day after Japanese fighter planes attacked Pearl Harbor, the Post-Gazette reported.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/tumblr_mem63pDWmw1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C792&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2322,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/05\/the-parade-to-end-all-parades-in-pittsburgh\/","url_meta":{"origin":1169,"position":2},"title":"The parade to end all parades in Pittsburgh","date":"November 5, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"We at the Digs have witnessed some astonishing parades in our city.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mctxowhcmk1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C910&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":821,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/03\/28\/february-1971-the-artistry-of-pittsburghs\/","url_meta":{"origin":1169,"position":3},"title":"The artistry of Pittsburgh\u2019s potholes","date":"March 28, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"There are a number of similarities between our city\u2019s potholes and those freaky crop circles found in the English countryside.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/tumblr_n349clgFOq1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C820&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2289,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/14\/behind-this-picture-lies-a-tragic-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":1169,"position":4},"title":"Behind this picture lies a tragic story","date":"November 14, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"How that story ends is a mystery, one you may be able to help solve.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mdedc2irjR1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C892&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8053,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/07\/18\/the-digs-is-on-instagram\/","url_meta":{"origin":1169,"position":5},"title":"The Digs is now on Instagram!","date":"July 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Since August 2012, The Digs has been bringing you some incredible, forgotten stories from Pittsburgh's history. As we approach our fifth birthday, we decided it was time to expand the community we've already built by creating a social media identity of our own. Beginning last week, we have created an\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Cam1-e1501105400793.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1169"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1169"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1169\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4103,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1169\/revisions\/4103"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1170"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1169"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1169"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1169"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}