Fill ’er Up!

Fill'Er Up!
Texas oil field, 1919
Courtesy of National Museum of American History, Archives CenterOil workers, Wyoming, early 1920s
Courtesy of National Museum of American History, Archives CenterGas Stations
Before there were filling stations, consumers bought gasoline out of a barrel at the grocery or hardware store. But the new market for gas and consumer desire to buy gas more easily soon led to a landscape dotted with gas stations—more than 200,000 by 1935. Although it doesn’t seem revolutionary now, gas stations were the first commercial buildings to be set back from the street. The design accommodated cars without disrupting street traffic and eventually dominated the American retail landscape.
Pipeline workers, about 1900
Tokheim Oil Tank and Pump Company portable tank and pump, about 1910
S. F. Bowser and Company gasoline pump, 1916
Wayne Oil Tank and Pump Company gasoline pump, 1932