# Earliest Price of Gasoline You Can Remember **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 31, 2016, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724 "2016-01-31T02:57:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/61 "2016-02-01T03:13:11Z")
My father had me walk to the gas station with a gas can and buy some for some reason. It took a number of trips but I do 't remember the purpose. The gas was 26.9 cents. This was in the late 60s. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/62 "2016-02-01T06:35:30Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > 25 cents a gallon and[free presidential collector coins](http://www.coins-n-medals.com/Exhibits/ShellGames/ShellPresidentsGame.html) along with a clean windshield and someone pumping the gas for you. Same, except it was just the beginning of self-serve. I thought it was kinda cool to pump your own gas. Late 1960s/early 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![Totenfeier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@Totenfeier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Totenfeier)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/63 "2016-02-01T16:46:46Z")
Like a couple of others, 33 cents in the 1960s. And driving over the “ding-ding” hose that would bring the attendant out to pump the gas, check the oil, clean the windshield, and anything else you needed. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/64 "2016-02-01T16:51:28Z")
I was born in 60, and for whatever reason I don’t remember it being under 30 cents. I DO remember, however, my parents passing up stations to find one that gave S&H or plaid stamps. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/65 "2016-02-01T16:56:21Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > I DO remember, however, my parents passing up stations to find one that gave S&H or plaid stamps. There were other promotions too. The maps were free but I recall a set of glasses or something like that where you got one with each fill up. Later in the 70s there was some kind football trading card thing going on also. Today there are discount cards and free or low cost car washes available. As pointed out in another thread it’s not easy to get someone to choose based on the quality of the gasoline you sell since it’s all the same. And despite the commercials at the time I think people didn’t really believe there was any difference between the brands. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/66 "2016-02-01T17:16:08Z")
I can recall going up to Lake Michigan for the day and driving back home in 1970, when I could make the round trip in my VW Beetle for about $2.00 in gas. Doing the math, that means gas has to have been about 39 cents a gallon. ---
**Author:** ![Mk\_VII](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/67 "2016-02-01T22:38:48Z")
Seven shillings and sixpence a gallon [Imperial] in the 1960s. I remember the free glasses, and the stamps - not many garages did those. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2016, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/68 "2016-02-01T22:47:59Z")
I remember the normal was to put $2.00 worth of gas in the tank. It wouldn’t fill it up, but it would give you enough to drive around for a few days. ---
**Author:** ![Elemenopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5e925/32.png) [@Elemenopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elemenopy)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/69 "2016-02-03T03:13:35Z")
Something like $.80/gal, say 1982, Texas. Unleaded, not regular. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/70 "2016-02-03T05:18:31Z")
I never paid any attention when my father was buying gas, and I would have been a kid during the shortages. So the earliest I can remember is when I started buying gas, 1998, ~ 98 cents a gallon. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/71 "2016-02-03T05:48:48Z")
Gassing up my VW bug just outside Mesa College (San Diego), 1971, Texaco. 21¢ gallon. I don’t remember the price being especially noteworthy at the time, but for some reason the moment stuck in my memory. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/72 "2016-02-03T12:37:51Z")
32.9 The gas stations used to have the signs by the pump that had the “3” and the “.9” painted on since they never changed and the middle digit was hung on a hook and that one did change now and then. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/73 "2016-02-03T13:47:32Z")
I don’t remember the earliest per-gallon price I noticed, but I do remember as a kid noticing it cost $5 for my parents to fill up one day, and thinking, “jeez, you have to shell out $5 just to fill to fill the gas tank every time?” At the time I was probably getting $1 a week allowance, so $5 was a huge amount to me…it was a culture shock as to how much everything cost as an adult. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/74 "2016-02-03T18:30:10Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > Under 25c a gallon, in the late 1940s. Varied by state, because of tax. Under 20c in some states. Free maps, oil check, windshield wipe. Pop a nickel a bottle in a box with a block of ice in it. Cigarettes were about the same price, 23c in the 1950s. In fact, there were special packs of cigarettes for vending machines, with two pennies inside the cellophane, as change for a quarter deposited in the slot. After school, I worked in a smoke shop, selling cigarettes – they were 23c a pack, all brands. So were nearly all magazines and paperback novels, a quarter. A few popular weekly magazines were 15c or 20c. I was around for everything you posted; I once paid $0.17 per gallon during a price war. ---
**Author:** ![Alex\_from\_CB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/278dde/32.png) [@Alex\_from\_CB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alex_from_CB)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2016, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/75 "2016-02-03T20:38:32Z")
Born in 1950 here. I remember there’d be a “gas war” and prices dropped a few cent. Cheapest I ever recall was 17.9 cents per gallon… at the Texaco up the street. Probably about 1960. That was in suburban Miami. Also, recall getting Green Stamps or Yellow Stamps for gas purchases. Also, some brands had plate or glass giveaways. Sinclair gave away an inflatable dinosaur, they’re mascot. ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/76 "2016-02-04T16:27:32Z")
Born in early 50s. I’m almost sure I’d seen 17.9 sometimes as a kid. In the 60s I think it was always around 30 cents. This was in the midwest. My dad would sniff out the cheapest prices around. And we’d sometimes get tumblers, steak knives, or green stamps. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2016, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724/77 "2016-02-04T16:56:55Z")
It was still before I could drive but I also remember that during the second oil crisis of the late 70s \*Time \*magazine ran a cartoon of a caricature of President Carter holding what he called, “Our new one-gallon gasoline ration stamp”. It was a dollar bill. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earliest-price-of-gasoline-you-can-remember/744724.md?page=3)