The Blog@DHP-Full Service 05/22/2011
"It puzzles me how they know what corners are good for filling stations. Just how did they know gas and oil was under there?"
Dizzy Dean
When I was a kid in the 1970s the small town I grew up in was like many others in the area. There were a lot of fields and forests, the population spread out over many miles. The downtown consisted of not much more than Main St. and the first hundred or so yards of the crossroads at the center of town. Gorham did a superb job of fitting everything you could need into that little space. By the time I was 8, there were two grocery stores, two churches, three banks, a convenience store, a salvation army store, a mom and pop store that children loved to frequent for the penny candy, the post office and four gas stations; three of which had full service garages.
I remember being in the back seat of my parents' Plymouth station wagon and pulling up to the pumps. "What can I do for you today?" the attendant would say. "Fill it up please"; my dad would reply. "Unleaded" he would add. While the tank was filling, the high school kid in overalls would check the oil, clean the windshield, and; if you asked, check your tire pressure. All at no extra charge. Oh, and if you needed air in your tires? That was free too.
Of course there were times when you'd need more than gas, oil or air. For repairs, minor or major, all you had to do was drive (or have the car towed) down to the center of town and you'd have three choices of where to have the work done. When I say the three places were close to each other, I mean it. Any Little Leaguer with even a half decent arm could stand at the pumps of one and hit either of the other two without a problem. Where you took it was all a matter of choice, which mechanic did you like better. Of course, you knew him by name and he knew yours.
Things have changed since I was a kid. It's the same for every generation. What was a the norm for one is barely remembered by the next. My parents remember the milkman, my grandmother the ice man. I remember kids on bicycles delivering the evening newspaper and full serve gas stations with repair shops. Do those things still exist? They do, but they are hard to find. There will come a time where having someone pump your gas for you will seem as archaic as watching black and white tv.
Those full serve stations in Gorham are now long gone. The Mobil on Main St. is still standing, but it's just an abandoned building waiting to be torn down when someone buys the land. The Sunoco across the street closed down a number of years ago, it was torn down and replaced by a Rite Aid. My parents' personal favorite, The Mobil on the peninsula between new Portland Rd. and Main St. was the first to shut down. It was razed and replaced by a Cumberland Farms.
"It is the service we are not obliged to give that people value most."
James Cash Penney
The architecture of the gas station/garage is simple; utilitarian. Nothing ornate or superfluous, they were built for a purpose, function over form. The simplicity of the building lets the viewer of my photographs insert their own memories into the image, or for the younger generations, allow for them to "imagine when". This series is dedicated to the untold number of times the words "What can I do for you today?" were spoken by the attendants and the thousands of cars that were fixed by the man whose name you knew. Their time may have passed, but the memory and nostalgia of them will remain.
"It puzzles me how they know what corners are good for filling stations. Just how did they know gas and oil was under there?"
Dizzy Dean
When I was a kid in the 1970s the small town I grew up in was like many others in the area. There were a lot of fields and forests, the population spread out over many miles. The downtown consisted of not much more than Main St. and the first hundred or so yards of the crossroads at the center of town. Gorham did a superb job of fitting everything you could need into that little space. By the time I was 8, there were two grocery stores, two churches, three banks, a convenience store, a salvation army store, a mom and pop store that children loved to frequent for the penny candy, the post office and four gas stations; three of which had full service garages.
I remember being in the back seat of my parents' Plymouth station wagon and pulling up to the pumps. "What can I do for you today?" the attendant would say. "Fill it up please"; my dad would reply. "Unleaded" he would add. While the tank was filling, the high school kid in overalls would check the oil, clean the windshield, and; if you asked, check your tire pressure. All at no extra charge. Oh, and if you needed air in your tires? That was free too.
Of course there were times when you'd need more than gas, oil or air. For repairs, minor or major, all you had to do was drive (or have the car towed) down to the center of town and you'd have three choices of where to have the work done. When I say the three places were close to each other, I mean it. Any Little Leaguer with even a half decent arm could stand at the pumps of one and hit either of the other two without a problem. Where you took it was all a matter of choice, which mechanic did you like better. Of course, you knew him by name and he knew yours.
Things have changed since I was a kid. It's the same for every generation. What was a the norm for one is barely remembered by the next. My parents remember the milkman, my grandmother the ice man. I remember kids on bicycles delivering the evening newspaper and full serve gas stations with repair shops. Do those things still exist? They do, but they are hard to find. There will come a time where having someone pump your gas for you will seem as archaic as watching black and white tv.
Those full serve stations in Gorham are now long gone. The Mobil on Main St. is still standing, but it's just an abandoned building waiting to be torn down when someone buys the land. The Sunoco across the street closed down a number of years ago, it was torn down and replaced by a Rite Aid. My parents' personal favorite, The Mobil on the peninsula between new Portland Rd. and Main St. was the first to shut down. It was razed and replaced by a Cumberland Farms.
"It is the service we are not obliged to give that people value most."
James Cash Penney
The architecture of the gas station/garage is simple; utilitarian. Nothing ornate or superfluous, they were built for a purpose, function over form. The simplicity of the building lets the viewer of my photographs insert their own memories into the image, or for the younger generations, allow for them to "imagine when". This series is dedicated to the untold number of times the words "What can I do for you today?" were spoken by the attendants and the thousands of cars that were fixed by the man whose name you knew. Their time may have passed, but the memory and nostalgia of them will remain.
©2010/11 David Hill Photography
