Art & Inspiration Remember the products on the shelf at your local gas station?

Posted by Loner1 "Traditional Images" Thought it looked kinda cool, and does have some cool things sitting around.

 

Hello,

In our old Westside Long Beach neighborhood Mobil Gas Station, we had access to a Coke Slider Machine everyday. The Mobil Gas Station was on the walk home from school, several blocks from our Westside house. It was one of the more popular gas stations in the whole area. The difference in the photo and our neighborhood one, was that ours had only two gas pumps. The owner was very nice, knew our parents and liked having us stop by to say hello and buy a Coke.

The old machine, (SITTING OUTSIDE) in the photo is from another, old, Mobil Gas Station in Santa Monica. Our neighborhood version looked like that small building (office) separated from the mechanic’s two stall garage across the back of the property. The red Coke Machine was inside of the small office and the bottles in cases were on the lower shelves of the wall in the office. Sometimes, if the red Coke Machine was not full and it was time to restock the glass bottles. The owner would allow us to do it for him and the payment was a couple of Cokes. That was a deal we could not pass up.

Some times, the chipped ice was covering the bottom and the bottles from the top. Other times, there was freezing water covering the bottles up to the necks. We had to slide the bottles across the channels and up to the lifting gate. When the money was put in, the lifting gate allowed us to pull the bottles up and out.

Jnaki

Even after we started driving, there was something about those sliding bottle Coke machines. Maybe it was a teenage reminder of when the times were very simple, and the Cokes were inexpensive for us. But, when we were able to restock from the shelves, it was the ultimate, since the Cokes were free when we finished our jobs. Plus, drinking a freezing Coke just hit the spot.

The idea that on a hot summer day like we have been experiencing out West. There were always Coke bottles to resupply, into the open freezing machine. They were just sitting on those shelves, ready for the minimal cost of a freezing cold Coke in a bottle for us little kids. The owner knew we liked doing that job and he knew we liked those freezing Coke bottles. It was a small price to pay for a job well done.

 

Moriarity, that is an impressive collection that you have there!! I remember that our corner Sunoco station carried similar products but all I can distinctly remember were flashlights. Regards, Randy


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