cheapest gas I've ever seen was 98 cents, during
the Clinton years.
Good times, if you didn't watch the 'news' (read:
daily Clinton's cock report.)
I'm all of 25 years old, and I doubt I'll ever
see it that low again.
guy fellows
The cheapest gas price I have ever seen was $0.79 in Seattle, WA the first week of April 1998.
Houston,
Vegasfest attendee 2003
Houston, you're just a kid!!
65 cents per gallon, Great Bend, KS
Doc Tracy
This is going to date me. Cheapest gas I
remember is 49c. a gallon in Florida, 1978.
When I got to Spokane in 1981 gas was about a
dollar and it stayed there until the nineties
when it got to be a $1.35 by the time we left
in 2002.
Of course around here it's double the current
high prices there --
Americans would choke at $5.00 per gallon! Funny,
really, since barrels are bought in dollars
and the dollar has been really low against the
Euro, but gas prices are up not down....
Oh and yes gas prices are high which is
why Europeans have small efficient cars, so that they
spend about the same in gas getting places as
Americans do (rest assured though you people
still get a deal because our license fees and
road taxes are higher as well).
Jitske
Jitske, you're just a kid...
When I was a kid in the 50s, gas was going for about 35 cents a gallon.
mla.
Bart,
I remember when gas was $0.29 / gallon, this was
in 1971 or 72 just before the first "gas shortage".
I was 17 at the time and had just started driving
(and buying my own gas). I couldn't believe it when gas went
up to $0.60 / gallon and stayed there a year
or two later. I thought the price would eventually come down, it didn't.
There were a lot of smart (but uninformed) people
claiming it was because too much oil had been used by the
gas guzzling cars of the time and oil wells were
running dry. Obviously, there was still plenty of oil and the oil companies
knew this. Now the gas guzzling cars, trucks
and SUV's are back and that's the way the BFEE likes it. We could do
a lot better on fuel economy but it would be
bad for the oil companies aka BFEE.
Henry T
Are you kidding? Yes, we old folks are going to
win.
When I was 20 yrs. old gas was $.59/gal, but
when I was a child, it was $.29/gal
...but bread was a nickel a loaf, too!
Deb
I 'll never forget the first time I stopped for
gas in my very first car (a 65 Buick Skylark, beautiful).
The price was 29.9. (and I'm 51).
I also remember the first gas crisis in
'73.
It was tough scrounging up the gas to get to
work.
I don't much care if we have another one.
Maybe the country needs a wake up call.
Karin
Hey, Bart,
When I first started driving, gas was about $.29
a gallon.
That was in the late 1960s, in the Metro New
York area.
I took a road trip to the West Coat in the early
1970s,
and the lowest price I remember was in California,
$.23 a gallon.
Yup, we "old folk" remember.
LuLu
Hi Bart,
In my distant memories (I’m 42) I recall visiting
relatives in Ohio in the late 60’s.
At one particular intersection my dad explained
“gas war”. I recall three filling stations
at one intersection all with prices below .30/gallon.
I seem to recall 28.9 being the winner.
Several years later the Arab oil embargo ensued
and petrol soared into the .60/gallon range if I recall.
Some perspective is needed since the minimum
wage was about 3.00/hr and my dad made about 30k/year
and we were “UPPER” middle class.
Ever notice how Americans become instant socialists,
and scream about corporate price gouging,
when fuel prices spike upwards? It makes
me laugh! Try living in Europe for a few years. Americans are spoiled.
Robert in Chicago
Keep sluggin’, republicans are bleeders and whiners.
26.9
TK Allen
25.9 daytona beach 1973
b best
25 cents a gallon, the Halloween night we trick or treated for gas money!
And guess what, we got it from 4 different houses,
then off in the car for Halloween fun.
That night we ran stop signs up the flag pole
in the town square, replanted yard ornaments on the front porch
of the local convent, and put "beer sold here"
signs on the front lawn of the parish priests.
The worst thing we did that night was turn a duck
from the park loose in the movie theater downtown,
you should have seen the people scrambling when
the duck started to quack. Those were the times,
and yes, much to my dismay, everytime I look
in the mirror and wonder why my mother is peering back at me,
I guess I have finally arrived in what is considered
the "older folks".
Barbara
25 cents-1965
James F
I'm 41 and I remember 25.9, and BOY did that piss my old man off at the time!
Dissident Dexter
www.mystolennation.com
A whopping 25¢ a gallon (Chevron) in 1967.
It was typically 30 to 33¢ for premium but
there was a "gas war" going on.
In case you're not old enough to know what that
is---various local gas stations
would try to undercut their competition's price.
Plus, that was in San Francisco bay area too.
bob
When I was in college in the early '50's I would
pull into the station
and for a night on the town order 1 gallon of
gas for 25 cents.
Anthony R
Hey there!
I remember gas at 24.9/gallon when we were in
the South on vacation back in the early 1970s.
When I was 16 in 1977, gas was 32.9/gallon;
I remember because my mom would give me $5.00
to fill the tank in the Volkswagen bug and she
expected the $1.25 or so change back!
--MisterX
Anyway, so the Buddha goes into a pizzeria and
says, "Make me one with everything."
The year I bought my first car, 1966, there
was a "gas war"in Norfolk, VA
and the price of gas went down to 24.9 cents
a gallon ...
Franz H
In the early 70's i worked at a gas station with
2 others within 50 ft.
There was a "gas war" going on.
I can remember prices as low as 23 cents a gallon.
The city is Cincinnati, Ohio.
Dave
When I was a kid I'd visit my grandparents in
Pueblo, Colorado.
That would have been early '60s.
I remember my Granddad driving seven blocks further
to a gas station that was $0.21/gallon,
instead of the one nearby at $0.23/gallon. Thing
is, although that sounds cheap in those days
a loaf of bread would have been about $0.18 to
$0.25. Today a loaf of bread would be about $3 average.
So gas has gone up since then about 10x and bread has too -- maybe a bit more.
Any other country in the world laughs at our bitching
about gas prices.
In most of Europe you will pay $5/gallon or more..
Alan
I saw .23 9/10 on Medford Avenue when I had just
gotten my license and had to put gas in the family car.
That's in Patchogue, NY, on Long Island, probably
before your time.
It was full serve back then too!
Joanne H
At a Hess station, during a gas "war". remember
when stations used to compete
w/each other to have the lowest price in town?
$.21 cents a gallon........
Wayne
20 cents per gallon.
That was back in the early sixties when I worked
for a while pumping gas.
You also got full service.
Check oil, water, air pressure in tires--wipe
windshields--and all other windows.
And it was very profitable for the gas companies
even at that price.
(I'm now 64).
Paul
I don't remember prices from my childhood, but
when I got my first car,
the price of a gallon of gas was 19-22 cents
a gallon.
Cheers,
Tarla
19 cents, north carolina,1970,
have no idea why, some local pump war.
thanks
....rebecca
I used to fill my VW Beetle for two bucks at a
Merit Station in Watertown Mass......19.9 a gal.
My foggy memory thinks 1968.
PAX
The cheapest I remember is when I was a graduate
student at the University of Michigan in 1970-71.
There was a gas war in Detroit and stations on
opposite corners were fighting to undercut each other.
I bought gas for 20 cents a gallon.
David
ever???
$.19 per gallon
Grandy Kat
p.s. I wouldn't mind paying these prices
if it were going to a tax district for road repair
or kid's health insurance -- but we all
know it is going into the pockets of Bushie's supporters.,
p.p.s. I now regret my smart ass response. A more
realistic sighting $.77 per gallon five years ago
last January in Oklahoma. I pulled over
faster that I ever done anything in my life.
In the early '70's in central Florida gas stations
used to have gasoline "price wars".
During one of those wars I regularly bought gas
for 19.9 / gallon.
I filled my Datsun up for just over $2.00.
Ahajbe
Bart,
The cheapest I ever saw posted gas was in Denver
in 1958. It was 19.9 cents per gallon.
They used to have "gas wars" advertised where
Texaco, Standard, et al, would try to offer better prices.
You could also buy a quart of motor oil for 10
cents.
Keep hammerin'
Ken M
$0.19 in the late 60's in SW Missouri
Helen
Gas 19cents a gal 1958 Eastchester NY.
Peter
19 cents a gallon
1958...S. Fl.
JonMnn
About 18.9 for regular in Kansas in about 1968.
This price was uncommon -- gas war stuff.
Price wars between stations were pretty common
then. The price was usually around 21.9 at that time.
The price was seldom as low as 18.9 but fairly
often at 19.9 at a few stations. You had to shop around a bit.
And of course I bought a gas hog (Ford Torino
Wagon) just a month before the first big run-up.
It got about 12 miles per gallon.
Joe
18 cents a gallon in 1958 in Newburyport, MA.!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bud A
1967.... 18 cents/gallon. Belleville, IL.
Jim
17.9 cents in 1963
Guy James
http://www.theguyjamesshow.com
was .17 when i was 11 years old in 1969
Chuck G
During one of the price wars (in 1967, I think)
my dad filmed this gas sign price (17 cents)
as we traveled across the country to California.
Un-freakin'-believable, huh?
Thanks for all your good work,
Tom N
Roswell
About the cheapest gas I ever saw was $.17 a gallon
at gas mart in about 1969.
best wishes to all !!!!
Roo
in the late '30's the cheapest grade of standard
oil was called 'stanoline' or similar
. . . and was with taxes, about 15cts,
regular was about 2cts higher and 'ethel' was
an add'l 2 or 3 cts.
in the early 50's reg was under 25 cts. at times.
my electricians pay was about 3.25 per hour.
semper fi,
pivo donj
At a 4 way stop with three gas stations in the
early 70's in Michigan,
every station at that corner was 14.9 cents
a gallon.
pocket change or returning a few empty pop bottles
would fill your tank.
That was the old days of gas wars, wars for the
lowest price, not the highest.
I never went to this station, but on the news
were pictures of a station charging 11.9 cents a gallon
tommy
.......13 cents a gallon on the Jersey side of the GW bridge! [Circa 1950].
dr-bud
While serving in the Navy in 1952 I can remember
buying gas for 12 cents a gallon.
On many occasions I pulled into a gas station
in my 47 Pontiac and got 50 cents worth.
Money was tight in those days on my Navy pay of
around 140.00 a month. I can't say for
certain since its been so long ago but I believe
the prices were even lower during a gas war.
In 1958 in Akron OH I can remember paying 17
cents for a gallon for gas, and 17 cents for a
loaf of bread and/or 17 cents for a quart of
milk at Lawsons Dairy stores. A case of beer was $3.00.
Cheers,
Robert W, (age 70-1/2)
Korean War Vet, USN
Robert - a shot of Chinaco to you!
The cheapest gas I ever filled my VW bug up with
was $00.11/gallon.
(That is eleven cents per gallon!)
This was, ironically, in the San Francisco Bay
Area just east of Oakland!
I was in high school at the time (c 1970).
Mike in Norman, OK
10 cents a gallon. Probably in 1932.
I filled up today in Santa Rosa CA - $2.17 a
gallon
Sonnie
7/8/1925
Well, Bart I'll tell ya.
Way back in "69 when I was just learnin' to drive,
I was livin' in a 'berg jes' outside'a Chi Town
an' we was in the middle a' one the biggest gas
price wars this here country eva saw.
Yes sir. the prices went from .24 cents to .20
cents to .15 then .12 and finally bottomed out at .099.
One station would drop their price and you could
watch as the other guys would see his price and drop him a penny.
Oh it was a great time to be alive and drive
big American Dee-troit muscle.
A-w-w-w the memories.
Charlie R.
Hello,
Yup, guess you could say we're a couple of those
'older folks' you mentioned. There was a huge gas price war
in Michigan…parts of the state anyway…and while
visiting Detroit we stopped to fill up at a station where the
price was a whopping 9¢ a gallon! The attendant
filled the tank, took our change, never bothered to turn off the pump
so the gas flowed like water down the street
& yes, this was done with a lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth.
We're guessing this was 1960-61 time frame, either
just before or just after we got married (Jan. 61).
We were living in Lansing & would have heard
any news about any station blowing up so know none did.
That would have been bigger news than the gas
prices!
Keep that hammer pounding Bart!!!
We've been here since the beginning so you're
a part of our family now.
If you ever get the urge to wander the UP of
Michigan, we'd love to be your guides.
Have a great day!!! Hello to Mrs. Bart…hello
peace
ron & chris
Ron and Chris, thanks for that.
Probably 8-10 cents per gallon, mid-Missouri, mid 1930's, when "coal oil" - kerosene - was 5 cents.
Patriot
Wow, I'm so young, I've never even heard of "coal oil"
, gas war in Nashua, New Hampshire,
early 1950's
when I was but a lad.
Bob S
Bob, you win!