Let’s take a road trip through American gas stations during a time when full service meant an attendant would check your oil and clean your windshield as well as fill your tank. You’ll recognize historic brands such as Shell, Mobil, Sinclair, Richfield and Union 76, in locations ranging from Santa Monica’s palm-lined boulevards to small-town Rome, NY’s tree-lined streets and everywhere in between.
Many of these signs have vanished, replaced by modern corporate branding or lost to development. Some continue to exist only as “ghosts.” In all of their forms, these signs recall the distinctly American act of hitting the road and encountering these welcoming beacons along the way. Don’t forget your sunglasses!
PHOTOS SELECTED AND CAPTIONS BY Jeff Russ
No vintage road trip is complete without visiting Stuckey’s while filling up with hi-test Texaco gas. Don’t forget the pecan log!
Early Shell station showing off the iconic seashell-shaped logo, with a nice ghost sign in the background. ICA stands for “ignition control additive.”
Shell Wilshire Blvd. and Ocean Ave., Santa Monica, CA, early ’60s.
Shell Gas Station, Caldwell, OH, 1978.
Sears Gas Station, Rome, NY, 1983.
Save Way Gas Station, Amarillo, TX, 1977.
This soaring Mobil Gas Pegasus and the sporty convertibles filling up there are road-trip royalty.
Pegasus flies high at this Mobil gas station, Mount Clemens, MI.
Perhaps mistaking the town for Rome, NY, “Lubricatio” served the Italian community of Wilson, KS, 1980.
Richfield’s flapping eagle mascot stands out, even in this colorized photo.
Dinosaurs still among us: Sinclair ghost pole.
This Esso elephant ghost reveals its brush strokes but endures, Tucumcari, NM.
Another Esso sign, a portion on the right long since broken off. Photo by William Erb.
Happy Motoring indeed at this Esso station. There’s a swell tiger sign too!
A nice depiction of a Gulf Gas scaffold sign, Orange Auto Service postcard, Orange, TX.
Two Stiffs Selling Gas postcard, Lovelock, NV.
Note the crisp white hats at Standard Stations Inc. Gas and Service, Los Angeles, 1947.
Standard really leaning into Chevron gasoline with a huge building-mounted billboard, Los Angeles, 1963.
This ’60s-era Texaco station sits directly below Miami’s sensational Biscayne Blvd. Coppertone sign. “Are we there yet?”
Weld County Garage and gas station, Greeley, CO, 1980.
Union 76, Tucson, AZ, 1979.
Exxon Service Station, Magnolia, AR, 1979. I suppose the “O’s” are supposed to be tires in “Happy Motoring!”
22 Classic American Gas Station Signs
Let’s take a road trip through American gas stations during a time when full service meant an attendant would check your oil and clean your windshield as well as fill your tank. You’ll recognize historic brands such as Shell, Mobil, Sinclair, Richfield and Union 76, in locations ranging from Santa Monica’s palm-lined boulevards to small-town Rome, NY’s tree-lined streets and everywhere in between.
Many of these signs have vanished, replaced by modern corporate branding or lost to development. Some continue to exist only as “ghosts.” In all of their forms, these signs recall the distinctly American act of hitting the road and encountering these welcoming beacons along the way. Don’t forget your sunglasses!
PHOTOS SELECTED AND CAPTIONS BY Jeff Russ