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Bellefonte Gazette April 16 2005, page 6
Payin' At The Pump
By Chip Aikens
"Last week I returned home with my family after an Easter visit with my mother and stepfather. During our travels I couldn't help but notice how expensive gasoline has become. At some locations in Florida, you could easily pay $2.75 per gallon. The highest price was pennies away from $3.00. Then I recalled how a friend from church had operated gas stations, here in Bellefonte until his retirement in 1980.
How expensive was our modern world's lifeblood in "the good ol' days"? Mr. Richard Wallace had just graduated High School in 1937 when he took his first job as a service station attendant. Dave Evans operated a station in Milesburg and needed help. Dick became his employee until 1940 when Mr. Dewey Krumrine needed someone to lease and operate the Esso station on Willowbank Street. The location was where the current "Welcome to Bellefonte" sign sits at the entrance to the old Clasters property. In those days, Dick recalls, the special was 6 gallons of gas for $1.00. The average price was l7cents per gallon. There were no hotdog cookers or Slushie machines. The philosophy was service based. Dick wore coveralls identifying him .as an Esso attendant. He pumped the fuel, checked the oil, cleaned the windows and mirrors. All this attention at a price for a fill-up equivalent to a gallon of milk today... Dick had to five up his job as a service station attendant when, in August of 1941, Uncle Sam called him into service. We were not yet at war in Europe or the Pacific but Dick and his seven brothers knew it inevitable. During his absence Dick's brothers operated the station while his mother kept the books.
After the attack on Pearl Harbor things changed dramatically at home... U.S. government imposed rationing was instituted- so that vital resources could be directed to the war effort. Mr. Wallace's Esso had to go to part-time because fuel supplies had been restricted. 'While Dick was on assignment with Army Air Corps his family tried to deep the station operating, but in 1943, the lease was up for renewal and Mr. Krumrine signed with a new operator. Also because of the manpower needs of the war effort Dick's brothers were called to service and no one was able to operate the station.
After 4 years, 4months and 18 days with Uncle Sam, dick returned to Bellefonte. In 1945 the Mike's Video location at the corner of Bishop and Allegheny Streets had been a Sunoco station operated by Bill Farree. Mr. Wallace went to work there until 1950 when Atlantic Richfield purchased the old Phoenix Mill, which is now the site of Cahterman's Texaco and UniMart, and built a new station on Willowbank Street. Dick applied and became the manager of that station and later the station on the corner of Spring and Bishop Streets, currently the discount tobacco store. That site had been the home of Mr. Henry Brockerhoff who deeded the property to the nuns of St. John's Catholic Church, who resided there. Atlantic Richfield purchased the home site in 1962 when it was determined to be too unstable for habitation.
During his years of operation Dick recalls that prices remained relatively constant until the first Arab Oil Embargo of 1972. That event illustrated that petroleum products had become more critical to our daily lives than previously thought. This was the first time that energy conservation was being taken seriously. On inflation adjusted basis the prices in the early 1 970s are still considered higher than our current $2.20 gasoline. Not only have the prices changed but also the service station has taken some dramatic transformations.
Dick remembers that in 1978 Atlantic Richfield was changing their gas stations over to a new revolutionary style of fueling station, the convenience store. He was sent to a special training program at their California headquarters. When he returned he was a franchisee with 1 1%of all gross sales going back to ARCO. The new store had become the AM/PM, suggesting the longer hours of operation that we've come to expect from convenience stores. No longer did an attendant pump your gas or check the oil. Everything had gone self-service. Lower overhead they claimed. Dick had also purchased ground near the exit to Interstate 80 in preparation for the new Keystone Shortway. He built a modern fueling facility. In 1975 Dick was managing 2 stations for Atlantic and his own location on Jacksonville Road. He decided to lease his location to Rich Young. At the end of the lease in 1983 Dick then sold the location to State College based C.S. Myers and Son. It is now currently the closed Shell station. In 1980 ARGO increased the deposit requirements and gross sales percentages to 14%. As a result, Dick decided that it was time to retire.
A lot has changed in the petroleum industry since Mr. Wallace got his first job pumping gas and repairing generators. Perhaps the next idea at the convenience store will be second mortgages so we can conveniently pay for our fill-ups. Full-Service stations still exist and provide a wide range of repair specialties and services. Bellefonte has three full service proprietors within its borders. They are Don's Service Station on Bishop Street, Catherman's Texaco and the Exxon, both on Willowbank Street. To Mr. Wallace and the other service station attendants, we at the Gazette thank you for your years of service to the motoring public."
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