Yes, I heard that groan. Sorry, but it had to be said. The Gulf pump shows 26.9 cents per gallon and the Marathon 37.9 cents per gallon. The way these pumps were constructed, the most they could charge for gasoline probably would’ve been 99.9 cents per gallon.
I’d be thrilled to pay that right now, wouldn’t you?
Teri 📷
Images by T.Dashfield Photography 
If it was that price, I could afford to drive the Edsel.
We could afford to do cross country road trips again!
I remember saying if gas went to 50 cents a gallon I was gonna stop driving.
We shall not speak of this…. 😉
I remember the Sinclair Dino. I also remember when the had to change pumps to handle $1.00 per gallon gas. Here some interesting stats for you. Below is the approximate cost of a gallon of gas for each decade beginning in 1960. I ran the prices through the Bureau of Labor Statistic CPI Calculator at https://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm, and here’s what I came up with:
Gas at 25¢/gallon in 1960 = $2.11/gallon in 2018
Gas at 36¢/gallon in 1970 = $2.36/gallon in 2018
Gas at $1.19/gallon in 1980 = $3.79/gallon in 2018
Gas at $1.34/gallon in 1990 = $2.61/gallon in 2018
Gas at $1.25/gallon in 2000 = $1.84/gallon in 2018
The price of regular gas in 2018 is around $2.60/gallon.
Gas prices haven’t really changed all that much when you consider inflation, other than the really high inflation in 1980 making it a bit of an outlier.
That’s a lot of statistics but I always found those sort of comparisons open for dispute. I prefer to see what the cost of living was/average salary at the time along with what the gasoline, car, loaf of bread cost.
I’m not sure what there is to dispute, but here’s your stats:
National average wage indexing series, 1951-2016. Social Security Administration: https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/COLA/AWI.html
1960 Average annual wage $4007 at 2080 hrs/year = $1.92/hour
2016 Average annual wage $48,642 at 2080 hrs/year = $23.38/hour
Loaf of white bread in 1960 = 21¢, 11% of hourly — current 2018 = $2.40, 10% of hourly
Cost of a dozen eggs = 57¢, 30% of hourly — current 2018 = $2.30 10% of hourly
Cost of a gallon of Milk = 49¢ 26% of hourly — current 2018 = $3.50, 15% of hourly
The Chevy Impala was one of the most popular cars in 1960 the lowest base price was $2,590, 65% of annual — a low base price for a 2018 Impala is around $27,000, 55% of annual but the actual price is probably closer to $30,000, 62% of annual
The stats make more sense to me (IMO) when I can see them as they relate to the other factors, in this case being what it cost to exist in that time period. Thanks for the breakdown.
Very interesting stats there Timothy. Never thought of doing the calculation. Thanks.
Hopefully alternative energy sources will soon get to the point where it at least feels that inexpensive! Too bad the cars themselves tend to be so expensive.
— Alex
Not holding my breath… making money is the name of the game 😦
That is very true. We had a client in hydroenergy who consistently had his funding tampered with by oil companies.
When I first began to pay for gasoline, it was .42 per gallon – around 1971
When I first began to pay for my used Chevy Nova (my first car) it was 77cents a gallon.
Who would have ever imagined gas would be where it is. Those are great shots. I remember .80 range.
Thanks. Oh those were the days….