gas pumps

Gas Pumps.

How many times in your life do you think you went to a gas station. Probably 1000s of times. Gas pumps mark a huge industry and something in North America we all grew up with. For most people alive now, gas stations and gas was a important part of life.

Wikipedia explains it,

“The first gasoline pump was invented and sold by Sylvanus Bowser in Fort Wayne, Indiana on September 5, 1885. This pre-dated the automobile industry- It was commonly used to dispense the kerosene used in lamps and stoves. He later improved upon the pump by adding safety measures. By adding a hose to directly dispense fuel into automobiles. For a while, the term bowser was used to refer to a vertical gasoline pump. In the United States this term is now only used for trucks that carry and dispense fuel to large aircraft at airports, but it is still used sometimes in Australia and New Zealand.

Many early gasoline pumps had a calibrated glass cylinder on top. The desired quantity of fuel was pumped up into the cylinder as indicated by the calibration. Then the pumping was stopped and the gasoline was let out into the customer’s tank by gravity. When metering pumps came into use, a small glass globe with a turbine inside replaced the measuring cylinder, but assured the customer that gasoline really was flowing into the tank.”

There are companies that reproduce the older gas pumps. As far as I know, the ones I photograph are all original gas pumps.

The photographs are vintage Gas Pumps from different gas companies. Photographs by Kelly Cushing Photography