Service Station (1957)

[Music] In every neighborhood today, there is a service station. You can probably remember seeing one in your own neighborhood. Here you can buy gasoline and oil for your car and you receive many other services as well. [Music] Because so many people have cars today, service stations are very important. Long ago, there weren't many service stations. You probably know the reason why. In those days, long ago, there weren't many automobiles. The few there were who would seem funny to us today. People wore special coats to keep dirt from the dusty road off their clothes. And the goggles kept dust out of their eyes. If you had lived in those days, you would have found that a drive in the family car was a real adventure, something like a pioneer adventure. If you had a flat tire, as you often did on such poor roads, there wasn't a service station nearby to have it fixed. You had to fix it yourself. Pumping up a tire by hand was hard work, but a pioneer's work is always hard. There were only a few service stations in those days. Often they were out back of the local hardware store. They weren't really service stations as we know them today, but here you could buy gasoline. If you wanted five gallons, the storekeeper would measure it out one gallon at a time. The storekeeper kept a barrel of oil on hand for your strange looking machine, but the chances were you'd have to show him where to put the oil. In those days, long ago, there were few service stations because only a few people own cars. Today, there are a great many cars and trucks. Cars carry people to work, on trips, and on vacations. Trucks carry many things that people need from place to place. Service stations are much different today because they serve so many more people. Today, big tank trucks deliver large amounts of gasoline to a service station. The driver takes out a long, heavy hose from his truck. There are large storage tanks underground at every service station. The driver puts one end of the hose in a hole that leads to an underground tank. The other end of the hose is connected to his tank truck. He then pulls a handle that starts the gasoline flowing from his truck through the long heavy hose to the underground storage tank. A meter shows how many gallons of gasoline are going into the underground tank. The underground tanks hold enough gasoline for many automobiles. It is brought up to your car by these familiar pumps above ground. Men who run service stations are called dealers or managers. And a man who works for them is called an attendant. The attendant finds out what kind and how much gasoline you want. He then gets the pump ready for a new sale. The attendant takes out a long hose. He places the hose in your car's tank. As he squeezes the handle, gasoline pours into the tank. The attendant watches the numbers on the pump. If you want five gallons, he'll stop the pump when five gallons are delivered. Other numbers on the pump show how much money the five gallons cost. The attendant also checks under the hood of your car. He looks to see if there is enough water in your radiator. If more is needed, he pulls out a special water hose to fill the radiator. He replaces the cap when the radiator is full. All cars need oil. The attendant checks to see if there is enough oil in your car. He pulls out a long metal rod from the engine. The end of the rod shows when more oil is needed. Oil is often sold at a service station in quart bottles or cans. Today's service station attendant knows exactly where and how to put oil in everybody's car. The attendant also checks your tires. He uses the air hose to do this. He places the end of the hose on the tire valve. Air goes into the tire when the button is pressed. A gauge shows how much air. Every time the button is pressed, more air goes into the tire until the gauge shows that the tire contains the right amount. The service station attendant washes your windshield so that it's bright and clear. Then you pay him for the gasoline and oil. His other services are free. Some service stations keep the money drawer in the station house. And it's here where the attendant goes to get your change. Every car needs another kind of service called lubrication to make it run smoothly. The attendant pushes a handle which raises your car off the ground on a special rack. Many of the parts he lubricates are underneath the car. A device called a grease gun is designed to lubricate a car. It is used to force heavy grease into many parts of your automobile. Other parts underneath are oiled while your car is on the lubrication rack. Many useful tools are used at a service station to help the attendant do his work. This tool is used to help fix a flat tire. How much better and faster this is than long ago when there were only a few service stations. Today there are many cars and many service stations. You see them everywhere serving people during the day and some of them staying open around the clock to serve people who travel at night. Service stations are everywhere. Certainly, there is one in your neighborhood, too. [Music]