The Gas Station (c.1938)
On the Clem Lang property there was a small building adjacent to the general store that was used as a Sunoco gas station. There one could buy oil, gas, tires, and minor auto repairs. The first gas pumps I remember were not electric, but had a glass tank with graduations in gallons on the glass so the attendant could hand-pump the amount of gas being sold into the glass container. When the nozzle was opened, the car’s tank was then filled by gravity. Sunoco gasoline was dyed blue so it looked very nice in those glass cylinders.
Inside the station was a short order restaurant where sandwiches and light meals were served along with coffee, soft drinks, and ice cream cones. There was a freezer with circular holes containing large 5-gallon paper containers of ice cream, also a “pop cooler” with a bottle-opener on the side containing Coke and Nehi pop in glass bottles partially submerged in water. In the center of the room were a half dozen small round tables with wire-backed chairs . Most of the Lang family took turns working there and at one time my father worked there as a short-order cook.
The Harness Shop
After the war the gas station closed and a harness shop moved in. There were horse harnesses for teams and singles, bridles, buggy whips, belts and other leather goods hanging everywhere along the walls. The smell of leather was very prominent.
Mr. Howard Hartman and his wife Ollie ran the harness shop. Along with selling and fixing harnesses they repaired shoes, made leather belts for men and machinery, fixed canvas tents and other items that needed heavy sewing.
Mr. Hartman was very methodical, deliberate, and spoke slowly and softly.
And then there was Ollie.
Ollie was a rather stocky lady with grey hair pulled into a bun. She would sit behind her sewing machine in her long dress and look up at the customers over the top of her small, oval glasses. She was almost the spitting image of Jonathan Winters character “Maudie Frickett”. She looked like someone’s saintly old grandmother, but when she spoke, her language would curdle milk, crack cement, and make a sailor blush.
One day I overheard her speaking to Dad about some girls standing in front of the store wearing shorts that she thought were too short. Click on the arrow to hear the conversation, but make sure your kids are out of the room.
See related pictures here