There's No Fuel Like An Old Fuel

By Jeff Little

While Nat King Cole was singing about Mona Lisa and families were flocking to the movies to see Cinderella, service station attendants were actually saying, "Fill 'er up? Check the oil?" But that was in 1950, when you bought gas at a service station and paid around 27 cents a gallon to fuel-up, get your windshield washed and tire pressure checked after pocketing your weekly pay of about $51.00 a week.

Today, an average American is more than likely listening to rap or angst-ridden pop music, driving to the nearby multiplex to see some overly-violent, nudity-laden film based on Hollywood's idea of what 19-year-old boys will pay to see, and all the while asking, "What's a service station?" They're also earning about $700 a week and paying around $2.15 a gallon for gasoline.

Simple arithmetic tells us that, by comparison, we're paying less for gas now than we did then. So why does it feel like we're being gouged at the pumps? Maybe we're all just becoming collectively angst-ridden due to the pop and rap being played on the radio as we drive to the multiplex to see overly-violent, nudity-laden films.

Or not.

More than likely, the reason we all feel shock and awe at the pump these days is due to sudden price hikes over the last 10 years that never occurred in the 50's. As a matter of fact, the 60's never experienced such outrageous bumps in consumer fuel prices either.

It doesn't take a math major to figure-out that the difference between gas prices and wages in the 50's and 60's is totally disproportionate with what we're all experiencing today. It only takes a pencil and paper (or calculator, computer, etc.) to conclude that something has gone seriously awry with the earnings versus octane situation in the past decade.

From 1950-1959, the average American wage went from around $2,650 to about $3,855 a year. During the same 10 years, gasoline went from around 27 cents to only 30 cents a gallon. And the 60's weren't much different.

Those Americans who weren't reciting Beatnik poetry in coffee houses earned about $4,500 in 1960. And by 1969, those who weren't bumming "spare change" in Haight Ashbury were more than likely working hard for $6,900 a year.

Meanwhile, gassing-up your "rod" only set you back 30 cents a gallon in 1960. And by 1969, it had only gone up a nickel to 35 cents a groovy gallon.

So if you want to take a trip down memory lane, driving might be an economical way to go. From Perry Como to Elvis Presley to The Beatles would be a trip that only varied in cost by 8 cents a gallon from beginning to end. But be warned, if you continue cruising into modern times, you better be ready for a steep uphill drive.

From 1995-2005, annual wages went from around $24,700 to about $36,400 while gasoline skyrocketed from $1.10 to a depressing $2.15 per gallon. And unlike the 50's and 60's, popular music didn't get any better.

Go figure.


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