I don't believe if there ever was a Mobil gas station like this Hooker Oklahoma but I did see a grain elevator similar to the one in the background. The service station was an unusual design that Mobil Oil Co. had and only a few prototypes were ever built. It's been referred to as the "Drum Style" structure and at least one still remains in Storm Lake IA. At left is a mocked up concrete grain silo that will be redone also. While in my second year of Dunwoody Institute (1964) , I worked at a full service Mobile station in Northwest Minneapolis on Broadway Avenue. It was called "Wally's Carburetor Service." Wally was an absolute professional emphasizing strict work procedures that are still with me today. Wally was an example of "good things come in small packages". He was only about five foot tall, but a brilliant tune up man. He also knew his neighborhood gas customers and always greeted them by their "sir" name no matter how well he knew them. There were about ten step stools around the property. In order to wash a windshield he needed to stand on a stool to reach across the glass. Some customers were extremely fussy about getting their windshield clean without streaks. You learned to stuff a couple paper towels in your back pocket wipe them out after squeegeeing the glass. An you better not even think about bending their aerial. Yes, they were called radio aerials before we called them antennas. He was a Japanese American from Hawaii and told me that in a couple years he would be 50 years old and then he would retire on the main Island. Gee, that was 42 years ago. |
| A 39 Ford Fastback Sedan jacked up for a tire repair gives action to a still scene. Highway 54 has just been paved but not grooved, weathered and striped. I spent a lot of time on weathering and signs on the grain elevator and to me it looks about right. |
