Before there were electric cars.

 

“Well, my time went so quickly

I went lickety-splitly

Out to my ol' 55

As I pulled away slowly

Feeling so holy

God knows I was feeling alive.”

This may come as a surprise, but for years I have been following oil futures; these futures contracts are what buyers and sellers of crude oil use for delivery for a particular future time frame. It’s all about predicting supply and demand and when they get it wrong, you can see prices either increase or decrease. This past year, for the first time I remember, the demand for oil was so uncertain the cost of a barrel fell below a dollar. 

I remember joking that if I went to buy a can of oil, I should ask the store for money for my taking it off their hands. I didn’t and I assure you they wouldn’t.

When I was first driving a car, my friends and I would drive up and down Olive Street Road in St. Louis; we would be out looking for girls to talk to and meet. Since we didn’t have much luck with that, we would usually end up at Denny’s and either have something to eat or coffee to see how late we could stay up. During those days so long ago, a dollar would get you about 3 gallons of gas. My friends and I would all chip in a dollar and we would have about as much gas in the tank as when we started the night. 

In addition to these ridiculously low gas prices, gas stations also gave out premiums for filling up at their station. Shell gave out steak knives and we had a bunch of them in the drawer where we kept utensils. I don’t remember which station gave out drinking glasses with the local sports team on it, but I remember we had plenty of those too. 

Obviously oil remains very much a part of our daily lives—-but as I have learned over time, oil is much more than gasoline…it’s in the plastic that wraps food, clothing and more than 6,000 products. Yes, you read that right.

The photo above was taken at home nearby; the person who owns the home collects toys and antiques. He has quite a collection of “stuff.” As you can see, gas pumps have  changed a lot since these were found at stations around the U.S. Back then you didn’t put a credit card in a slot, have a TV to entertain you while pumping, and more than likely you never left the car because someone else put the gas in the tank. 

Thanks for stopping by.