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Is gasoline a bargain -- check the math, see what you think

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by cyberpriusII, May 18, 2017.

  1. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    My dad claims he remembers gasoline was 13 cents per U.S. gallon when he was growing up on the USA's West Coast. He's around 60 years old now.....

    Don't know, but his memories seem a bit suspect.

    But, in any case, came across this interesting fact from Rock Auto.

    Today's $2.50 gallon (3.8 liter) of gasoline equates to about what price per gallon in 1967 US dollars (adjusted for inflation)?

    Answer is $0.34 per gallon in 1967 US dollars (Gas averaged $0.33 per gallon in 1967 in the US. The real price of a tank of gas is the same now as it was 50 years ago!)
     
  2. bat4255

    bat4255 2017 Prius v #2 and 2008 Gen II #2

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    My old rule of thumb from the late 60's to early 70's a pack of smokes, a gallon of milk a gallon of gas, close to the same price (.35-.40). x10 for inflation (without the heavy tax on smokes) = today's average

    I 1971 I was making $5 per hr in the trades, I wish wages kept the same rate of increase.
     
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  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    it is, taxpayers subsidize the actual costs. i'm 62, and was paying about 25 cents when i first started driving.
     
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  4. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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    no, it's cheaper. the official US inflation figures are way underestimated.
     
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  5. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    At $2.50/gal, it really is.

    Also, don't forget there are probably additional taxes since the 70s added to gasoline tax (like an increase in fuel surcharge tax to pay for roads or the introduction of GST).
     
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  6. AzWxGuy

    AzWxGuy Weather Guy

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    I can remember 35 cents a gallon up in Wisconsin in 1968, and I'm around 60 years old. That was for leaded gas. Unleaded came out in the mid 70's. My first job mowing lawns. It's possible that California prices were lower since they had refineries.
     
  7. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

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    I'm pushing 70 and the cheapest I remember is about 30 cents.
    His figure of 13 cents is REALLY suspect.......unless he was buying bootleg gas and not paying the taxes !! :)
     
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  8. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    if you spent enough time looking, (my father's passion) you could find an off brand pretty cheap in the 60's. he would drive 20 miles to save a dime a gallon.
    and they gave you free glassware with every fill up, also not unleaded.:cool:
     
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  9. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Taxes could be higher when you factor in Fed+State+Local (total) taxes.

    Years ago, gasoline price was quoted like this:
    Gasoline 25 cents + 3.5 cents tax

    Congress said that was misleading and made it illegal to quote taxes for gasoline.
    To this day, U.S. consumers are banned from knowing the total taxes on a gallon of gaso at the pump.
     
    #9 wjtracy, May 19, 2017
    Last edited: May 19, 2017
  10. Kenny94945

    Kenny94945 Active Member

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    Thanks for the memories.
    If I recall, gas was .30 when I drove a 427 Vette....4 in town 11 highway mpg.
    Sold for a 389 GTO....never tracked its mpg, yet is was better than above.
     
  11. Sam Spade

    Sam Spade Senior Member

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    Not exactly true. There are many ways you can find that out.
    Up until very recently, there always was a sticker on the pump, or very nearby, that plainly stated the taxes.
     
  12. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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    Seems to me our gasoline pumps have the taxes on the side of the pump....I may be wrong. I have to double-check.

    Talked to Dad, he still claims 13 cents per gallon in Southern California around 1970 or so. He says it was probably at a "Lucky" gasoline station, which was attached to a Lucky Supermarket.

    He said they did not give out glasses or any other things, but the local Shell station gave out steak knives, glasses and even had a Mr. President coin game.

    I found the following:

    eExhibit - Shell's Mr. Presidential Coin Game

    Apparently,Dad's neighbor in 1970, owned the local Shell service station and my grandfather had all the "complicated repairs" done at the Shell station. Not many gas stations that do repair work anymore.
     
  13. jerrymildred

    jerrymildred Senior Member

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    Don't forget the S&H Green Stamps! :)

    I'm 64. Lowest price I remember was 30 cents or just under. I remember all of a sudden paying 60 cents at a station near Tahoe on my way back east from the Bay area in the early 70's. I thought I was gonna swallow my tongue.

    So, yeah, it's a huge bargain right now.
     
  14. Former Member 68813

    Former Member 68813 Senior Member

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    So, what was a typical low skill hourly wage in those days of $0.25 gas?
     
  15. wjtracy

    wjtracy Senior Member

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    Never saw a sign at the gas station showing total fed+local+state gov't taxes and fees per gallon...that approach would be good if it existed

    You can go to the API website to get state-by-state tax data to see average total taxes paid per gallon in your state. If your state is like Virginia though, we have different taxes in different parts of the state. So basically you have to try to estimate total taxes in your part of the state.

    http://www.api.org/~/media/Files/Statistics/StateMotorFuel-OnePagers-Apr-2017.pdf
     
    #15 wjtracy, May 20, 2017
    Last edited: May 20, 2017
  16. cyberpriusII

    cyberpriusII Prodigyplace says I'm Super Kris

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  17. Stevewoods

    Stevewoods Senior Member

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    I seem to remember more of the 50-cent or so gasoline in the 1970s, but to be honest, the price was so low, I did not pay much attention. By the time I started driving (mid-70s), the service stations had pretty much stopped giving way steak knives and other items, but I know that most families in my neighborhood had a lot of their kitchen's stocked by give-aways from Texaco, Mobil, etc.

    $2.00 an hour was what I earned in my first real job about 1975 or so.

    I worked in a small tool & die shop as a punch press operator. I think I was 16 at the time. It was considered a hazardous occupation and you needed to be 18 to work in that industry per federal/state law, but I lied about my age. In those days, no one really checked ids or social security numbers.

    It was a small shop, ran by a German immigrant who had served in the German Army in WWII as a very young teen. He was a kind guy, whom I think was sorta of scarred by the whole Nazi thing (and, no he was no Nazi supporter).

    He must have felt a bit sorry for me as a lower-income kid struggling to earn cash. And, I think he probably knew I was not 18. He gave me a raise of ten cents an hour after my second day!

    He also encouraged me to go to college and when I finally did announce to him that I had been accepted to Humboldt State University, he gave $100 and told me it was for books, not beer....

    Good guy.
     
    #17 Stevewoods, May 20, 2017
    Last edited: May 20, 2017
  18. GrGramps

    GrGramps Active Member

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    Okay youngsters, it's my turn now. In the 60's there was a price war in Baltimore and we saw prices drop to .16. When mentioning this to my older sister, she reminded me that in the early 30's (when I was born) my father had a filling station and repair shop in Deland FL where he sold gas for 10 cents a gallon. (Sister had her 90th not long ago)
     
  19. tpenny67

    tpenny67 Active Member

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    With the prius, gas costs about the same per mile as I was paying when I graduated college and got half the mileage. Of course, my commute is much longer now.

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
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  20. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    when i got my first job in 1970, gas was around 30 cents, and i got 60 cents per hour, working at a holiday inn, iirc. that's 2 gallons of gas.
    at todays minimum wage in ma, you can buy almost 5 gallons of gas, but mw has gone up a lot recently.
    that being said, it's been a long time so it was $5./hr, and my kids have to pay $20. for a babysitter.
     
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