Whiting Brothers

In 1961, after I graduated from the US Navy's Terrier Guided Missile School at the General Dynamics/Convair plant in Pomona California, I and Tom, another schoolmate drove back East in his brand new Corvair. It was a real adventure and truly a trip of a lifetime. This was right before the Interstate Highway System opened and so we basically drove back on Route 66. There was an interesting phenomenon, for lack of a better term, and it was the Whiting Brothers chain of gas stations.

The Whiting Brothers had a gas station every 200, or so, miles along the old road. They were placed so that whenever you saw a station, you knew that it was probably time for another fill-up.

As you can see in the picture above, not only was there a filling station, there was a motel and a small grocery, or convenience, store. These are pictures of one such abandoned station that I took last week on our road trip.

You may not believe this if you are under 45, but a uniformed attendant would come out to your car and not only pump your gas, they would also check the oil and "water" and even the tire pressures, if you asked. This was all done without any additional charge. There wasn't any two tiered pricing back then for full and self service. When you got hungry, you would stop at Bubba's Burger Barn, or Molly's cafe, or Lefty's diner. You didn't normally order a #5 with fries. Some of it was real good, some not so good, but most of it had character and individuality.

Alas that's all changed now. When you cruise down the interstate now, you are never really sure if you are in Montana or New Hampshire. It all looks pretty much the same now. All graded nicely with long sweeping turns. Sure, you can make a bit better time now, but at the price of loosing a lot of the character of this big beautiful country of ours. Few people these days have actually driven across the country. We all fly across it in the time it takes to listen to the safety announcement, drink a few beers along with a bag of pretzels, make a trip to the lav and then buckle up and put your traytable up for the landing. If you don't drive it, you don't realize that it takes five days to drive it, not five hours like it is to fly it.

There used to be regional differences around the country. Different accents, food styles, attitudes and paces of life. Thanks to McDonald's and Wendy's and NBC and Interstate 10, it's pretty much gone. There are a few pockets of regional individuality here and there, but you really have to get away from the Interstates and the chain restaurants. Good luck.