It's a nice looking station design... clean and crisp.
Was it common for the owner to have his name on the building?
Rob
That's an awesome story, Lizzie. [emoji846]Yep. The letters were made of plastic, and were the same size and typeface as the "MARFAK LUBRICATION" letters you'd usually have over the grease bay. When we closed, the letters spelling out my grandfather's name were put in a paper bag and given to my cousin, who was his namesake. I hope he still has them.
... Was it common for the owner to have his name on the building?
Rob
I kept one of the red stars for myself -- our building had both the older porcelain steel ones and the newer molded plastic ones. When I took the steel one down off the front of the building I dropped it, and it chipped on the concrete below. I still have it hanging in the stairwell at home -- complete with that chipped spot in the enamel.
...
I could get it restored, but why would I?
This is our station in 1980, shortly before it closed. This is, in fact, the photo the real estate broker used to sell it for us...
View attachment 205197
My star is the one above the Marfak bay, and was one of the originals from when the place was built in 1940. The Washing bay was added in 1962, the same time the porcelain panels were added to the exterior, and the stars added at that time were the plastic ones.
This is the original 1940 configuration. One bay, painted clapboard siding, and no name over the door.
View attachment 205198
The building has been a lot of things over the past thirty-nine years -- a convenience store, a neighborhood pizza joint, and lately a cabinetmaking shop. It has recently been sold. I hope it doesn't get torn down to build something stupid.
Nope, the porcelain came off about ten years ago -- and by coincidence I happened to be driving thru town the day the panels taken off. The old 1940-era wood siding was underneath, and the outlines of the lettering were clearly visible from where the building had been painted and repainted many times without taking the letters down first. I wish I'd had a camera.
The panels were all heaped up at the side of the lot, and I assume they were sold for scrap metal. A pity, they were in very good condition and none were missing. It would have been an easy restoration for someone with the money and inclination to do it.
This is fairly recent, from when the cabinet place was operating there. The main entrance was moved around to the east side of the building when it was a pizza joint, and the bays were boarded over. The siding now is wooden panels, and I don't know if they left the original clapboards in place beneath them.
The street doesn't actually curve like that -- I think whoever took the picture must've used some kind of fisheye lens. Note the scar on the concrete where the pump island was removed.