LizzieMaine
Bartender
- Messages
- 33,715
- Location
- Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
I know they went out of style in the gas station business simply because the profit margin of selling gas got so low in the 1970s that most operators simply couldn't afford to participate in giveaway programs -- everything but the bare operational essentials got cut to the bone in those days. A lot of giveaways had to be *purchased from the oil company* by the local dealer to be handed out as traffic builders, but when the energy crisis hit, very few dealers were willing to lay out the cash needed to take part in those kinds of programs. The last thing we gave away was calendars, which we kept up right to the bitter end, but the days of free plastic Fire Chief hats for the kiddies ended in the 1960s.