Gas Prices

[pbrim]

I have noticed that gas prices tend to drop just before elections, although they dropped far more precipitously than usual this time. I thought we might see prices below $2.00/gal before the election, but I didn't really expect it. Sure enough, it was only down to $2.05 on Nov 4, but this morning I actually paid $1.999/gal. I never really though

Comments

[kayre]

I do remember gas wars, and 30 cent gas. My fondest memory is my father, sitting in line waiting for gas during the 1970s crunch-- and realizing that there was no one in line for full service. For a quarter (2 cents per gallon), he could skip the line and not even have to pump his own gas! He pulled over, and watched others from the line make the same realization and change lines.

[pbrim]

My husband recalls that when he was in high school ('66 to '70) Shamrock was giving out these stamps when you bought $2 worth of gas. You could collect the stamps and trade them in for plates, glasses, etc. He was trying to get stuff for when he went away to college, but he had to drive his '52 Plymouth almost on fumes in order to be able to put $2 worth of gas in at once.

Of course, $2 was a lot more money back then. Minimum wage was under $2 then, I believe.

[acelightning]

I definitely remember gas price wars - one memorable time, somewhere back in the 1950s, a local station got down to $0.0999/gallon! (Okay, I was just a little kid, but my parents were so excited about it that it stuck in my mind.) And I also remember very well when "a dollar's worth" of gas was somewhere between three and five gallons; even when cars only got 12 or so miles per gallon, a buck's worth was enough to get you to the movies, the roller-skating rink, or the grocery store... or to a cheaper gas station in the next town.

[pbrim]

In 1951, when my parent's were newly-weds, they were living rent free in a trailer owned by a friend of the family. My dad earned $12 a week, doing manual labor at a concrete pipe manufacturor. Every Friday, when he got paid, they bought $10 of groceries and $2 of gas, and thanked God for the free trailer. At least this was better than his first job out of high school in 1945, earning a dollar a day picking cotton (I believe it was $0.10 an hour for a 10 hour day). Pay was a major factor in his decision to join the air force.

[acelightning]

I don't remember knowing how much money my father made. But I do remember that chopped chuck was around 49 cents a pound.

[teddywolf]

Prices are still relatively high out here. I think right now it will depend on the difference in price of the barrels of oil. They can't easily blame the refining part of the pipeline when they've shut down so much capacity.

Of course, I think if the SPR stops buying large quantities of fuel that will also bring the prices back down some.

If we get renewables in play enough then the price of oil will likely drop below $100 a barrel (after it goes up again, I suspect it will) and stay there.