***The Gas Wars, Circa 1964-How Much Was The Price Of A Gallon Of Gasoline?

Click on the headline, but only after you have read this entry and after you have made your guess, to link to a "1960s Flashback" Website for the answer. For those who graduated in other decades you can link from there. Thanks, Internet


This entry was originally posted on the Classmates site in March 2008. Revised and updated March 2010.

How much did it cost for a gallon of gasoline in 1964? In the interest of "speaking" to the wider "North Quincy Graduate" audience on "Facebook" just pick your year of graduation

Oil at $100 a barrel. Gasoline over three dollars per gallon at the pump (Remember this was written in March, 2008. AJ). No, do not worry, this is not intended to be the start of a political screed about the need to bring the 'Seven Sisters' oil monopolists to heel or to break up the international oil cartels, although those are very good ideas. Remember at the beginning of this series of commentaries I promised that I would not be political, at least not overtly so. All I want to ask today is whether, through the mist of time, you remember how much gasoline cost when you went to "fill 'er up" in high school.

Now this question requires some honesty on your part. Please, no Googling the "Quincy Patriot Ledger" or "The Boston Globe" to search their archives of the time. Nor should you use a calculator to factor back the effect of the rate of inflation on oil since 1964 to come up with an answer. Dear readers, this is not some torturous calculus problem. What you basically need to do is to remember some numbers from when you were daydreaming out the window in study hall. Or when you went out the door onto Hancock Street after school.

What is this guy talking about? Just this. Unless you were a total grind and always had your nose in a book then the answer merely requires that you had looked out the window. Directly across the street from the school were two gas stations (I believe somewhere near the MBTA parking lot and the MacDonald's are now) that were always in competition with each other. They, and I am not making this up for I do not have such a vivid imagination, actually were having very public price wars to bring in customers by REDUCING the price of their gas. But enough hints. Your answers, please?

P.S. For later, post-North Quincy MBTA, graduates you are left to your own resources about finding the gas prices.