The Brucer
Esso visible gas pump - Durham County, N.C.
Visible gas pumps first appeared around 1915, and went out of use in the 1930's. This particular pump is located at Patterson's Mill Country Store in Durham County near Chapel Hill, NC. Patterson's Mill is kind of a combined "old country store" and museum filled with NC collectibles.
This pump was moved here from another location as part of the store's extensive collection of vintage items.
With visible pumps, gasoline was pumped from underground tanks into the visible glass cylinder at the top of the pump. The operator watched the level of gas in the cylinder and stopped the flow when the gas reached the desired gallons. There were three different mechanisms for drawing the gas from the underground tank into the overhead glass cylinder: manual hand operated, electric motor-driven, or air-operated.
Many states banned visible pumps because of fire hazards and inaccurate measurements. Clock meter pumps replaced visible pumps in the 1930s.
Esso visible gas pump - Durham County, N.C.
Visible gas pumps first appeared around 1915, and went out of use in the 1930's. This particular pump is located at Patterson's Mill Country Store in Durham County near Chapel Hill, NC. Patterson's Mill is kind of a combined "old country store" and museum filled with NC collectibles.
This pump was moved here from another location as part of the store's extensive collection of vintage items.
With visible pumps, gasoline was pumped from underground tanks into the visible glass cylinder at the top of the pump. The operator watched the level of gas in the cylinder and stopped the flow when the gas reached the desired gallons. There were three different mechanisms for drawing the gas from the underground tank into the overhead glass cylinder: manual hand operated, electric motor-driven, or air-operated.
Many states banned visible pumps because of fire hazards and inaccurate measurements. Clock meter pumps replaced visible pumps in the 1930s.