I like to talk about Grandpa Adrian Zuidweg’s Sunoco gas station because it seemed a little magical when I was a kid. Here is how it looked 20 years before my time–in 1939:
I don’t know who lived in the house on each side in 1939, but I did 20 years later. Maybe it was the same people. The man who lived in the house on the left of the photo (to the right of the station) was Willie Dunn. When I was newly married and he was moving, he let me have an antique oak library desk from the house. I’m looking at it right now. Simple Queen Anne legs and two drawers without pulls.
Here’s a photo I’ve posted before–the view is different, so here you can see a sampling of the houses across the street on Balch Street. Any ideas on the date of this photo? The pump looks different than the ones in the 1939 photo, and then there is the car to help. I bet Uncle Don would know!
Grandpa by the pump at his Sunoco station
The pumps in the first photo have globes on the top of them. Does anybody know if the globes lit up like lighted signs? I found a photo of a vintage pump that looks like that type:
There is something to be said for such a fancy model, but it was probably more expensive to build and to maintain. In case you’re wondering, yes, people collect old gas station memorabilia–anything with a brand name and a logo!
Here is what Grandpa’s gas station looks like today. Or shall I say the site of the station. You see that white house? You can see all the way to that house because Willie Dunn’s house is gone.
When you were a kid, did you enjoy visiting or playing at or working at a small business in your family?
The Family Kalamazoo 