| Years ago,
motorists were not concerned with the miles per
gallon or fuel economy offered by the cars they
drove. Gasoline was plentiful and cheap and cars
were gas guzzlers by today's standards. As my
dad once commented when he was test-driving a
new Dodge sedan, "This car can pass anything but
a service station."
Tustin met the
demand with almost a dozen filling stations, as
they were called then, and garages with gasoline
pumps on the less-than-two-mile strip of Highway
101 passing through the community.
Motorists
approaching Tustin from the west on First Street
negotiated a broad curve into D Street (El
Camino Real), passed through the heart of the
downtown area, then made another curve onto
Laguna Road just past Sixth Street, crossed
Newport Avenue and passed in front of Tustin
High School as they headed to Irvine, El Toro,
Laguna Canyon Road, San Juan Capistrano, San
Clemente, Oceanside and San Diego.
Park's Texaco at
First and Tustin Avenue greeted them as they
approached the outskirts of Tustin. Two more
blocks and Case's Smiling Associated station and
Jerome Kidd's automotive repair were ready to
serve them at Mt. View and First. Three blocks
east at C St., Becker's Garage advertised Fords
and Mercurys in addition to repairs, tires,
batteries and accessories.
Bristow's Signal
anchored the southeast side of the curve onto D
Street from First, and three blocks south at
Third Street Carson and Golding offered tire
recapping, tires, lubes, batteries and Shell
gasoline. A Gilmore station proclaimed "Roar
with Gilmore" at Main and D. Just around the
corner between D and C on the north side of
Main, Oscar A. Leihy, who started with a bicycle
repair shop and sporting goods store, had added
an automotive garage to his business mix. The
Tustin Garage did repairs and pumped gas at
Sixth Street. If a motorist failed to stop at
one of these suppliers, he had a last chance at
either a Chevron or Signal station as he left
town.
Amazingly, all
these stations and garages stayed in business
for years although the owners frequently
changed. Bristow's Signal became Tustin Service
when Kenneth Cawthon bought it in the early '30s
and switched to Mobil Oil. Harry Holmes bought
the station some 10 years later, but kept the
Tustin Service name.
Console & Sisson
bought out Becker. Later Kidd moved his business
into the building. The Gilmore station became
Daniel's Mobil. The Signal station was
originally owned by L.L. Hood, but Austin
Pierson took over in the late '40s and Frank
Greinke later occupied the premises.
Tustin Garage was
started by William Huntley and Nick Gulick in
1915 and survived into the current century,
although the owners changed several times. Now
the building is in process of becoming a
restaurant.
Early service
stations operated differently than today's
self-service operations. The high school boys
hired to serve customers not only filled the
tank, they checked the oil level, the water in
the radiator, added air to the tires and washed
all the windows. In addition, a motorist could
usually get a map or at least directions to
guide them on the highway.
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