Notable Burials West Laurel Hill Cemetery: Oil, Paper Towels & Singers

BILLY PAUL  (1934-2016)--  Born Paul Williams.  Singer of "Me and Mrs. Jones."

TEDDY PENDERGRASS  (1950-2010)--  R&B / Soul singer

JOSEPH NEWTON PEW  (1848-1912)--  Founder of Sun Oil Co., now Sunoco.

ARTHUR HOYT SCOTT  (1875-1925)--  Inventor of the paper towel.

We Got a Good Thing Going On.  --DaCoot

Gas Shortage in 1920

From the Nay 13, 2020, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

"Another filling station is out of gasoline.  Sawyer & Sons reached the limit this morning and at the present time, the only place in town that has gas is the independent oil filling station.

"The Standard is all out and has been for the past four days.  Both it and Sawyers are expecting a car, but because of the uncertainty of the railroads, do not know when  it will arrive."

Gas Shortages?  Back then?  Didn't Know there Were That Many Cars.  --CootGas

Work Or Fight Order and Sunday Driving During World War I

You can read two Looking Back 100 Years Ago from 1918 in my  Down Da Road I Go blog from yesterday, February 21, 2019.  I accidentally put them in that blog and didn't want to redo them in this one.

In short, you were not supposed to go joy riding on a Sunday because of gasoline concerns.  Plus, an industry deemed important to the World War I war effort didn't have to worry about its workers either working in a war industry or signing up to fight.

--Cooter

Gasoline Tables

From the June 19th Chicago Tribune.

OF EVERY DOLLAR YOU SPEND FOR GAS:

68% is the price of oil
7% Refining costs and profits
10% Distribution and marketing
14% Taxes and fees


FUEL TAXES: HIGHEST AND LOWEST

The national average is $0.495

5 Highest

Connecticut $0.703
New York $0.691
Illinois $0.690
California $0.689
Hawaii $0.678


5 Lowest

New Hampshire $0.380
Arizona $0.374
New Mexico $0.372
Mississippi $0.372
Missouri $0.357

So, Route 66 has two of the highest at either terminus (Ca. and Il.) and three of the lowest (Az., NM and Mo.) along the middle.


WHEN YOU BUY GAS IN CHICAGO, YOU PAY...

FEDERAL-- 18.4 cents excise tax
ILLINOIS-- 19 cents excise tax, 5% sales tax
CHICAGO-- 1% sales tax, 5 cents fuel tax
COOK COUNTY/MULTI JURISDICTION-- 1& sales tax, .8% regional transit sales tax, 6 cents fuel tax, .8 cent environmental impact tax and .3% underground storage fund.

OUCH!! --Cooter

There Go the Gas Prices Again

And, the sad thing is that the unrest in the Middle East and North Africa really doesn't have much to do with it. The reason those prices at the pump are going up is investors and Big Oil who see an opportunity to make some really big bucks.

Were they not buying and selling, then buying again so fast, oil would continue at its already too high price, but at least not spiking.

I can see prices going up if there is a lack of oil, or actual loss of oil, but not like this. Even back in that horrible summer of 2008, when gas went over $4 here in the US (setting the groundwork for the Super Recession), there was plenty of gas to be bought, as long as you were willing to pay for it.

An editorial in today's USA Today listed several other times the world's gas price sere shocked by foreign events:

1973 Arab Oil Embargo

1979 Revolution in Iran

1990 and 1991 Hussein's Invasion of Kuwait and the Persian Gulf War

So, Now We Have the 2011 Freedom and Democracy Excuse. --Cooter

Gas Prices Hit $4 Here and Some Stuff You Might Not Have Known About Gas

The May 18th Chicago Tribune had a History Lesson by Mark Jacob titled "10 things you might not know about gasoline."

Some interesting stuff here to help our poor wallets when we get sacrificed at the pump.

1. Even though we are only 5% of the earth's population, we use 44% of the gasoline.

2. In a recent survey, we are the 45th cheapest among 155 countries, paying half of what UK does. Gas in Wonder Boy's Venezuela is 12 cents.

3. Lead was added to gasoline in the 1920s to eliminate the sorrow of engine knock, but did a number on the environment. Even oil additive inventor Thomas Midgley got lead poisoning and he didn't eat the paint chips.

4. There is a gas station in Cloquet, Minnesota, (outside of Duluth) designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Saw a picture of it, and it's impressive. Might just have to fill up there to take my mind off the pain.

5. Two states ban self-serve gasoline: Oregon and New Jersey. Full-service is generally more expensive, but NJ residents have the third lowest gas taxes (after Wyoming and Alaska).

6. The "Molotoc cocktail," a bottle filled with gas that is thrown in street fighting got its name after the Soviet invasion of Finland in 1939. The Soviets dropped cluster bombs and their Foreign Minister Molotov told the world they were dropping food. The Finns started calling the drops "Molotov Bread Baskets." When they fought back with the gas bottles they called them "Molotov Cocktails." I didn't know this.

6. Singer Bobby Fuller, of "I Fought the Law" fame was killed by gasoline in 1966 when his bruised and battered body was found in a car. At first, authorities said he committedsuicide by swallowing the gas and later that it was an "accidental death due to accidental inhalation of gasoline." Many still believe he was murdered. I have never and never will inhale gasoline accidentally.


7. Michael Douglas, Bono, Eddie Vedder and John Mayer all once worked in gas stations.

8. Gasoline Alley, a Tribune comic strip from the 1910s, featured characters who got older. It was based on characters from the Wisconsin town of Tomah.

9. Frank Sinatra called his favorite drink, Jack Daniel's as "gasoline." In some parts of Canada, gasoline stations are called a "gas bar."

So Now You Know Some Interesting Stuff About Gasoline. Something to think About the Next Time You're Cryin' at the Pump. --Old Coot

What was that old song by Elvis, "You Saw Me Crying at the Gas Pump?"