 The 50-gallon metal storage tank, housed in a wooden cabinet, could be set up at the curbside in front of a store.Under the banner of his company, S. F. Bowser & Company, this activity expanded to the measurement and handling of many commercial liquids.Bowser opened branches around the world, and bowser became a generic term for fuel dispensers, then fuel tankers (especially on airfields), then finally for any kind of self-propelled liquid tanker with the ability to dispense direct to consumers.