There were very few multi-lane highways in the 1940s, and most
of those were in the East. Cross-country automobile travel was
done on simple two-lane highways. The old roads are gone, But
we'll get there yet. We'll just have to travel Burma-Shave signs
were a roadside fixture from the 1920s to the early 1960s.
Concrete highway winding through the Ozarks "Give me five
dollars worth of Ethyl, please" In the late 1930s, a new kind of
gas pump began to appear at service stations. Instead of having
round "clock face" dials, these new pumps had rolling numbers
that measured both the amount of gas being dispensed and the
total cost to the customer. This started a new trend: when
drivers pulled into a service station, they began to ask for
their gas by dollar amount. Route 66 stretched from Chicago in
the east to Los Angeles in the west. Historic Route 66 National
Historic Route 66 Federation Photos From Route 66 Shell service
station Gas station on a lonely country road return to the 1940s
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