I have a question about the old style gas pumps that had the glass container at the top and a pump handle on the side.

I was curious about the entire pump including the part below ground. Did this style of pump have a lower unit that was directly in a tank below or did it pump from a pipe that was somewhere else?

Anyone know where I might look at a diagram of how they worked?

Thanks, Bob

Hey Robert,

Welcome to Oldgas.com, best resource on the web...the pump you are referring to are called visibles. They came in 5 gal or 10 gal and I think there was one 6 gal. The pump contained a manual operating hand pump that pumped the gas from a tank placed underground. There is an Illustrated guide to Gas Pumps, Identification and Price Guide, written by Mr. Jack Sim and you can purchase it in the bookstore of this site.
(How did I do Jack?) This book is a must have for the Collector or Enthusiast. The book will provide much more and better information than I just did. Good Luck and enjoy.

Mick

WELCOME TO OLDGAS.COM
All of the Early gas pumps had the suction type pump inside the body of the pump. Some were air &/or eletric operated, but most were hand operated. In the tank pump were not used till '70's.
Try searching the US PATENT OFF. for a drawing. [there is a thread about the Patent search below]
This is a Salesmans Sample of an early BOWSER #41 hand pump. Hope it gives ya an idea.

db

[This message has been edited by Dick Bennett (edited 01-08-2007).]

Welcome to Old Gas Bob. The pumps connected to a tank below ground. Moving the handle back & forth would pump the gas into the cylinder in the desired amount. Then you would open a valve "if your pump had one" then you would use the pump nozzle to pump the desired amount in the car. I dont have a diagram but someone might.

YES - the patent search will pull up that same design for the model - and LOTS more...

Travis E. Towle
Topeka, Kansas

785-357-1004

TT or anyone else,
Please email me links to Salesmans Sample gas pumps when ya find them.
THANKS
db

Sorry it took so long but I couldn't find the "post reply" button. I see it now.

I looked through the patent links in the message below. That was very interesting.

So let's talk 1910. My GGrandfather had a station back then. I saw on another page that there were 15,000 gas stations or so in 1910 (not so many).

A few questions:
Most of the pumps in the patents look to be 20's vintage. What type of pump would have been used in 1910 to dispense gas?
Would there have been more than one type offered like Ethyl?
What cars were around and how much gas did they hold?
How big would a station's tanks have been then?
Were the gas stations name branded back then?

Mostly curiosity. Just questions I've always had and realized someone out there might actually know.

Thanks for any help.

Just to fill in a few points.
In addition to the sizes of the pumps listed by Jim, there was also a 15 gallon visible pump.
The first visible pump appeared around 1916-1917, pumps before then look similiar to the salesman sample shown above.
Visible pump, besides being hand operated (used mostly in areas where they had no electricity), they were also made to be operated by electric motors or air operated, or any combination of the three.
Most of the questions you ask are answered in the "History of the Gas Pump" section of my book. Some of the questions would require a great deal of research to answer them.
Jack Sim
Author, Gas Pump Identification book and Air Meter Identification book

Lets see if I can answer a few of those questions....



This pump was patented in 1918. Its sometimes referred to as a "Previsible". Also called "curb" pumps, because they were out at the curb, these were made before the tall, upright pumps with the glass cylinders. Some of these were later fitted with cylinder attachments. (sp?) The gas from these older pumps, was usually pumped into a gas can, carried on the running board. From there, the gas was poured into a funnel, through a cloth or chamois, to filter the gas. As far as branding, I believe that it was Texaco that started that in 1912. Prior to that, the pumps might have had a globe with the word "Gasolene"..... thats how it was spelled back then. It was Standard Oil of California (Chevron) that built the first service staion, Gulf Oil has also claimed that, the station was set up in 1907.
http://www.oldgas.com/shoptalk/ubb/Forum4/HTML/001159.html

Until cars became big business, gasoline, was typicly sold at the General Store.

I hope this answers a few of your questions.

Here's an example of an early previsible curb pump in front of a general store. I believe that this is a Bowser pump, which had clamshell doors that open and closed for access to the pump mechanism. This was in Los Alamos, California (not New Mexico).

http://www.google.com/patents?vid=USPAT1715539&id=JoZeAAAAEBAJ&dq=DISPENSING+APPARATUS+OF+THE+VISIBLE+TYPE&num=100&jtp=1#PPP2,M1

This link shows the FRY pump below ground.


Travis E. Towle
Topeka, Kansas

785-357-1004