Pump your own gas

[Rich Eagle]

While I was looking for calso pumps I found this.

though some might enjoy it.
Rich

[Kerry]

sparks will be a fly'n when that block on the jack go's south.

[George House]

Yeah Kerry. Tryin’ to figure out whats going on here. 21” wheel spinning to beat the band....no rim/tire..?

[ThreePedalTapDancer]

The rim is spinning a flat belt that runs into the pump.

[Bryant]

HaHa! Love it! Why do I picture the drive belt being the inner tube?! the jack looks like it’s ready to tip over!

[Ruxstel24]

The rim is spinning a flat belt that runs into the pump.

Maybe the pump is spinning the rim...

[TWrenn]

No matter what he's doing...the pump nozzle aint in the tank inlet anyway! What the heck? If we only knew...

[Jerry VanOoteghem]

I'm thinking it must have been a way to pump gas during a blackout.

[ModelTWoods]

Yeah Kerry. Tryin’ to figure out whats going on here. 21” wheel spinning to beat the band....no rim/tire..?

Look VERY closely, George. That guy has a belt (probably V belt running around the drop center wire wheel and the other end is in the pump housing (supposedly around a V belt pulley driving the pump). one guess is this is how he pumped gas when there was an electrical outage (or he didn't pay his electrical bill).

[Michael Peternell]

... and you got a photographer to take the picture..? Almost calling bs.

[ThreePedalTapDancer]

That is a Tokheim 39 pump.

[old_charley]

My first thought, for that matter only thought, goes along with Tim. That wheel is SPINNIN'! The pump's pumpin'. The nozzle is on the hanger. Something's gotta give. There must be a pressure relief valve in there.

[Kerry]

Spinning with the wheel or it's own electric motor, nozzle handle shut off, it would have a relieve system. The bowsers usually had a hand crank to still operate with a power outage.

[Jerry VanOoteghem]

... and you got a photographer to take the picture..? Almost calling bs.

I dunno, if I saw that going on, I'd take a picture!

[JTT3]

OR the young swain is boosting some gas. Back in the days when many municipalities had blue laws in effect & you needed some gas… as Al Bundy would say “ a man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do”

[jab35]

Love the floor jack with precisely positioned blocks under the rear radius rod and running board supporting the car!
"probably V belt running around the drop center wire wheel" The LR wheel is wood spoke, early '26, so likely a v-belt in felloe polishing ends of wood spokes?

[Norman Kling]

Notice the cars in the background. That picture was taken during the 1940's or later. The block on top of the jack looks like it could slip off at any time. I suspect the previous post of could be used in a "blackout" However in California when the air raid siren sounded we turned off our lights. The cars were supposed to pull over and park with lights out until the all clear. I can remember one summer going to the store to get a quart of ice cream and on the way home, the siren sounded, so we each dipped his/her hand into the ice cream and ate it in the car while parked. I don't think the power was turned off but each house and business turned off their own lights. We could have lights on if a room had shutters or curtains on the windows so no light could be seen from the outside. I also remember when a plane flew over at night there were giant spotlights from the ground shining on the plane to identify it.
Norm

[Rich Eagle]

I suspect that it's a wood spoke wheel spinning. The felloe looks to thin to be a wire wheel. The spoke ends would make it bumpy but give a good grip.

[JTT3]

Definitely a wood spoked wheel based on the opposing side.

[Bryant]

So I guess when the jack fails there will be a burst of sparks then wood chips!

[Susanne]

Not sure when the photo was shot, but... what if it was during rationing in WW2... the WPA inspector comes by to check to make sure his pumps show the appropriate gallonage for the rationing coupons he has... but he's been getting gas on the black market and seling it without charging his customers "points", so he has to run the pump backwards to get his pump indicator down... otherwise it's "where are the 1730 points you should have for the 1725 gallons you have sold, pal?", and if he doesn't have an answer, then it's off to the pokey...

I know it's a stretch, but looking at the cars in the background, and knowing the electric motor in the pump won't run in reverse... well...

[kmatt2]

The car behind the man that is behind the gas pump has a grill that looks like the 1947-48 Chevy grill. The gas pump nozzle looks like it may be locked to the pump at the pump handle in the way that was still used by some stations in the early 1970’s. If the pump is locked I don’t know what they are doing, unless they are pumping from one under ground tank to another. What’s going on may remain unknown but I would say the picture is from the late 1940’s to early 1950’s.