Filling up on nostalgia

Pulling up to the gas pumps at the corner of Mason and Main is like driving right into the year 1960.

Before the gear's even in park, someone -- usually Charlotte, John or Becky -- hustles out of the shop, asks "How much?" and begins to pull a soapy squeegee across the windshield before the driver even has a chance to answer.

While the attendants pump gas, they'll ask if the oil needs checking, the tires need air or if little Bobby has pulled up his grades.

This is the Capra-esque, Norman Rockwell-like setting for CRS Gas, which became Cape Girardeau's last full-service gas station when Dwight's Amoco shut off its pumps earlier this month.

"It's a dying breed, that's for sure," said Lester Chapman, a regular at CRS, who works nearby. "They come out and pump your gas, chit-chat with you. I guess they'd even bring you out a soda if you wanted them to. These are great people here."

Situated in an older part of town, there's nothing to suggest this isn't 1960. Only the gas prices -- about $1.40 a gallon for unleaded -- drag you back to 2002, a cold world of people-less, pay-at-the-pump stations where all you need is a credit card and the willingness to pump your own gas.

It's the throwback to simpler times that makes CRS all the more refreshing, said Charlotte Meador, manager of the station at 102 Mason St.

"People love it," she said. "Elderly people are ecstatic about it. They talk about the old days and how there aren't any more full-service stations around. One guy from Chicago even got off his motorcycle and took a picture. He couldn't believe it."

Self-serving trend

The closing of Dwight's Amoco -- which was located at the corner of Kingshighway and William -- isn't unusual. Full-service gas stations peaked in the late 1960s with an estimated 250,000 nationwide. Their decline was hastened by oil shortages in the 1970s. As a way to maximize profits and cut labor costs, large oil companies began to emphasize the self-service stations that now dominate the market.

But none of that applies at CRS, which also has a few rows of groceries like Showboat pork and beans, Chef Boyardee, Happy Harvest cut green beans, beer and a few automotive supplies. There are also playing cards, a glass case full of cigarettes and blue or red slushies.

Folks from the neighborhood pop in. Regulars stop by, sometimes without buying anything, to talk or sit out in front on the bench.

Customer conversation on Tuesday afternoon touched on a customer's hair -- "What's up with those dreadlocks?" -- an upcoming court date and providing a man directions. They helped one man put fuel in his gas can, let another use the phone book and still had time to pump gas for a intermittent stream of cars.

But customers clearly feel at ease with the workers at CRS.

"Sometimes we feel like the corner counselor," said Becky McMichael, one of six attendants, who work in pairs until 10 p.m. "But it's good to get to know people. It's one of the reasons I love the job."

They also like seeing the amazed look on customers' faces as they come outside.

"Especially men," Meador said. "Some men aren't comfortable letting women fill up their tanks. It takes some adjusting for them. Others are shocked that there's still a full-service station around here."

Many of the customers are elderly people who have trouble pumping their own gas. But it's truly a mixed customer base. Customers said the like going to CRS Gas.

"I like it because I don't like pumping gas," said Debbie Courtney of Cape Girardeau. "Especially now that it's starting to get cold, it's nice to have this service."

The station has been around for decades, but only has been CRS for the past year. For years, it was a full-service station known as Reed's owned by the Reed family. The old Reed's sign that hangs inside the store acknowledges those days.

Laurel "Stick" Curry worked at Reed's and now at CRS Gas. The 72-year-old remembers the earlier days fondly.

"That's all we had," he said of full-service stations. "I like the old full-service, but I guess I'm old-fashioned. When that station goes, that's it. It will be the end of an era. You got to meet people and talk to them. It's altogether different now. Not nearly as good if you ask me."

Several seniors also lamented the decline of full-service gas stations.

They had want you needed, said Doyle Sample, 65, of Cape Girardeau. "Right when you pulled up, a man came out immediately and you could buy gas for 17, 18 cents. Nowadays, you pull up and it's all up to you. You have to do it yourself. It was awful nice. But it's like everything else -- gone by the wayside. Who can fault progress?"

J.W. Slinkard, 81, of Cape Girardeau, agreed.

"I don't think the new stations are better," he said. "You just don't get the service any more like you used to."

Now, Slinkard said, a driver may go to several mechanics to get a car repaired instead of an old-time, one-stop, full-service station.

"We'll miss them when they're gone."

smoyers@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 137