Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Gas Shortages in 1970s America Sparked Mayhem and Forever Changed the Nation
Smithsonian ^ | 5/13/21 | Livia Gershon

Posted on 12/28/2022 3:40:33 PM PST by DallasBiff

Half a century ago, a series of oil crises caused widespread panic and led to profound shifts in U.S. culture

(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: 70s; electriccars; gas
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-53 next last
I remember those lines very well, at least it didn't take 3 hours to fill up the tank, when the car got there, as people in the UK, are waiting for a 3 hour "electric pump".

Welcome to the party you enviromental bitches.

1 posted on 12/28/2022 3:40:33 PM PST by DallasBiff
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

Forever changed the nation?

Actually, no. What a broad overstatement


2 posted on 12/28/2022 3:56:44 PM PST by Responsibility2nd (Fake News. Might be true; but it’s designed to distort, mislead, brainwash and BS sheeple. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Responsibility2nd

Half a century ago, a series of oil crises caused widespread panic and led to profound shifts in U.S. culture

————————————————————————

Something tells me Livia is a little millennial chick who has been force-fed an educational diet of propaganda all her life. She has no clue what she’s talking about.


3 posted on 12/28/2022 3:58:48 PM PST by Responsibility2nd (Fake News. Might be true; but it’s designed to distort, mislead, brainwash and BS sheeple. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

Panic?

No. Just anger.

Then Nixon showed what a moron he was by slapping us with the idiotic 55 mph limit nation wide.

Which morphed from “we’re just doing it to save gas” to “it’s for safety” so they could inflict it on us for longer.


4 posted on 12/28/2022 4:00:52 PM PST by Regulator (It's fraud, Jim)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

Only time I remember being really desperate I was up in Detroit on a Sunday (from my hometown of Cleveland). All the stations were closed but I was able to get a partial fill on the Ohio Turnpike and make it home for work Monday.

One of my work mates was a 6-4 /270lb guy who impulsively traded his Buick Electra 225 for a Chevy Vega and instantly regretted it.


5 posted on 12/28/2022 4:04:32 PM PST by nascarnation
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

Half a century ago, a series of oil crises caused widespread panic and led to profound shifts in U.S. culture

No no no!
It is resultantations of a stolen election and the catastropical repercusioning that thus resulted from the stupidity installed and foisted upon us.
Riding high in April
Shot down in November 2020
That’s due some recompense.


6 posted on 12/28/2022 4:10:40 PM PST by Recompennation (Don’t blame me my vote didn’t count s)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Regulator

***..slapping us with the idiotic 55 mph limit nation wide.***

I still remember that! I got my first highway speed ticket not long after it took place.
I-40 was not complete between towns but around them. Every cop in Tucumcari NM was out on the interstate pulling over speeders.


7 posted on 12/28/2022 4:18:36 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (“No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

Where we lived, Tulsa OK, and later in Farmington NM, when the Arab Oil Embargo was in place still had plenty of gas. No lines, but the price had not quite doubled. Regular, which was 25 cents now cost 40 cents. Ethyl, which was 35 was over fifty cents.

We bought several 5 gal gas cans to take with us on trips, just in case.

All the fights in gas lines seemed to occur on the West Coast.


8 posted on 12/28/2022 4:22:26 PM PST by Ruy Dias de Bivar (“No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in session.”)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

The article was written in crayon and editing approved by a 3rd grader...


9 posted on 12/28/2022 4:24:03 PM PST by Vendome (I've Gotta Be Me https://youtu.be/wH-pk2vZG2M)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

Sammy Hagar-I Can’t Drive 55

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvV3nn_de2k


10 posted on 12/28/2022 4:24:50 PM PST by Fresh Wind (The last remnants of the Old Republic have been swept away.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

I just remember it being a huge inconvenience. Panic? Heck no.


11 posted on 12/28/2022 4:29:20 PM PST by Disambiguator (Celebrating Kwanzaa in Wakanda)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff
The "oil crisis" arrived just after I got my driver's license for a car. I had my motorcycle learner's permit at age 15 1/2 and that was sufficient to get me where I needed to go. As the "crisis" arrived, the freeways posted 65 MPH or 70 MPH were dropped to 55 MPH to "save gas". As it got worse, lines formed at filling stations and an "odd"/"even" gimmick around the license plate numbers was instituted to reduce the number of people in line.

At the time, it was popular to say a location was "freeway minutes" away on the assumption of an average 60 MPH (1 mile per minute). The 55 MPH limit certainly goobered up that practice.

12 posted on 12/28/2022 4:32:57 PM PST by Myrddin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff

So.... those “shortages”... for those who were around then, we remember (or should) were the product of what?

(Hint: there are some parallels to today)


13 posted on 12/28/2022 4:33:16 PM PST by TheBattman (Democrats-Progressives-Marxists-Socialists - redundant labels.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Disambiguator

No panic

We had FUN in the lines … waiting on our gas


14 posted on 12/28/2022 4:33:52 PM PST by SomeCallMeTim ( The best minds are not in government. If any were, business would hire them!it)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: Regulator

“Then Nixon showed what a moron he was by slapping us with the idiotic 55 mph limit nation wide.”

Nixon also proposed a ban on outdoor Christmas lighting.

Until that year, almost every house was decorated with Christmas lights.


15 posted on 12/28/2022 4:35:48 PM PST by Round Earther
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Regulator

Not as idiotic as Carter’s odd–even days.

(People with license plates ending in an odd number could only purchase gas on odd numbered days; people with license plates ending in an even number could only purchase gas on even numbered days. Unsurprisingly, this did not reduce gas consumption at all; it just incentivized people to buy extra gas on the days they could so that they would not run out on the other days).


16 posted on 12/28/2022 4:37:30 PM PST by Catholic and Conservative
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: DallasBiff
I remember that very well. Gas at 26¢ per gallon became very scarce. It turns out there was enormous quantities at 75¢ per gallon ready to take its place.
17 posted on 12/28/2022 4:49:13 PM PST by GingisK
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Regulator

The 55 mph speed limit is what brought us the CB radio craze. Those were the days!


18 posted on 12/28/2022 4:55:39 PM PST by unixfox (Abolish Slavery, Repeal the 16th Amendment)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: unixfox

Breaker one nine good buddy....


19 posted on 12/28/2022 4:57:15 PM PST by nascarnation
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: Responsibility2nd

I remember those long lines, but never any panic..


20 posted on 12/28/2022 5:03:19 PM PST by markman46 (engage brain before using keyboard!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-4041-53 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson