END OF A SERVICE ERA -- The salad days of full service gas stations came to an end after the 1950s.  The stations suffered competition from auto parts stores, brake & muffler shops, and transmission services.  In addition, car parts were increasingly built to last longer. 

Other problems beset full service stations.  During the early Seventies, OPEC’s oil crisis led to a rise in the popularity of smaller cars, which guzzled less gas.  Stricter environmental regulations, moreover, forced filling stations to invest in double-walled gas tanks and other costly precautions.  Further problems resulted from the tight job markets of the late ‘70s & early ‘80s.  Economic conditions made it tougher to attract employees to sweaty, low paying jobs service jobs in the outdoors.  Finally, full service stations also fell victim to self-service pumps, including those at convenience stores.