Ray Ridge Motors for Robert Sconce Advetising. Crowd admires the 1946 Mercurys at Ray Ridge Motors. Night view from outside showroom through plate glass windows. Convertible, sedan and "woody" wagon are visible. Neon signs in windows.

Automobile dealerships--Tacoma--1940-1950; Ray Ridge Motors, Inc. (Tacoma); Automobiles--Tacoma--1940-1950; Mercury automobile; Showrooms;

Ray Ridge Motors for Robert Sconce Advertising. Crowd admires the 1946 Mercurys at Ray Ridge Motors. Night view from outside showroom through plate glass windows. Convertible, sedan and "woody" wagon are visible. Neon signs in windows.

Automobile dealerships--Tacoma--1940-1950; Ray Ridge Motors, Inc. (Tacoma); Automobiles--Tacoma--1940-1950; Showrooms;

Standard Oil. Two women compare notes about a photograph. They are standing in front of shelves full of auto care products. RPM Motor Oil is stacked on the bottom shelves. Customers are admonished, "Don't wax it! Mac's it!".

Automobile equipment & supplies; Women--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Picton's Garage and automobile service station; photograph taken in September of 1945 at an unknown location. A mechanic and another man check under the hood of a panel van.

Automobile service stations--Pierce County; Picton's Garage (Pierce County);

The Standard Oil gas station located at the Camp Tahoma Auto Camp cabins, 3836 South Tacoma Way. The station is glass on all four sides, with venting widows that open at the top. Camp Tahoma's cabins, owned by Frank and B.J. Winkes, offered the driving public an alternative to staying in a hotel. The auto camp was demolished around 1966 to make way for Gill Lincoln Mercury.

Automobile service stations--Tacoma--1940-1950; Tourist camps & hostels--Tacoma; Motels--Tacoma--1940-1950; Camp Tahoma (Tacoma);

J. Thomas Standard Oil Service Station. Owned by Joseph & Loretta Thomas. Located at 27th and West Grandview in University Place. A woman is standing by the gasoline pumps and two automobiles are also shown. TPL-3399.

Automobile service stations--University Place--1940-1950; J. Thomas Standard Oil Service Station (University Place);

Puget Sound Auto Electric offered automobile radio installation, repairs, engine tune-ups, carburetor repairs and electrical servicing. They were a progressive and fast growing firm. Exterior view of Puget Sound Auto located at the corner of South 7th Street and Pacific Avenue, Nesbitt's orange soda billboard on right side.

Automobile equipment & supplies stores--Tacoma; Storefronts--Tacoma; Signs (Notices); Vehicle maintenance & repair--Tacoma; Puget Sound Auto Electric Co. (Tacoma);

Central Motors building shots. One story building showing both service and body shop entrances. The overhead sign indicated automobiles are "bought, sold and serviced". Over the door is painted, "Thru this door you'll Find the Best Used Cars in Town". TPL-1727.

Automobile repair--Tacoma--1940-1950; Automobile dealerships--Tacoma--1940-1950; Central Motors (Tacoma);

Standard Oil Co. started doing business in Tacoma in 1886, by shipping oil from Cleveland, Ohio to Tacoma in box and tank cars. They have grown and expanded and now have new offices and tanks on the Tideflats.View of new Standard Oil service station in Tacoma and Tahoma Motor Court on left side. TPL-3543

Automobile service stations--Tacoma; Building construction--Tacoma; Standard Oil Co. of California (Tacoma);

General view of Sanford Nash Company. Stucco building at Sixth and Tacoma Avenues, two Nash automobiles in showroom windows, neon and painted signs on building.

Automobile dealerships--Tacoma--1940-1950; Nash Metropolitan automobile; Sanford-Nash, Inc. (Tacoma);

General view of Ray Ridge Motors, Lincoln/Mercury dealer. A corner view of the large automobile dealership building. New automobiles are seen through the showroom windows. A Model A Ford, five window coupe is parked at the curb. Large home on G Street in background.

Automobile dealerships--Tacoma; Ray Ridge Motors, Inc. (Tacoma);

Harold A. Sanford was the President of Sanford-Nash Inc., he had been in the Nash dealership business since 1918. Exterior view of Sanford Nash Company, two signs posted by entrance tell us this is the Parts Department for used cars, the Service Department is located on lower floor. Stucco building at Sixth and Tacoma Avenue, two Nash automobiles in showroom windows, neon and painted signs on building. Photograph taken on February 24, 1947.

Automobile dealerships--Tacoma--1940-1950; Automobile equipment & supplies stores--Tacoma; Sanford-Nash, Inc. (Tacoma); Signs (Notices); Showrooms--Tacoma; Nash automobile;

Broadway Motor Company. Signs "We Pay High Prices for your Car or Equity", See Us First" and "Service Entrance". One automobile is seen parked in the service entrance and another is in the showroom seen through the window. Building has vertical stone decoration (low relief) and tall glass windows above the first floor.

Automobile dealerships--Tacoma--1940-1950; Broadway Motor Co. (Tacoma);

AAA Synthetic Tire Caravan. National and state American Automobile Association officials gather around a Pontiac and inspect the evenness and tire wear of synthetic and recapped tires. Tacoma is one of the stops on an around-the-nation testing tour. (T. Times, 3/3/44, p. 3).

Automobile equipment & supplies; Tire industry;

General Petroleum exterior of 3 plants. Maxwell Petroleum Co. is well known for their modern gasoline outlets. View of the 910 Puyallup Ave. station, which ranks with the nation's most modern, and has been featured in newspapers and magazines as the only one of its kind in America.

Automobile service stations--Tacoma; General Petroleum Corp. (Tacoma); Maxwell Petroleum Co. (Tacoma);

ca. 1944. Maxwell service station. Undated photograph, possibly in the mid-40's, of a ten-pump Maxwell service station on Puyallup Avenue in downtown Tacoma. Two vehicles are stopped at the pumps; one has its trunk open and the other is having gas pumped in by an attendant. Maxwell was known for its very modern gasoline outlets. TPL-8459

Automobile service stations--Tacoma; Maxwell Petroleum Co. (Tacoma);

Interior of Pease Brothers Garage. The garage was built in 1913 and in 1926 the Pease family renovated the facility and added an auto maintenance center, which included repairs and washing, in addition to storage. Repairs were done in the basement. View of unidentified auto mechanics surrounded by parts at Pease Bros.

Automobile equipment & supplies; Mechanics (Persons)--Tacoma; Vehicle maintenance & repair--Tacoma; Pease Brothers (Tacoma);

J.F. Shank's Shell station at South 38th and Thompson Avenue is shown with a separate building for automobile repairs. Gasoline pumps stand in front of the sales booth where tires have been hung in the windows. A very small, square-backed vehicle is parked by the sales booth. Ordered by Shell Oil Company, Mr. Holms.

Automobile service stations--Tacoma--1940-1950; J.F. Shank's Shell Station (Tacoma); Automobiles--Tacoma--1950-1960; Gasoline pumps--Tacoma--1940-1950; Vehicle maintenance & repair--Tacoma--1940-1950;

An interior view of the showroom at B.F. Goodrich Company's Tacoma store. They feature a wide variety of home appliances, bicycles, tricycles, wagons, and lawn mowers in addition to automobile tires, batteries and accessories. Banners span the ceiling and a sign in the back announces their "Grand Opening".

B.F. Goodrich Co. (Tacoma); Automobile equipment & supplies stores--Tacoma; Appliance stores--Tacoma;

The interior view of the drive-thru tire service area at B.F. Goodrich Company's Tacoma store. A large Buick is parked to the left. Tires fill bins and are stacked along both sides of the drive way. A vending machine on the left is stamped "Canteen" along the top.

B.F. Goodrich Co. (Tacoma); Automobile equipment & supplies stores--Tacoma; Tires; Automobiles--Tacoma--1950-1960; Buick automobile;

Fifteen men line two tables in a class taught in one of the conference rooms at Mueller-Harkins Motor Company. They are working with small parts. Two men who are teaching the class stand at the back of the room with a flip chart open to diagrams of an automobile engine's working parts. Ordered by Mr. Mueller.

Automobile dealerships--Tacoma; Vocational education--Tacoma--1950-1960; Mueller-Harkins Motor Co. (Tacoma)--Employees; Automobile equipment & supplies;

A school bus for Bethel School District No. 403 is parked outside Tacoma White Truck Company. The White Trucking neon sign is seen over the bus. Ordered by Mrs. Frank Buchanan. The bus in the photograph is a 1950 model Gillig bus built by the Gillig Brothers bus manufacturing company in Hayward, California.

Tacoma White Trucks, Inc. (Tacoma); School buses--Tacoma; Truck industry--Tacoma; Electric signs--Tacoma--1950-1960;

The new 1951 Chevrolets were available at South Tacoma Motor Company. The new models featured fresh styling. Design improvements accentuated a longer, lower appearance. Radiator grills had been simplified, the decorative body moulding lowered and the rear fender crowns raised. Soldiers are checking out the interior while a young couple tries to make a decision near the trunk. (TNT, 12/9/1950, p.13)

Automobile dealerships--Tacoma--1940-1950; South Tacoma Motor Co. (Tacoma); Chevrolet automobile;

South Tacoma Motor Company. View of dealership in rain. 1951 Chevrolets in showroom, neon sign at corner, banner promoting "America's Largest and Finest Low-Priced Car" on transom, painted footprints bearing word "Chevrolet" on sidewalk, man on bicycle.

Automobile dealerships--Tacoma--1940-1950; South Tacoma Motor Co. (Tacoma); Chevrolet automobile;

Grand opening of the Shell Oil station at Center and Union, Earl Moon's Shell Service, 3520 Center St. Three employees service a car in the right foreground, checking under the hood and cleaning windows. Another employee gases up a car at the pumps. The Shell oil delivery truck can be seen beside the station. A paneled station wagon is at the other side of the station. The skyline of residential Tacoma can be seen in the background. Owner Earl J. Moon ran an ad in the January 25, 1951 News Tribune the grand opening of his Shell Service Station. The ad promoted Goodyear tires and batteries, Shell gas and "Shellubrication." Free balloons and candy would be available for the kids and one prize of four free tires for adults. (TNT 1-25-1951, p. 28-advertisement)

Automobile service stations--Tacoma--1950-1960; Gasoline pumps--Tacoma--1950-1960; Automobiles--Tacoma--1950-1960; Trucks--Tacoma--1950-1960; Earl Moon's Shell Service (Tacoma);

This is how the interior of South Tacoma Motor Company shop and service department appeared in February of 1951 when Chevrolets were being serviced throughout the warehouse. The Union Street Livery operated at this location in the late 1800s, but with the growing popularity of automobiles in the 1900s the owners combined the livery business with a garage. Pete Wallerich acquired the company in 1919. In 1924, South Tacoma Motors began selling Chevrolets at this location, making it the oldest Chevrolet dealer in the US owned continuously by the same family. Three generations of the Wallerich family sold Chevys until 1988, when the dealership became Gilchrist Chevrolet. ("South on the Sound" Murray and Rosa Morgan) TPL-9160

Automobile dealerships--Tacoma--1950-1960; Automobile equipment & supplies stores--Tacoma--1950-1960; South Tacoma Motor Co. (Tacoma); Chevrolet automobile;

Dinner awards being presented to employees, Shell Oil Co., Tideflats, Larry Hausen. Shell Oil had celebrated the opening of their new bulk petroleum terminal on the Tacoma tideflats next to the city waterway earlier in November 1949. They consolidated their two smaller plants into one housing their storage, truck fill-stand and garage with their district office, smaller storage and warehouse.

Shell Oil Co., Inc. (Tacoma); Petroleum industry--Tacoma--1940-1950; Fuel trade--Tacoma--1940-1950; Banquets--Tacoma--1940-1950; Awards; Business people--Tacoma--1940-1950;

Gasoline was selling at 25.2-27.2 cents per gallon at Ed Lee's new Shell Oil Station at Division and Yakima. Cars were waiting in line to gas up at these prices, and receive a free set of drinking glasses. Klieg lights and banners also helped to announce the station's March 31st Grand Opening. Several Shell servicemen were waiting on each car in turn, checking under the hood and filling up the tank. The billboard to the left of the station was an advertisement for Shell Oil.

Shell Oil Co., Inc. (Tacoma); Automobile service stations--Tacoma--1950-1960; Automobiles--Tacoma--1950-1960; Gasoline pumps--Tacoma--1950-1960; Searchlights; Billboards--Tacoma;

The sales room at Mayberry Auto Parts, 1934 Market St., the "Tool House." Mayberry Auto Parts was both a wholesale and retail seller of auto parts, tools and equipment with a complete machine shop. A complete line of auto tools, including Bonney and Herbrand brands, are displayed behind and in front of the display cases.

Automobile equipment & supplies stores--Tacoma--1950-1960; Automobile equipment & supplies; Mayberry Motor Parts, Inc. (Tacoma);

Ray W. Perkins and his son, John Bachmann, celebrated the Grand Opening of the new Gambles Western Auto Supply Co. store at 8104 South Tacoma Way in March of 1950. Mr. Perkins, a veteran of WWI and free-lance writer, had moved to Pierce County in the early 1940s. By the time of his death in 1981, Mr. Perkins and his wife had reared 23 foster children.

Gambles Western Auto Supply Co. (Tacoma); Automobile equipment & supplies stores--Tacoma--1950-1960; Stores & shops--Tacoma--1950-1960;