My old hometown Newspaper (Albany, NY “Times Union”) publishes a section called “Around the Region” and they feature news articles from 100 and 50-years ago…
This article is from 50-Years ago and I never remember it being this bad… Oh, I remember the TV News, but it sure seemed like they were trying to sensationalize it… I was stationed at Luke AFB in Phoenix at this time and I never remember long lines… I lived about 30-miles from work and had to fill up at least once a week…
I remember those times with the long lines limits even odd days etc.I also think how bad it was or not depended on what part of thy country you were in .
I was too young to drive in '73 but my dad never had any problems getting gas. We still drove on a family vacation that year to the outer banks of North Carolina.
I remember a second “crisis” around 1976 - I was driving then - doing the odd/even thing again. But I don’t remember having trouble getting gas. My car had a 20 gallon tank and got about 17 mpg in the city driving I was doing then. 325 miles per tankful would last me at least a month.
I vaguely remember waiting in line multiple times, but those lines weren’t terrible. I think we were always able to get enough gas for what we needed to do.
As was said, the situation undoubtedly varied from one area to another. In Northern NJ, between the odd/even day rule and stations running out of gas fairly frequently, the lines of cars could grow to 2 or 3 blocks long at some stations. And, when you consider the lack of fuel economy of cars in those days, the amount of gas one used while idling in line probably ate-up a goodly portion of the amount of gas that you were actually able to get.
While I never ran out of gas, I came very close to it on several occasions.
I was a 1 year-old in 1973. The best part of the article is the last sentence. In 1973, people complained to the IRS for price gouging? Maybe they meant the FTC?
For those who were too young to remember what a lot of us experienced…
And, at some stations, if they didn’t know you, you would be turned away.
Clearly experiences varied by quite a bit across the country.
It was pretty bad in southern Connecticut where I was a teenager pumping gas. Not only were there long lines, but there were lots of angry customers who vented their anger at the local gas station employees. Everyone pumping gas had their horror stories.
It was such a mental relief when gas finally became more abundant.
It was that bad for me. I was in college in Eastern PA at the time most gas stations were closed, but the three cities in the region weren’t that large and lines were short. It was different when I went home to the DC area. On Saturdays the lines were 3 or more hours long. I bought gas in the way from my apartment to campus for classes and didn’t experience weekend lines in PA.
I worked with a guy who said he worked at his dad’s filling station during the gas crisis
He said he would walk around and if he didn’t recognize somebody, he’d tell them to get lost in a hurry
Another guy told me that he’d put up the “out of gas” signs when the station was running low, as opposed to completely empty
@George_San_Jose1 Is that YOUR VW Rabbit in the 3rd picture? 
In 73 In was 20 years old living in the Bay Area. I remember the red or green flags, odd or even numbered licence plates on odd or even numbered days. I would fill up my 62 Falcon station wagon, park it, and siphon the gas into my Vespa as needed.
I was born in '69 so it’s all just memories from being a young kid now. I do know I always liked going with Dad to the gas station when he filled up the '69 Skylark or '63 Fairlane. By the time he had the 78 Caprice waiting in line for gas wasn’t fun for me anymore!
Some people were able to work the gas crisis to their advantage. “Uncle Rudy” watched a beautiful '70 Coupe DeVille run out of gas in line. He offered the driver $1500 for that gas guzzling pig, and had a luxobarge that he kept for many years. Probably helped that it was his weekend car and drove a Datsun B210 to work! 
We nicknamed that car the Atomic Cockroach. Odd styling but nearly un-killable were the reasons for the nickname. There were 3 in my circle of friends.
Well, until my buddy’s B210 got hammered in the passengers door by a drunk driver. Totally crushed the passengers side but his side was intact and he was only sore after. Thank goodness his girlfriend wasn’t in the car.
It definitely was that bad. At the time I owned and operated a Mobil station near my home in Brooklyn, NY. i remember well the large amount of customers slipping me $20 bills for three or five bucks worth of gas. Made for lots of walking around money.
Fifty years ago, an EV appeared on the scene to combat the gasoline shortage. The car was the Citicar. It had a top speed of about 35 mph. The cabin was heated with a propane heater. It ran on 12 volt lead acid batteries. It was street legal and could be licensed.
WE\e went to Disney world in the fall of 1973 from Buffalo with 8 people and a dog in a 7 passenger VW bus. On the way home we ran out of gas on I-71 in Ohio because every place we found a gas station, they were out of gas. An Ohio Trooper brought us a couple of gallons and then directed us to a very rural station that had gas that we would have never found on our own because it was not near the interstate.
Gosh, a long time ago and as others noted it seemed to vary by region and location. The more Suburban areas where people relied on gas stations for commuting seemed to be hardest affected. It was a time when people assumed a limitless supply of cheap gas, “price wars” between gas stations were common, public transport in the subburbs was virtually non-existant and anything less than a 10 MPG V8 was considered wimpy so to have that all change overnight was a shock.
First there was the initial panic when everyone and their brother rushed to “fill it up”, the lines formed, although fuel deliveries surged the station tanks were being quickly drained feeding the panic and tempers got testy. There was a fear that if you let your tank run down to where you’d normally fill it you’d find a huge line or the gas station would be empty, only serving existing customers or closed.
Then the State stepped in with Odd Even gas days which at least reduced the lines.
On the other hand, for better or worse, locking gas cap sales surged and if you were an Import car dealer this was a windfall because suddenly those “cheap little 4 banger toy cars” began flying off the lot!
Besides VW, Volvo and MB which were “niche” cars, does anyone remember the Peugot, Renault, FIAT, Morris and SAAB sedans and a time when the Japanese cars were considered crap?
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Today is the 50th anniversary of the hated 55 mph speed limit.
