My 1928 Chevrolet: Old Petrol Pumps or Old Gas Bowsers

HISTORY OF THE PETROL[GASOLENE] PUMPS .

THE DICOVERER OF PETROL PUMPS, SYLVANUS BOWSER
Prior to the invention of the automobile, gasoline was primarily seen as a useless by product of the kerosene refining process. Gasoline had been used on a limited basis for burning in some stoves and lamps kerosene, also known as coal oil, was the primary ingredient needed to fuel the lighting fixtures of the day.

Around 1883, a young man by the name of Sylvanius F. Bowser came up with an idea to draw water from a well using a wooden plunger. In 1885, he applied this idea to a kerosene pump attached to a wooden barrel and founded S.F. Bowser Pump Company. The unit was self contained and included the storage barrel, the plunger, a hand lever, and an upright faucet lever. This pumping unit was a huge success and soon became known as a "Filling Station". By 1890, he had adapted this unit to pump gasoline in addition to kerosene for the lighting industry and the first true gas pump was born. S.F. Bowser continued to refine, improve, and sell his new indoor "Filling Stations" to general stores and the first automobile repair garages beginning in 1893.

Between the years 1893 and 1905, early motorists often filled automobile fuel tanks using the "drum and measure" method. Gasoline, stored in bulk steel drums, would be gravity fed into five-gallon measuring cans then poured directly through funnels into the automobile fuel tank. The funnel was lined with a heavy rag or chamois in order to strain sediment that might damage the engine or hurt performance. This process was time consuming, inaccurate, and quite dangerous

It would not be until 1905 that Bowser would develop the first outdoor "Filling Station" pump that could dispense kerosene or gasoline. The Bowser Self-Measuring Gasoline Storage pump consisted of a square metal tank enclosed in a secure wooden cabinet. The cabinet was equipped with forced suction pump operated by hand stroke lever action