Fill
'Er Up!

Purchasing this Texaco hat for your collection might not be realistic, since bidding as of this post is already at $207.50. But I'd say go for it if you want a reminder of the gasoline industry's past, and you don't mind eating oatmeal and lentil soup daily (just not together) until your bank account recovers from this big hit. You could wear out on the town, even pretend you're a gas-station attendant, and offer to fill up autos with gasoline. Blue-haired grandmothers everywhere would get a kick out that! They might even tip you. But I'm afraid the tip would be of the "you're a good babysitter/lawn mower/snow shoveler" variety not "That was a great meal!"
Even if this hat never came never came near an air pump again, it's still a great addition to someone's collection. It's a reminder how few people in the service industry actually wear hats. (Now you do see fabric caps on the UPS delivery guys, but nothing shaped like this). Today's soft baseball-style service caps lack the authority of the stiff-crown hats you see on Metra train conductors and Chicago police officers. Hard to believe, but bus drivers once had to wear these kinds of hats. I can remember my grandfather's bus driver hat hanging on a hook down in the basement of his Westchester, Ill. house. It hung there for a long time as a reminder of his route along Chicago Avenue in Oak Park. I think my mother still has it stashed away somewhere. I hope it's just not squished next to a 1950s book! Do you have any hats like this in your family? Who do you know that wear this kind of hat today?