This book takes the reader on a photographic journey through time, telling the story of the roadside beacons of the automobile age: the gas stations. Starting from the very early years of motoring at the dawn of the 20th century, when cars would fill up at primitive manual gas pumps, to the iconic and sometimes bizarre structures of the heyday of the gas station concept in the 1930's through the 1950's.

Carefully selected, unique historical photographs from archives across the world give insight into the architectural and spatial elements of gasoline distribution, but also into the social aspect of the gas station, as a roadside oasis where people of all walks of life would meet, during a brief stopover. A concluding section looks at the afterlife of the disused gas station and investigates its adaptive reuse and position as built heritage within the historic urban landscape.