America's Inflated Gas Prices Echo The Fuel Shortages Of The 1970s
After President Biden blocked Russian oil imports, we looked back at images of the 1970s gas lines as a reminder of how foreign crises affect Americans at home.
In the 1970s, gas shortages during the OPEC crisis meant incredibly long wait times at the pump, staggered fill-up days based on license plates, and often no gas at all at some stations. As the situation with Russian troops invading Ukraine escalates and the world fears further conflict, Americans are worrying about what it means for them as stocks plummet and gas prices change. After President Joe Biden blocked Russian oil imports in new sanctions against the Kremlin, we looked back at images of the 1970s gas lines as a reminder of how international crises affect Americans at home.
Cars line up in two directions at a New York City gas station in this Dec. 23, 1973, photo.
The gas rationing system is announced in 1973.
A sign rests against a car during the gasoline shortage in New York in the 1970s.
Cars line up at a gas station in Martinez, California, on Sept. 21, 1973.
Motorists traveling on the Garden State Parkway got a preview of the odd/even gas rationing plan in 1970.
Cars line up at a Washington, DC, service station on Dec. 1, 1973.
Ron Plybon places a lock on a pump in February 1979.
At a gas station's self-service island, a nun operates a pump to fill her Buick Skylark in 1975.
Not only drivers of automobiles had to line up at this service station in San Jose, California, March 15, 1974. A man who needed a refill for his lawnmower got the same treatment.
Cars line the streets waiting to fill up at Merit Gas in Quincy, Massachusetts, June 16, 1979.
Ron Clancy carries a red flag and posts a "last car" sign on the car at the end of line at a Texaco in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, on June 25, 1979.
Lines of cars form as motorists wait their turn at the gas pumps in New York during the energy crisis in 1979.
Cars line the Southeast Expressway outside an Arco station on June 15, 1979.
A man gapes at the "out of gas" signs on the self-service pumps of a Tenneco gas station.
Cars lined up at a Maryland gas station in February 1974
Even though the sign at this Mobil station on the corner of 33rd Street and First Avenue clearly indicates cars that end with "even numbers only" will be given gasoline, a car with a license ending in an odd number for its final digit fills up on June 20, 1979.
An aerial view of cars lined up for gas in New York City on June 19, 1979
A man pumps gas at a station in July 1979.
A spray-painted sign at a Mobil station in New York City in 1979
