GAS NOTES: “I hope that this doesn’t make some grown men cry,
but gas here in Jonesboro, Ark., is selling for $2.799. “
That sad note from Cecil Metzgar on Wednesday.
He adds, “I would still prefer life in Bradford with your high
gas prices compared to our gas prices here. I will be 82 in two
months so do not think I will be able to make the move back. I am a
1941 graduate of Bradford Area High School.”
Some thoughts from former resident Russell Lombardo: “When I
lived in Bradford and was attending high school in the late 1960s,
I worked at the Skat gas station on South Avenue. The lowest price
gasoline back then was referred to as ‘truck gas’ and cost $0.259
for 95 octane. So you could get about four gallons for about a
dollar.
“I looked up the Consumer Price Index for 1969 and for 2005. The
ratio is 5.32. Hence, if gasoline prices increased at the CPI,
regular would be only $1.38. Even premium at $0.319, would only
increase to $1.70 per gallon – and its octane rating was 101 in the
old days.
“One note of perspective – minimum wage back in the late 1960s
was $1.40 per hour. I remember it was increased to $1.60, I thought
I was rich. So the ratio of minimum wage to gasoline in 1969 was
about 5.3. Multiply 5.3 times $3 per gallon and you get a minimum
wage of $16. Now wouldn’t that be a nice minimum wage for our
lowest paid workers?
“Current federal minimum wage is only $5.15 per hour. It will
only buy about 1.7 gallons. Now there is something that clearly
needs to be corrected.”
We also heard from Jerry Berkhouse, a driver for DHL, who report
gas prices in St. Marys on Monday were $2.89 a gallon.
And his comment, “I think the high prices in Bradford subsidize
the rest of the area. You can’t tell me is costs more to truck
gasoline from the refinery to a gas station in Bradford.
“Somebody in Harrisburg should answer these complaints.”
He said the gas prices elsewhere in Pennsylvania had been below
$3 a gallon for five days, while Bradford’s were still above. As of
this writing Thursday afternoon, however, gas has finally dipped
below the $3 mark to roughly $2.98-$2.99 in Bradford.
