I think it would have depended on the local situation. When I was growing up there was no gas line that was close to where we lived, in a small suburb (although other folks in town did haved gas heat and gas cooking and -- remember this? -- gas powered refrigeration!), so your choices for home heating on our street were pretty much coal or oil -- our house had been switched over from coal to oil probably before my folks moved in circa 1954. But it was likely that the same company served that house for both products (and interestingly, later that same company had an appliance store). I do not believe anybody on our street got coal but there were folks in town who did because I'd see the trucks, and sometimes walking home from my cubscout meetings after school I could smell coal smoke.
I do not recall anybody in town who had LP gas (which isn't to say there weren't any) and I am not sure where the nearest LP gas dealer would have been. As a boy I associated LP gas tanks with rural and semi rural areas where again the gas lines had yet to be extended to. If I am correct in that recollection then perhaps a city or suburban coal dealer would get into oil as a necessary sideline, and a rural coal dealer would get into LP gas as a necessary sideline. The real push for natural gas lines seemed to come in the 1960s.
What I recall my dad and grandmother saying is that in the day when the same company supplied ice and coal, you were given large cardboard placards to put in your window, and that is how they'd know to deliver. Coal of course was seasonal; ice less so but depending on season I guess they'd just drive around knowing someone on their route was going to need what they had in the truck.
Same with the dairy/egg man. You didn't call and order, you put a note in the. milk chute and he just put plenty in the truck.
Dave Nelson
gmpullmanI believe the two were mutually exclusive. As gas lines were installed and in some rural areas propane became available the coal dealers felt like they were being pushed out of business.
Fascinating. I would have thought that fuel dealers would have just added the new product.
I would have guessed wrong.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
SeeYou190Wouldn't that be a logical addition to a coal dealer?
I believe the two were mutually exclusive. As gas lines were installed and in some rural areas propane became available the coal dealers felt like they were being pushed out of business.
Maybe a few caved in and "went to the other side" but that was probably the exception rather than the rule.
When the British and U.S. navies switched to oil in the mid-'20s it was quite a controversial move and for all practical purposes brought us to the "petro-politics" era we are still in today.
Cheers, Ed
Propane and propane accessories?
Seriously, when did propane dealerships become common in the USA? Wouldn't that be a logical addition to a coal dealer?
My home town in Fifties suburban New Jersey (25 miles from Manhattan) had a half lumber yard - half coal dealer. Twin hopper cars were run up on an overhread wooden trestle to dump various grades into the right bin (those trestles were why the twin hopper 55 tonner - which was inefficient for industrial shipments (3 and 4 hopper cars of 77 ton capacity were the standard) - lasted through the Fifties and into the Sixties, to serve the dying retail coal trade. They were right length to fit over the a single bin. In earlier days, I understand the lumber yard sold stoves, furnaces, hardware, plumbing, cement and lighting supplies, before they established a seperate hardware store, Which also sold radios and TV's eventually. There was an office at the drive in entrance to the yard with a scale for bulk sales. Don't forget the pinup girl calendar in the office where you paid for purchases! The lumber yard, togther with the railroad station, two gas stations, the A&P and the Post Office were the "business district"
'50s may be late for 'branded' coal but there might still have been some rivalry. Various methods used to differentiate brands: coatings (as in Blue Coal); little combustible medallions; oxidation colors as for peacock. If you are 'imagineering' you could develop some GERN-style rebranded-patent-medicine additive for coal marketing... for example one that adds hash oil to 'reduce catarrh from coal smoke' or to improve mood when stoking the furnace in winter months...
gmpullman I seem to recall noticing quite a few coal dealers that sold ice as well. Regards, Ed
I seem to recall noticing quite a few coal dealers that sold ice as well.
Regards, Ed
Same for me, Ed, as I have several on-layout coal & ice dealers, like this one in South Cayuga... ...
...and this one in Lowbanks, which doesn't have an on-site icehouse...
...but there is a very large ice house on the other side of town, also run by the Hoffentoth Bros....
This one is in Elfrida, and pretty-much the same set-up as the others...
I will be adding at least a couple more on the partial upper level of my layout, once I get some other projects finished and out of the way.
This one is an independent coal dealer, with no affilation with the Hoffentoth Bros.....
...although there is a Hoffentoth Bros. icehouse just down the track...
While it does sell ice for nearby homes and businesses, it's main purpose is for car icing, especially during the summer when nearby farms are harvesting fruit and vegetables, and also shipping meat and other perishable products.
Wayne
The coal company my mother worked for sold televisions, barbecue sets, charcoal and since they were affiliated with a paving contractor, various oils and tars for street repairs.
Rick Jesionowski
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My coal facility also has fuel tanks and unloading equipment for oil and coal from my old clamshell door hoppers. I have a few old coal trucks and a small oil truck. I suppose a couple of small repair vans would also be appropriate, as oil companies I remember were often responsible for maintaining oil burners and heating systems, so they did plumbing and some electrical work. Trucks like this can show additional products and work going on without much other infrastructure.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I suppect that many also sold various heating oils. They could also be a lumber yard that sold coal. Depends on the size of the town they were serving.
Heating oil if they're large enough, and maybe kerosene, white gas, etc.
Mark P.
Website: http://www.thecbandqinwyoming.comVideos: https://www.youtube.com/user/mabrunton
Dear Folk,
What other products might a 1950s Coal Dealer sell?
Thanks,
Mike