On Oct 17, 2011, at 2:11 PM, Boyer, Jeffrey, DCA wrote:

> Sandra,
> Wish I could help with a reference for the pump -- I'm presuming you mean the hand nozzle, yes? Or do you mean the above-ground box that housed a pump? I do know that most farms and ranches did not and do not have underground tanks, except, perhaps for REALLY big outfits (even then?). Underground tanks are VERY expensive to install, more so to remove, and there are a host of regulations for them, even before the days of environmental laws.
Sorry but I have to disagree. Any farmer with a backhoe attachment or access to one from a neighbor often installed tanks. Where I grew up in VA, there were two, one for gas and one for diesel, both below ground. Both were electric and were the rectangular box types sitting on concrete stands. These were in place in the late 1950's. The farm was most decidedly not a big operation, being 350 acres with another 150 rented off the island (yes it was a real island until about 1916). 

Also, there's another consideration in that some farmers had tanks that were on the back of trucks, often older 6-wheeler types, but also in the last 50 years mounted in pick-up trucks. These were used for field refueling.

Lyle Browning, RPA



> Above-ground tanks are mounted on stands of a variety of sorts, mostly depending on the size and full-weight of the tank. They are often gravity-fed, so the nozzle only regulates flow. In fact, I'd suggest you look at the attached url and contact the museum owner/director, Johnnie Meier, for more info, (http://www.route66university.com/study/inthenews/498.php), because I'm pretty sure that the nozzle is never actually a pump device but only regulates flow. I know of this little museum because it's between my home and work. There may similar
>  ones near you in CA. In fact, I just googled "gas pump museum" and got a lot of hits, including: http://www.oldgas.com/visit.htm, which lists a remarkable number of museums and collections.
> Buena suerte,
> 
> Jeff
> 
> Jeffrey L. Boyer
> Supervisory Archaeologist/Project Director
> Office of Archaeological Studies, Museum of New Mexico
> 
>  *   mail: P.O. Box 2087, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87504
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> "This is no time for archaeologizing . . ." - Amelia Peabody Emerson (The Curse of the Pharoahs, Elizabeth Peters)
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> ________________________________________
> From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Pentney, Sandra [[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, October 17, 2011 11:32 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Question about farmstead gas pumps
> 
> Does anyone know of a reference that can be used to date a certain type
> of gas pump? We found a partial gas pump on a farm in rural California
> and are trying to determine how old it may be and if it would have been
> associated with either an above ground storage tank, or a below ground
> storage tank. No evidence of a tank was found during survey.
> 
> 
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Sandra.
> 
> 
> 
> Sandra Pentney, MA, RPA
> 
> Ecology and Environment, Inc.
> 
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