h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I am trying to put together a short story and have a few queries about things in the US. You may gather that it involves a small, out-of-the-way town.

I've seen films set in the 50s where, as well as filling your tank, the people in the filling station would do things like cleaning your windscreen and checking your oil. Does this still go on? Is it something that people at the filling station in a small town might still do?

What did gas cost in the '50s compared with now?

If somebody from late 20th / early 21st-century US went back in time to the '50s, what would the most noticeable differences be, other than the cars and the clothes? I expect the shops would be different, but would things change that much in a small town?

Good questions.
The service you noted is now offered only in the few "full srevice" that still exist.The advent of "self service" stations caught on quickly in the '70's with their lower fuel prices. A "full service" station is hard to find nowadays.
I would guess the price of gas to be around $0.25 / gallon in that time period. I remember it selling for $0.32 in the early '60's.
The '50's were a time of prosperity, vision for the future and sexual repression. People wanted their lives to be like those they saw on TV. Father Knows Best, Leave it to Beaver, Donna Reed and others. I believe it was an attempt to put the hell of WWII behind them. It was a time of innocent naivete'.
Another thing they were trying to overcompensate for was the new fear of global nuclear war.
I hope this helps.
Jim

Does this mean that even the small filling stations in one-horse towns out in the sticks are self-service?

One more thing about the filling station. It would have been a social gathering spot for a few of the owner's friends. Especially in a small town. I guess that woul be most of the population of that small town. There would be a a cooler full of pop (soda) in returnable bottles with a rack of empties next to it. The payment for the pop could be anytime from before you reach into the cooler to after the bottle is placed into the empty rack.

Yes most of those are also self service nowadays.

One more thing about that small town. Nobody locks their car doors or even their doors at home.
I suppose though that many small towns are still that way.

The prosperity of the 50's saw a lot of industries experimenting with service in ways not seen anymore. Full service gas stations finally disappeared in my area around 1980. Milk deliveries probably halted at about that same time. Ditto door-to-door sales, although I think Avon people came around for a few more years after that... nowadays, door-to-door sales are no longer done by organized business, and are the province of children's fundraisers and illegal immigrants peddling homemade tamales and (probably stolen) fruit.

In the 50's, it was even possible to phone your local grocery store with your shopping list, and the lot would be delivered to your home, for a service fee.

Yes. And don't forget the Fuller Brush man and the bread man. Then there was Jewel and Charlie's Potatoe Chips. Was Amway around back then? Stanley?