Oregon's Gas Lines Started in June. The Embargo Came in October.
The film of this episode premieres September 29, 2026 on YouTube. The documents, the transcript and the sources are below now.
The country remembers one cause for the gas lines of 1973: the Arab oil embargo, that October. But a federal photographer was in Portland shooting hand-lettered OUT OF GAS signs in June — and the United States Senate had passed the mandatory fuel-allocation bill on June 5, 1973, by 85 to 10, four and a half months before the embargo.
Transcript
The lights are out
R001 OVERALL VIEW OF DOWNTOWN PORTLAND, AT 8 P.M. IN OCTOBER, 1973 SHOWING LACK OF COMMERCIAL LIGHTING DURING THE PEAK OF THE ENERGY CRISIS. THE BAN WAS ISSUED BY EXECUTIVE ORDER OF OREGON'S GOVERNOR
David Falconer · Oct. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12954). View the original.
Portland, Oregon. Eight at night. Half the lights are off. The governor ordered them off.
R002 DOWNTOWN CORE AREA OF PORTLAND, AFTER 7 P.M. ON NOVEMBER 2 1973, DURING THE STATE'S ENERGY CRISIS WITH FEW COMMERCIAL AND NEON LIGHTING DISPLAYS. THIS PHOTO LOOKS TOWARD THE WEST WITH THE WILLAMETTE RIVER IN THE FOREGROUND
David Falconer · Nov. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12966). View the original.
Everyone remembers the cause — the Arab oil embargo, that October. But these lights went out three weeks early.
The photographer's own assignment sheet names the cause: the power shortage in the Pacific Northwest — low rainfall, and snow cover. This is the year the energy ran out early.
Snow is electricity
R003 MEMBERS OF THE CRAG RATS CLIMBING CLUB MAKE WINTER SNOW SURVEYS FOR THE U.S. SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE AT TILLY JANE CAMP GROUND ON MT. HODD. AUTHORITIES CAN THEN ANTICIPATE THE EFFECT OF SPRING THAW ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER
David Falconer · Mar. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-5555). View the original.
March, nineteen seventy-three. On Mount Hood, a mountaineering club called the Crag Rats runs the winter snow survey for the federal Soil Conservation Service.
R004 MEMBER OF THE OREGON RATS MOUNTAINEERS' CLUB FILLING IN A SNOW SURVEY FORM FOR THE SOIL CONSERVATION SERVICE. SURVEY IS BEING CARRIED OUT AT THE TILLY JANE CAMPGROUND ON MT. HOOD. RESULTS WILL BE USED TO PREDICT AMOUNT OF SPRING RUNOFF INTO THE COLUMBIA RIVER
David Falconer · Mar. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-5676). View the original.
They weigh the snowpack and write it down, because in Oregon the form is a forecast. Snow, melted through dams, is next winter's electricity.
R005 MT. HOOD RISES BEHIND THE DALLES DAM ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER THIS DAM HAS TWO FISH LADDERS AND A POWERHOUSE COLLECTION SYSTEM
David Falconer · May 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-5648). View the original.
The dams are on the Columbia. Mount Hood stands behind The Dalles Dam.
R006 GRAND COULEE DAM
David Falconer · May 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-5516). View the original.
Grand Coulee, upstream in Washington. The region ran on its rivers. And every frame in this film is period color. Nothing is colorized.
R008 TROJAN NUCLEAR PLANT AT RANIER ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER. BUILT BY THE PORTLAND GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY UNDER AN AEC PERMIT, THE PROJECT HAS MET STIFF OPPOSITION FROM ENVIRONMENTALISTS AND OTHERS
David Falconer · May 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-5724). View the original.
At Rainier, Portland General Electric was building the region a nuclear plant. Its name was Trojan.
Out of gas in June
The photographer was David Falconer. His spring assignment — number ninety-one, the Columbia River — lists dams, shipping terminals, a fish hatchery. Then four words that were not an environment subject at all: gasoline shortage in Oregon.
R009 CLOSED SERVICE STATION
David Falconer · June 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-5560). View the original.
June, nineteen seventy-three. A Texaco with its pumps at zero. The notice is hand-lettered: due to curtailment of gasoline supplies, and loss of our dealer allowances, we have been forced to shorten our operating hours, and close on Sundays.
R010 GASOLINE SHORTAGE
David Falconer · June 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-5566). View the original.
Closed — do to gasoline shortage. Spelled just like that. Open seven a.m. Closed Sunday.
R011 GAS STATION IN THE PORTLAND AREA, AWAY FROM THE FREEWAY. ONE OF MANY SIGNS REFLECTING GAS SHORTAGE
David Falconer · June 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-5681). View the original.
Irregular hours, due to gas shortage. The painter dropped a letter on the way. The signs were made in a hurry.
R012 "OUT OF GAS" SIGNS HAVE CROPPED UP ALL OVER THE PORTLAND AREA SINCE THE START OF THE FUEL SHORTAGE
David Falconer · June 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-5687). View the original.
Out of gas, on a corner by the Civic Stadium signs. The price on the pump behind it: thirty-seven point nine cents.
R013 GAS SHORTAGE
David Falconer · June 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-5688). View the original.
Empty. No checks or credit cards accepted.
R014 ONLY ONE OF MANY SUCH SIGNS THAT HAVE APPEARED IN THE PORTLAND AREA SINCE THE START OF THE FUEL SHORTAGE
David Falconer · June 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-5690). View the original.
And on a station door, the word that was about to swallow the year. Sorry, we're closed. Gasoline allotment filled for today. Open seven a.m. tomorrow.
The June vote
Allotment was not the station's word. It was Washington's. On June fifth, nineteen seventy-three — the same month as these photographs — the United States Senate passed Senate bill fifteen-seventy: mandatory allocation of crude oil and refined petroleum products. The vote was eighty-five to ten. The embargo was still four and a half months away.
The reservoirs
R015 DETROIT LAKE SHOWN AT AN ALLTIME LOW IN THE FALL OF 1973 DUE TO LOW PRECIPITATION THE YEAR BEFORE. NORMALLY IT IS USED FOR WATER SPORTS AND CAMPING, AND AS A RESERVOIR FOR WINTER POWERPLANT USE TO FEED MID-WILLAMETTE VALLEY CITIES
David Falconer · Sept. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12930). View the original.
Then the other shortage surfaced — the one the assignment sheet put first. September: Detroit Lake, at an all-time low. The caption names the cause. Sparse snowfall and rain, the year before.
R016 DETROIT LAKE SHOWN AT AN ALLTIME LOW IN THE FALL OF 1973 DUE TO SPARSE SNOWFALL AND RAIN THE YEAR BEFORE. LACK OF PRECIPITATION CURTAILED RECREATIONAL USE AS WELL AS WATER POWER FOR ELECTRICITY AT THE DAM
David Falconer · Sept. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12933). View the original.
The water fell so far that the no-skiing sign stood on dry ground.
R017 JUST LIKE THE BEACH, THE COLUMBIA RIVER IS SHOWN HERE AT ROOSTER ROCK STATE PARK 18 MILES EAST OF PORTLAND AT A RECORD LOW THE YOUNG GIRL PLAYS ON RIVER BEDS NEVER SEEN BEFORE AND EXPOSED MORE THAN THREE MONTHS BECAUSE OF A LACK OF PRECIPITATION THE PREVIOUS YEAR
David Falconer · Oct. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12946). View the original.
In October the Columbia itself reached the lowest flow ever recorded. This is the riverbed, eighteen miles east of Portland. A child is crawling on it.
R018 PEOPLE WALK A BEACH UNCOVERED DURING A RECORD LOW FLOW OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER AT ROOSTER ROCK STATE PARK 18 MILES EAST OF PORTLAND. LACK OF PRECIPITATION THE PREVIOUS YEAR CREATED THE CONDITIONS. THE STATE OF WASHINGTON IS SEEN IN THE BACKGROUND
David Falconer · Oct. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12951). View the original.
People walked a beach the captions say had never been seen before. Less river through the dams meant less electricity, for a region wired to run on it.
Raining kilowatts
R019 BILLBOARD ADVISING PASSING MOTORISTS OF THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE ENERGY SHORTAGE IN OREGON DURING THE FALL OF 1973. TAKEN ON INTERSTATE #5
David Falconer · Sept. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12928). View the original.
The persuasion phase came first. There's a name for people who conserve energy. Smart.
R020 AFTER THE OREGON GOVERNOR BANNED NEON AND COMMERCIAL LIGHTING DISPLAYS, FIRMS USED THEIR UNLIT SIGNS TO CONVEY ENERGY SAVING MESSAGES WHICH COULD BE SEEN DURING THE DAY. THE SIGN WAS IN PORTLAND
David Falconer · Oct. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12938). View the original.
September twenty-ninth — the captions record the date. Governor Tom McCall ordered commercial lighting off, by executive order. Dairy Queen explained itself: our lights are off to save energy. Won't you help too?
R021 THE ENERGY CRISIS IN THE STATES OR OREGON AND WASHINGTON RESULTED IN ATTEMPTS AT HUMOR BY BUSINESSES WITH OUTDOOR SIGNBOARDS. THERE IS SOME CONFUSION ON THIS ONE IN PORTLAND, OREGON IT STATES LIGHTS ARE OFF, BUT THEY ARE ON
David Falconer · Nov. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12972). View the original.
A cocktail lounge kept only the essentials burning. Our lights are off. But we are on.
R022 THE ENERGY CRISIS IN THE STATES OF OREGON AND WASHINGTON RESULTED IN ATTEMPTS AT HUMOR BY BUSINESSES WITH DARKENED SIGNS SUCH AS THIS ONE IN VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON
David Falconer · Nov. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12970). View the original.
A drive-in: power shortage has us in the dark.
R023 NOT ALL BUSINESSMEN AGREED WITH THE OREGON GOVERNOR'S EXECUTIVE ORDER CURTAILING NEON AND COMMERCIAL LIGHTING. THIS NEON LIGHT COMPANY REFERRED TO THE BIBLE PASSAGE WHICH READS "LET THERE BE LIGHT," AT PORTLAND
David Falconer · Oct. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12958). View the original.
Not everybody saluted. A sign company posted a memo to Governor Tom: Genesis one three. Let there be light.
R024 "TURN OFF THE DAMN LIGHTS" STICKERS MIRRORED THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE ENERGY SITUATION IN OREGON DURING THE FALL OF 1973. THIS STICKER, IN A PORTLAND BUSINESS OFFICE, WAS USED IN NEWSPAPER ADS AS WELL AS ON TELEVISION, BILLBOARDS AND CAR BUMPERS
David Falconer · Oct. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12965). View the original.
The stickers in Portland offices were less scriptural. Turn off the damn lights.
R025 TO CONSERVE ENERGY ALL PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOLS HAD THEIR FOOTBALL GAMES RESCHEDULED FOR DAYLIGHT HOURS AT THE MULTNOMAH STADIUM. NORMALLY THEY WERE PLAYED AT NIGHT
David Falconer · Oct. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12956). View the original.
To conserve electricity, Portland's high schools played their football in daylight, at the downtown stadium.
R026 WHEN THE MAJOR HOME OIL DEALER RAN OUT OF FUEL A SPECIAL BOARD WAS ACTIVATED FOR EMERGENCY DELIVERIES. MORE THAN 250 HOMES WERE WITHOUT OIL. CARDS ON THE WALL LIST PRIORITIES
David Falconer · Oct. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12939). View the original.
In Bend, east of the mountains, the main home heating-oil dealer ran out. More than two hundred fifty homes went without oil. A special board handled emergency deliveries, card by card.
R027 WOMEN USES HER HOME FIREPLACE FOR HEAT. A NEWSPAPER HEADLINE BEFORE HER TELLS OF THE COMMUNITY'S LACK OF HEATING OIL
David Falconer · Oct. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12941). View the original.
A woman heats her house at the fireplace. The headline on the hearth counts four hundred out of fuel oil.
R028 OREGON GOVERNOR TOM MCCALL USED A KEROSENE LAMP IN HIS OFFICE TO READ MAIL AS A METHOD TO GET THE PUBLIC'S ATTENTION REGARDING THE SERIOUSNESS OF THE ENERGY CRISIS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
David Falconer · Nov. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12978). View the original.
The governor read his mail by kerosene lamp. Staged, the caption admits — a method to get the public's attention.
R029 HIGHWAY SIGN ALONG INTERSTATE #5 SHOWS THE 50 MILE AN HOUR LIMIT IMPOSED BY OFFICIALS IN THAT STATE AS WELL AS OREGON BEFORE A FEDERAL ORDER ASKED MOTORISTS THROUGHOUT THE NATION TO SLOW DOWN
David Falconer · Nov. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12968). View the original.
Oregon cut its own highway speed limit that fall. Fifty, where it had been seventy. The Oregonian on the hood reports the same move in Washington state. All vehicles. All highways.
R030 LACK OF RAIN TURNED INTO A MESSAGE ON AN OUTDOOR ADVERTISING SIGN, ASKING PEOPLE TO CONSERVE THEIR ENERGY OUTPUT DURING THE FUEL CRISIS IN LATE 1973 IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
David Falconer · Dec. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12993). View the original.
And one advertising company put the whole cause on a marquee. It's not raining rain, you know. It's raining kilowatts. That fall, it was doing neither.
The embargo arrives
In the third week of October, the Arab oil states cut off shipments to the United States. On November seventh, President Nixon addressed the nation. We are heading toward the most acute shortages of energy since World War Two.
R031 GAS STATION ATTENDANTS PEER OVER THEIR "OUT OF GAS" SIGN IN PORTLAND, ON DAY BEFORE THE STATE'S REQUESTED SATURDAY CLOSURE OF GASOLINE STATIONS
David Falconer · Nov. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12982). View the original.
In Oregon it landed on a shortage already five months old. Two attendants behind their sign, the day before the state's requested Saturday closure of stations.
On November twenty-fifth the President asked every filling station in America to shut its pumps from nine p.m. Saturday to midnight Sunday. Voluntarily, beginning December first.
R033 TRAFFIC ON INTERSTATE #5 WAS LESS THAN NORMAL ON THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTERNOON OF THE NATIONWIDE BAN ON GASOLINE SALES IN DECEMBER 1973
David Falconer · Dec. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12985). View the original.
The first Sunday afternoon of December, on Interstate five. The caption calls it the nationwide ban on gasoline sales. It was a request. The freeway answered it.
R034 LONE CAR ON A STREET USUALLY FILLED WITH SUNDAY DRIVERS GIVES AN IDEA OF THE EXTENT THE BAN ON SUNDAY GASOLINE SALES HAD ON MOTORISTS
David Falconer · Dec. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12998). View the original.
A lone car, on a street usually filled with Sunday drivers.
Allotment becomes law
Two days after that address, the June bill became law. Public Law ninety-three dash one fifty-nine, the Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act, signed November twenty-seventh — with the Senate's June bill number printed in the margin.
Congress wrote its finding into section two. Shortages of crude oil, residual fuel oil, and refined petroleum products — now exist, or are imminent. The causes listed come first from home: inadequate domestic production. Environmental constraints. Imports insufficient to satisfy demand.
And it set a clock. Within fifteen days, the President had to write a mandatory allocation rule for every refined petroleum product in the country. Allotment — the word from the June station door — was now federal law.
R035 MOTORISTS WERE STOPPED BY THE STATE POLICE WHEN THEY EXCEEDED THE 55 MILE AN HOUR LIMIT ON HIGHWAYS WHICH HAD A PREVIOUS LIMIT OF 70. THE ACTION WAS DONE TO CONSERVE FUEL DURING THE CRISIS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHEAST. THIS IS ON 80 N EAST OF PORTLAND
David Falconer · Dec. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12995). View the original.
By December, Oregon state police were pulling drivers over under a fifty-five sign — on highways posted seventy the year before.
The federal fifty-five came on January second, in an act titled To Conserve Energy on the Nation's Highways. The national maximum speed limit, in the margin of the statute book. Oregon got there first, by two months.
Five gallons
R036 BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF AN AVERAGE GAS STATION IN PORTLAND DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF PUMPING WHEN GAS WAS LIMITED ON A FIRST-COME, FIRST SERVED BASIS TO FIVE GALLONS PER AUTO. SITUATIONS SUCH AS THIS LED TO OREGON'S PLAN FOR ALLOCATING FUEL ACCORDING TO LICENSE NUMBERS
David Falconer · Dec. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13005). View the original.
Winter mornings looked like this. First come, first served. Five gallons per car.
R038 AFTER HOURS IN A GASOLINE LINE A DRIVER COULD ARRIVE AT THE PUMPS AND FIND OUT THAT THE CAR AHEAD OF HIM WAS THE LAST TO GET FUEL. SO MANY STATIONS, SUCH AS THIS ONE IN PORTLAND, BEGAN USING A "SORRY" SIGN ON THE LAST CAR TO GET GAS
David Falconer · Dec. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13007). View the original.
When the tanks ran dry mid-line, the last car served carried the sign for everyone behind it. Sorry. Temporarily out of gas.
R039 SOME MOTORISTS RAN OUT OF GAS SUCH AS THIS MAN IN PORTLAND AND HAD TO STAND IN LINE WITH A GAS CAN DURING THE FUEL CRISIS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST
David Falconer · Dec. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13008). View the original.
Some drivers ran out waiting, and finished the line on foot, with a can.
R040 A POLICE OFFICER IN PORTLAND, CONTROLLED TRAFFIC AT A GASOLINE STATION THAT WAS LIMITING ITS SALES TO ONLY TWO GALLONS PER CUSTOMER IN DECEMBER, 1973
David Falconer · Dec. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13009). View the original.
At a station limiting sales to two gallons each, a Portland police officer controlled the traffic.
R041 THE DRIVING PUBLIC BECAME SO DESPERATE FOR GASOLINE THAT MANY STATIONS SUCH AS THIS ONE IN PORTLAND HAD TO RESORT TO LOCKING THEIR PUMPS IN DAYTIME DURING THE FUEL CRISIS OF 1973-74
David Falconer · Dec. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13011). View the original.
The captions say the public became desperate enough that stations locked their pumps in daylight.
R042 SALES OF GASOLINE TANK LOCKS INCREASED DRAMATICALLY DURING THE FUEL CRISIS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, AND THEIR PRICES DOUBLED. A GAS STATION ATTENDANT IS SHOWN UNLOCKING A CUSTOMER'S TANK
David Falconer · Jan. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13014). View the original.
Locking caps for the cars, too. Sales increased dramatically, says the caption. The prices doubled.
R043 "ZERO ICE" AND "OUT OF GAS" SIGNS AT SHERWOOD, DURING THE FUEL CRISIS OF 1973-74 RESULT IN UNINTENDED IRONY
David Falconer · Dec. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13012). View the original.
At Sherwood, the ice house regretted the irony. Zeero Ice. We're out of gasoline.
R044 ONE FAMILY OF FOUR MOVED INTO THE ATTIC OF THEIR HOME TO SEE IF THEY COULD LIVE WITHOUT "ESSENTIALS" AND DO THEIR PART AS ENERGY CONSERVATIONISTS. NOTE THE WOOD-BURNING STOVE AND WATER BARREL
David Falconer · Dec. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12992). View the original.
One family of four moved into their attic, to see if they could live without essentials. A wood stove, a water barrel, and their part — as the caption puts it — as energy conservationists.
R045 UNTIL THE FUEL CRISIS IT WAS VERY UNUSUAL TO NOTICE WOOD PILED ON FRONT LAWNS SUCH AS THIS STACK. PRICES FOR PRECUT WOOD SKYROCKETED OVERNIGHT, BUT IT STILL WAS PURCHASED
David Falconer · Dec. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13002). View the original.
Firewood appeared on front lawns. Precut prices skyrocketed overnight. People bought it anyway.
R046 SAWING AND SPLITTING OF LOGS TOSSED ON THE BEACH NEAR LINCOLN CITY, WAS DONE TO CONSERVE ELECTRICITY AND FIND A WAY TO BEAT PRICES OF FIREWOOD WHICH DOUBLED DURING THE MONTHS OF THE ENERGY CRISIS IN 1973-74
David Falconer · Jan. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13020). View the original.
On the coast near Lincoln City, they sawed the beach logs where they lay.
R047 KEROSENE LAMPS SUCH AS THESE IN A BUSINESS WINDOW, BECAME BEST SELLERS DURING THE ENERGY CRISIS IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST DURING THE FALL AND WINTER OF 1973-1974
David Falconer · Dec. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-12988). View the original.
Kerosene lamps became best sellers. A business window kept three burning.
R049 A BUYERS' MARKET DEVELOPED OVERNIGHT IN THE PACIFIC NORTH-WEST FOR GASOLINE GUZZLING MOTOR HOMES. AT THE HEIGHT OF THE FUEL SHORTAGE IT WAS ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TO SELL THEM. THIS ONE WAS FOR SALE
David Falconer · Dec. 1973 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13010). View the original.
A buyers' market developed overnight for motor homes. At the height of the shortage it was almost impossible to sell one.
R050 "NEVER ON SUNDAY" WAS THE THEME SONG OF THE OREGON GASOLINE DEALERS ASSOCIATION DURING THE GASOLINE SHORTAGE DURING THE FALL AND WINTER OF 1973-74. THIS SIGN WAS POSTED IN PORTLAND
David Falconer · Jan. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13025). View the original.
The gasoline dealers printed their own poster of the President. By presidential proclamation. It's never on Sunday. A reminder.
Odd and even
R051 DURING THE FUEL CRISIS BEFORE GASOLINE SALES WERE REGULATED BY THE STATE A DEALER IN TIGARD, PUMPED GAS ONLY TO HIS REGULAR CUSTOMERS. THE DRIVER IN THIS PICTURE WAS REFUSED SERVICE
David Falconer · Jan. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13013). View the original.
January. Before the state stepped in, dealers rationed by loyalty. Gas sales limited to regular customers. This driver was refused.
R052 GAS BY APPOINTMENT SIGNS INCREASED EACH DAY IN PORTLAND AND OTHER PARTS OF OREGON UNTIL THE STATE PUT INTO EFFECT THE ODD-EVEN GAS PLAN. OTHER STATES ALSO ADOPTED THE SCHEME TO DECREASE THE GAS LINES
David Falconer · Jan. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13021). View the original.
Others took appointments. Gas by appointment only.
R053 GAS RATIONING SYSTEM (ODD-EVEN PLAN) IS ANNOUNCED IN AN AFTERNOON NEWSPAPER BEING READ AT A SERVICE STATION WITH A SIGN IN THE BACKGROUND STATING NO GAS IS AVAILABLE
David Falconer · Jan. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13022). View the original.
Then the afternoon paper, read at a station with no gasoline. McCall, dealers agree. Gas rationing set Monday.
R054 ON JANUARY 31, 1974, AN ODD-NUMBERED DAY, MOTORISTS WITH ODD-NUMBERED LICENSE PLATES COULD OBTAIN GASOLINE AT THIS STATION THE LIMIT WAS 15 GALLONS
David Falconer · Jan. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13034). View the original.
The plan was odd and even. On January thirty-first — an odd-numbered day — odd-numbered plates could buy fifteen gallons.
R055 THE STATE OF OREGON WAS THE FIRST TO GO TO A SYSTEM OF ODD AND EVEN NUMBERS DURING THE GASOLINE CRISIS IN THE FALL AND WINTER OF 1973-74. HERE A MOTORISTS WITH AN EVEN NUMBERED LAST DIGIT GOT GAS ON AN EVEN-NUMBERED DAY. THE PLAN WAS IN EFFECT MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. ANYONE COULD GET GAS ON SATURDAY OF AVAILABLE. ALL STATIONS CLOSED SUNDAYS. IN PORTLAND
David Falconer · Feb. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13038). View the original.
The next day belonged to the even numbers. The captions call Oregon the first state to try the scheme.
R056 GASOLINE DEALERS IN OREGON DISPLAYED SIGNS EXPLAINING THE FLAG POLICY DURING THE FUEL CRISIS IN THE WINTER OF 1973-74. AS THE SIGN SAYS THE GREEN FLAG MEANS ANYONE CAN GET GAS, THE YELLOW IS FOR COMMERCIAL VEHICLES ONLY AND A RED FLAG MEANS NO GAS AT ALL. THIS STATION IS IN PORTLAND
David Falconer · May 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13066). View the original.
Oregon added a flag code. Green flag: everyone welcome. Yellow flag: commercial — burden of proof on customer. Red flag: closed. No gas.
R058 PRINTED GAS COUPONS FOR OFFICIAL CITY CARS DURING THE FUEL CRISIS. A CITY COMMISSIONER SHOWS THE COUPONS THAT WERE USED IN FEBRUARY, 1974. EACH COUPON ALLOWED FIVE GALLONS AT CITY PUMPS ONLY
David Falconer · Feb. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13036). View the original.
Portland printed gasoline coupons for its own city cars. Five gallons a coupon, city pumps only.
R059 SOME GAS STATIONS, SUCH AS THIS ONE, DEFINED EXACTLY WHO THEY WOULD PUMP FUEL FOR--SUCH AS DOCTORS. THE INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE RULED THIS WAS LEGAL
David Falconer · Feb. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13041). View the original.
Some stations defined exactly whom they would serve. Doctors only. The caption adds: the Internal Revenue Service ruled this was legal.
R060 IMPORTED GASOLINE WAS SOLD AT THIS SERVICE STATION, DURING THE FUEL CRISIS IN THE FALL AND WINTER OF 1973-74. IT WAS AS MUCH AS TWICE THE PRICE OF DOMESTIC GAS AND THERE WERE FEW CUSTOMERS AT FIRST. BUT THE NUMBERS INCREASED AS THE CRISIS GREW
David Falconer · Feb. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13044). View the original.
Imported gasoline appeared, outside the domestic allocations. Regular, fifty-nine point eight. Ethyl, sixty-three point eight. I.R.S. approved prices. In June, the pump by the stadium had said thirty-seven nine.
R061 OREGON GOVERNOR TOM MCCALL TAKES DELIVERY OF A SMALLER CAR WITH BETTER GAS MILEAGE AS HIS OFFICIAL AUTO. THE EVENT WAS COVERED BY THE PRESS IN PORTLAND. THE AUTO REPLACED A LINCOLN. MRS MCCALL IS SHOWN ON THE PASSENGER'S SIDE
David Falconer · Jan. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13023). View the original.
The governor traded the state Lincoln for a small car with better mileage, and let the press photograph the delivery.
R062 STACKED AUTOS ARE CRUSHED AND SHIPPED TO JAPAN, THEN RETURN TO THE UNITED STATES AS TOYOTAS AND DATSUNS TO BEGIN THE CYCLE ONCE AGAIN
David Falconer · Feb. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13039). View the original.
Portland's crushed autos were stacked and shipped to Japan — returning, the caption says, as Toyotas and Datsuns, to begin the cycle again.
R063 SCHOOL CHILDREN, WERE FORCED TO USE THEIR BICYCLES ON FIELD TRIPS DURING THE FUEL CRISIS IN THE WINTER OF 1974. THERE WAS NOT ENOUGH GASOLINE FOR SCHOOL BUSES TO BE USED FOR EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES, EVEN DURING DARK AND RAINY WEATHER
David Falconer · Feb. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13047). View the original.
School buses lost their gasoline for extracurriculars. Field trips went by bicycle.
What stayed closed
R064 AS GASOLINE BECAME MORE PLENTIFUL IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST IN LATE MARCH, 1974, A STATION SUCH AS THIS ONE IN TROUTDALE, OREGON EAST OF PORTLAND, WAS EMPTY EVEN THOUGH OPEN ON A SUNDAY AFTERNOON
David Falconer · Mar. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13054). View the original.
The embargo ended in March, nineteen seventy-four. Gasoline came back. Car gas, twenty-four hours.
R065 INDEPENDENT DEALERS AND MAJOR OIL COMPANY DEALERS BEGAN TO CLOSE SOME STATIONS PERMANENTLY DURING THE GASOLINE SHORTAGE IN THE WINTER OF 1973-74. A SCENE SUCH AS THIS, BECAME MORE COMMON AS SHORTAGES AFFECTED THE ECONOMY FROM VARIOUS ANGLES
David Falconer · Apr. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13057). View the original.
But the winter had thinned the stations out. Dealers began closing them permanently — independents and the major oil companies both. No smoking. Stop your motor. For sale.
R066 INDEPENDENT DEALERS AND MAJOR OIL COMPANY DEALERS BEGAN TO CLOSE SOME STATIONS PERMANENTLY DURING THE GASOLINE SHORTAGE IN THE WINTER OF 1973-74. A PUMP SUCH AS THIS ONE, WEST OF OLYMPIA BECAME MORE COMMON AS SHORTAGES AFFECTED THE ECONOMY FROM VARIOUS ANGLES
David Falconer · Apr. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13058). View the original.
A pump stood in the dandelions with its last sign still taped on.
R067 GASOLINE STATIONS ABANDONED DURING THE FUEL CRISIS IN THE WINTER OF 1973-74 WERE SOMETIMES USED FOR OTHER PURPOSES. THIS STATION AT POTLATCH, WASHINGTON, WEST OF OLYMPIA WAS TURNED INTO A RELIGIOUS MEETING HALL. SIGNS PAINTED ON THE GAS PUMPS PROCLAIM "FILL UP WITH THE HOLY GHOST... AND SALVATION."
David Falconer · Apr. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13061). View the original.
At Potlatch, Washington, west of Olympia, an abandoned station became a religious meeting hall. Somebody repainted the pumps. Fill up with the Holy Ghost and fire. Fill up with old-time salvation.
![{{en|OREGON STILL HAD SCATTERED GASOLINE PROBLEMS IN MAY 1974. A DOWNTOWN STATION IN PORTLAND SHOWS A SIGN SAYING THE DAY'S ALLOCATION IS SOLD OUT. A [BLURRY] BICYCLER USES AN](img/R068.jpg)
R068 {{en|OREGON STILL HAD SCATTERED GASOLINE PROBLEMS IN MAY 1974. A DOWNTOWN STATION IN PORTLAND SHOWS A SIGN SAYING THE DAY'S ALLOCATION IS SOLD OUT. A [BLURRY] BICYCLER USES AN ALTERNATE METHOD OF TRANSPORTATION.}}
David Falconer · May 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13067). View the original.
Some survivors still ran dry. Sorry — due to allocation, we can serve no more gasoline today. A bicycle went past.
R069 RETAINED A CAR POOL OFFICE IN MAY, 1974, EVEN AFTER THE GAS SHORTAGE WAS VIRTUALLY OVER. THE PHONE NUMBER FOR THE AGENCY SPELLS C A R P O O L
David Falconer · May 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13064). View the original.
And in May, with the shortage over, one office stayed open. Find a cure for the common car. The phone number spelled carpool.
R070 OREGON GASOLINE DEALERS WERE "KIDDED" ABOUT THEIR NO GAS AND OTHER SIGNS AT THE SERVICE STATIONS DURING THE NATION'S FUEL CRISIS OF 1973-74. A SIGNBOARD AT THIS MOTEL-RESTAURANT IN KLAMATH FALLS "RESTRICTED" SPAGHETTI INTAKE ONLY AMONG GAS DEALERS
David Falconer · Mar. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13051). View the original.
In Klamath Falls, a motel needled the dealers from its marquee. Spaghetti, no limit. Except, the sign adds, for gas dealers.
R071 SIGN OF THE PAST IS THIS ABANDONED GASOLINE PUMP WITH A PRICE OF 29.9 CENTS PER GALLON. THE COST OF FUEL HAS MADE SUCH A REOCCURRENCE NOTHING BUT A DREAM. THE GAS PUMP WAS PHOTOGRAPHED AT
David Falconer · Apr. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13056). View the original.
The photographer's last word on the year is a pump abandoned mid-crisis. The state inspection seal on its face is dated nineteen sixty-nine. The price wheel stopped at twenty-nine point nine cents a gallon. The caption calls that price nothing but a dream.
D01 SIGN OF THE PAST IS THIS ABANDONED GASOLINE PUMP WITH A PRICE OF 29.9 CENTS PER GALLON. THE COST OF FUEL HAS MADE SUCH A REOCCURRENCE NOTHING BUT A DREAM. THE GAS PUMP WAS PHOTOGRAPHED AT
David Falconer · Apr. 1974 · U.S. National Archives, DOCUMERICA (412-DA-13056). View the original.
The rest is in the file. Three hundred seventy-four frames of one state's fuel year, free at full resolution at the National Archives. The camera came from the same federal project that photographed Cleveland's river that same summer. That film is on this channel.
Sources
- Photographs: David Falconer for Project DOCUMERICA, U.S. National Archives, Record Group 412-DA (series NAID 542493, unrestricted): assignment 0091 (Columbia River, spring 1973) and assignment 0114 (the Pacific Northwest energy-crisis shoot, Sept. 1973 – May 1974). Full-resolution originals free at https://catalog.archives.gov/search?q=David%20Falconer — every frame's National Archives identifier is on screen with the frame. Captions quoted are NARA's transcriptions of the photographer's caption cards, quoted as the agency's own words. The Sept. 29, 1973 date and instrument of Gov. Tom McCall's lighting order are the captions' (NAIDs 555379, 555381, 555389); "first state to go to a system of odd and even numbers" is the captions' claim (NAIDs 555489, 555490). Every sign quoted in narration was read off the photograph, not the caption.
- Congressional Record, vol. 119, p. 18064 (June 5, 1973) — S. 1570, the fuel-allocation bill, passes the Senate: "The result was announced—yeas 85, nays 10" [No. 170 Leg.]. Bound part: https://archive.org/details/sim_congressional-record-proceedings-and-debates_may-30-june-6-1973_119_part-14-redacted (leaf 851). Read off the page image, not the OCR.
- Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act of 1973, Public Law 93-159, 87 Stat. 627, November 27, 1973 — the heading with the margin note "[S.1570]"; §2(a)(1), shortages "now exist or are imminent," with the causes as enacted; §4(a), the fifteen-day mandatory-allocation deadline. Scan: https://archive.org/details/sim_united-states-united-states-statutes-at-large_1972_87 (the item is mislabeled 1972; it is vol. 87, 1973 — leaves 658–660).
- Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents, vol. 9: address of November 7, 1973 ("the most acute shortages of energy since World War II"), https://archive.org/details/sim_weekly-compilation-of-presidential-documents_1973-11-12_9_45; address of November 25, 1973 (the request that stations "close down their pumps between 9 p.m. Saturday night and midnight Sunday every weekend, beginning December 1 … voluntarily"), https://archive.org/details/sim_weekly-compilation-of-presidential-documents_1973-12-03_9_48. Both read off the page images.
- Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act, Public Law 93-239, 87 Stat. 1046, January 2, 1974 — "AN ACT To conserve energy on the Nation's highways"; §2, the national 55-mile-per-hour condition on federal-aid highway funds. Same vol. 87 scan, leaf 1077.
- Project DOCUMERICA assignment list (EPA finding aid to NARA RG 412-DA): p. 7 — Fiche 92–96, David Falconer, assignment 0091, Columbia River, with "gasoline shortage in Oregon" in the typed subject list; p. 28 — Fiche 216–218, David Falconer, assignment 0114: "Project documents the power shortage in the Pacific Northwest as a result of low rainfall and snow cover. Also covered is the gasoline shortage for that area." https://web.archive.org/web/20120602151038id_/http://ej.msu.edu/documerica/History/assign.pdf
- The Arab oil embargo — imposed against the United States October 1973, lifted March 1974: U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, https://history.state.gov/milestones/1969-1976/oil-embargo
- This is period Kodachrome. Nothing in this episode is colorized and there is no AI imagery.