The coming of the automobile also brought about the coming of the gasoline pump. The early ones were hand-cranked and measuring was kind of vague. Then in 1920 came the glass-top see through "visible" gasoline dispenser so a motorist could see exactly how much gas was going into his car.
H. J. Smith General Merchandise Store on Columbia Street has two of those glass top gasoline pump dispensers on display at its museum. Even the hand crank is still attached to one of them at the bottom.
The two gas pumps are an appropriate item for H. J. Smith to include in its displays because the family was also involved in one of the first automobile dealerships in Covington.
A hundred years ago, Smith Hardware store ran an ad in the St. Tammany Farmer newspaper telling about its new clear glass gasoline pump.
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