The Tokheim Oil Tank and Pump Company, of Fort Wayne, Indiana produced this gas pump during the early 1900s. This moveable ability of the tank reflects the fact that before gas stations were a widespread phenomenon, many hardware stores sold gasoline to motorists. This mobile pump may have replaced the old system of buying gasoline by the bucketful in some stores.
As Americans took to the wheel, they needed to buy gasoline-if they owned a gasoline powered car, rather than a steam or electric model. Entrepreneurs and inventors came up with technologies and systems in order to get gasoline to the consumers before there were a plethora of gas stations.