Post #1, 12 May 2015:
My grandpa, Frank J. Dippel (1895-1981) and grandma, Anna B. (Schneider) (1892-1970) owned a Sinclair gas station in the Five Points section of El Paso. When Frank, Anna and their surviving kids Florence, Francis, and Marion first moved to El Paso in the mid-1940's, they lived in a trailer on the gas station property. This photo is at the intersection of Piedras (lower left to right) and White Oaks (now Wyoming) (lower right to left). If you zoom in on the center of the picture, you can see the address "White Oaks 2900" painted on the curb at the base of the streetlight. At the time my grandparents ran the gas station, the duplex (seen to the left of the station) housed the Murphy family (far left) and the Blystone family (2nd from left). Notice the streetcar on the far right.
The trailer behind the station was their home for 6 1/2 years. The station seemed to be the center of family activity -- or at least the spot for taking lots of family photographs! In the background of this photo, Geschwind's grocery was located on the right; the white building on the left was a Coca-Cola building.
Here's a picture of my Aunt Florence (on the left) and my Aunt Marion. Behind them, near the bushes across the street was a little triangular park from where horse-drawn hayrides would launch.
Below left is Alice Jungbluth. She, her sister Adele, and their mom were friends of the family when my grandparents lived in Chicago.
My dad, who may have been 4 or 5 years old at the time, took a liking to a meal he had at the Jungbluth's house. He called one of the tasty side dishes, "Alice Things", possibly because Alice prepared them, or fancied them, too. Only later did he start calling them by their real name: "Brussels Sprouts"!
The photo at left is my grandpa; at right are friends, Mr. & Mrs. Allen. Clyde and Lucille Allen were stationed at Ft. Bliss.
My dad and grandpa in a graduation day photograph. After moving to El Paso from Evansville, IN, my dad spent his 8th-grade year at St. Patrick's grade school.
Wonder who they're grinning at! My grandma is hard at work in the background. My dad maintained several rabbit pens behind the station.
Below, is a picture of Aunt Marion, looking pretty dapper while taking a break from playing basketball. She's dressed in a sports outfit from St. Joseph's grade school (notice the "J") on her blouse. At the station, she washed customer's windows for $0.10 cent tips. One of the items she made and sold at the station were little spacecraft-looking corks with toothpicks stuck in them. She would paint them and sprinkle them with glitter - the customers seemed to like these little knick-knacks. The door pictured here may have led to the station's bathroom. At one point, there was a sign on the door that proclaimed, "This is not a Safeway toilet.", referring to the nearby Safeway grocery store.
In one of Marion's letters to my dad, dated 6 June 2019, she reminisces on "...all the people who came into the station...",
...Mrs. Juarez with her parrot that sang, "You Belong to my Heart",
...Mr. Bush with his horse-skin coat, and when you'd try it on, he' give you a big hug,
...Mr. Dycus, who worded at Price's [the Dairy store, next to the station].
Below, grandpa and grandma are taking care of a customer's vehicle. The cross street in the background of this picture was White Oaks St. (now Wyoming).
Here's two pictures taken from nearly the same spot: one from 1940's, and a Google Maps shot from 2016:
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