Visit this unrestored vintage Wayne 60 gas pump (circa 1935) beside the WVLG radio broadcast booth at Lake Sumter Landing Town Square of The Villages, Florida. The pump is displayed along with a collection of automobile memorabilia mounted on the west side of a small building designed to resemble an old fishing shack with a tin roof.
Wayne is one of the oldest and most successful original gas pump makers, dating back to 1891. The Wayne Company revolutionized the service station industry in 1933 when it introduced the first computing pump with the Model 40. In response to the need for a more modern and attractive computing pump, came the new Wayne 60 narrow body pump. This pump has a more streamlined Art Deco-inspired design, with stepped sides, resembling the elegant design of the Empire State Building. The Wayne Co. promoted this 1935 model as the “World’s Most Beautiful Pump”. The new Model 60 was a tremendous hit in the service station industry, having been placed at the stations of major companies including Texaco, Shell and Phillips.
...[T]he sight gauge is outside of and above the computer face. In the later 30’s, the gauge was moved inside, on the computer face. The purpose of the sight gauge is to see the flow of the gasoline.
The computer was first referred to a “variator” when it was released by the Wayne Co. in 1933. The term “computer” was first used by manufacturer Veeder-Root to describe their revolving number meter that displayed the amount of gas pumped and the price. Other companies adopted the term by 1940. These computers were in use until digital pumps were introduced around 1975.
The Wayne Model 60 pumps came with the factory option of glass insert panels that were painted with a generic or sunburst design or with an advertisement.
Features of the Wayne 60 Model Gas Pump:
- Volume computer unit
- Price synchronizing mechanism
- Gallon totalizer
- Rotary pump unit
- Air separator
- Four-cylinder piston meter
- Computer reset control mechanism
- Visible flow indicator
- Non-shock nozzle
- Explosion-proof motor
- Electric advertising sign