Stamped with model T-2179-7, this pump appears to be a member of the T-179 line of gas pumps produced by Gilbert & Barker. With a Shell globe atop, it was a hand operated pump. Can't say when the pump was manufactured, likely right around 1930.
With its beginnings in 1865, Gilbert & Barker must be the oldest gas pump manufacturer extant. Now known as Gilbarco Veeder-Root , the company began with the manufacture of the "Springfield Gas Machine" which converted crude petroleum distillates into a gas vapor used to light buildings. Then owned by Standard Oil Company, they built their first gas pump in 1910, the T-1, which used a push-pull motion on a long handle to draw gasoline from an underground tank.
In 1911 they introduced their first measuring gasoline pump and their first first electric metering pump in 1930. In 1935 they introduced the first computing pump and registered the "Gilbarco" trade name. It wasn't until 1965 that they officially changed the corporate name to
Gilbarco. In the following years the company introduced a myriad of innovations to the service station and refuelling industry, continuing in this vein today.
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