New Jersey banned self-service gasoline in 1949 after lobbying by service station owners.

In addition, the ban on self-service gasoline is seen as part of Oregonian culture.

The American Automobile Association said yesterday that its nationwide spot-check on Wednesday found an average price for self-service regular unleaded gasoline of $1.307 a gallon.

The thought of self-service gasoline, however, was a bit anxiety-producing, because I wasn't sure how it was done.

As self-service gasoline was legalized in many states, Marathon decided to use "Speedway" (without the "79") at higher-volume self-service stations with convenience stores.

The Automobile Association said the average price for self-service regular unleaded gasoline has simply returned to its levels of August 1996 and August 1997.

Motorists are being charged an average of $1.27 for a gallon of self-service unleaded gasoline, according to the survey.

The press has also taken up the cause because self-service gasoline is an example of deregulation that is easy to understand - though perhaps not too easy.

Oregon banned self-service gasoline in 1951.

New Jersey was not alone when it banned self-service gasoline in 1949.