Brother and I were discussing this today. Gas in the '70's was 29 cents per gallon. Both of us were students and he had a family. Poor as a pauper. Cheap gas allowed a little food on the table.
Summer of ‘72 a few friends & I drove to FL from NY for a week before college. If you paid $0.25, you got screwed! And the stations pumped the gas, checked your oil & some washed your windshield...