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March 1940. "Cooperative gas station at Shafter migrant camp. Shafter, California." Medium format acetate negative by Arthur Rothstein for the Farm Security Administration. View full size.
The Chevy on the right is from either 1929 or 1930, just like this carcass found at the Mariscal mercury mining complex, at Big Bend National Park. I took this picture in 2005.
The streetlights here feature the "radial wave" shade, and likely have a 200 or 300 watt clear incandescent bulb. These were often maintained into the 1970s, when they were replaced with modern fixtures. Some cities have returned to original designs in street lighting for historic areas, with various light sources. The updated radial wave streetlight can be seen again in a number of cities.
1940 was one of the last years that California issued a new set of plates, front and back, good for only one year. Tabs started to become the norm starting in 1942. Safe to say the Chevy on the right was either "driving dirty" or more likely a transient vehicle from another state, one that did not require a front plate.
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