Midland: Fueling a Future
Ever-Ready Auto Service
In 1923, Fred A. and Edith Wemple came to Midland, Texas from Marshall, Texas, where Fred Wemple had the prestigious job of station agent for the railroad.
According to Edith Wemple, the young couple sat in the band stand on the courthouse steps and counted cars. That was their form of "market research" to determine where to open a gas station for automobiles, which seemed to be finding a place in American life.
At the intersection of Wall and Loraine Streets, across from the courthouse of the time, they opened Ever-Ready Auto Service. It was the first drive-in service station in Midland and, according to family lore, the first station between Fort Worth and El Paso, a distance of about 600 miles.
A newlywed,
a new century
and a new adventure
Edith Abels Wemple, born in 1899, grew up in Blossom, Texas. She married Fred A. Wemple in 1921.
In this recording from 1978, she describes the young couple’s trek across Texas to build a future.
Fred A. and Edith Wemple with son Ted (early 1930s)
Fred A. Wemple at the Ever-Ready station
The young family worked hard to build the business, and the entire family was involved. In the early days, Fred Wemple would work in the shop, and Edith Wemple would keep the books. After the birth of their first child, also known as Edith, the infant accompanied the couple to the shop. After closing, the Wemples would stuff their daily receipts in Baby Edith’s diaper for the walk home, to thwart thieves. The spare tire of the family car became advertising space (left). The Wemples’ sons (Allen and Ted) along with sons of station personnel dressed as attendants for promotional pictures (below).
A devastating blow
Fire swept through the Ever-Ready Auto Service on June 19, 1934, while the Wemples were visiting family in East Texas. Fortunately, the records of credit accounts were locked in a safe, and could be consulted when it was time to pay for rebuilding.
The station reopened the next year.
Branching out
Enterprising became second-nature. The Wemples added a second service station and then became distributors for Magnolia Petroleum, later acquired by Socony. The family added a Western Auto store adjacent to its orignal station and pursued real estate investments. After closing the Ever-Ready stations, the family opened a record and appliance store. The enterprises were so prosperous that Fred Wemple could pursue public service, with appointments to the State Board
of Education and to the Highway Commission, the forerunner of the Texas
Department of Transportation.
In 1995, he was posthumously inducted into the Petroleum Museum Hall of Fame.
His induction information can be read here.
The Wemple family during World War II: Edith (the firstborn), Ted, Evelyn, Edith, Fred A., Lucille and Allen