Coins were made from real silver back then! Take that into consideration when adjusting for inflation.

... There is a handy soda-acid fire extinguisher hanging on the wall to the left. It appears that there was some wear and tear on the filler hoses dragging on the ground. The fix was to wind some heavy rubber tubing around the area on each hose. The Imperial Oil Company in Canada still uses the name Esso for its gas stations.

If 20 cents equals $3.83 today, one must remember that cars today get almost twice the mileage they got back then. So back then to go to and from the same distance as one would go today it would cost them 40 cents, adjusted for inflation should mean that gas today should be $7.66.

IMO, the reason we think gas prices are so high is because of all the "stuff" we simply must have that did not exist back then, like computers, cable TV, the Internet and more, that comes out of your paycheck each month. Take all that away and $3.50 a gallon would be less a drain today than 20 cents was back then.

What is the equipment on the right in front of the two pumps and the person in black on the back side of the island?

8 and 10 cents a gallon are $1.56 and $1.95 in today's dollars.

[The prices on these pumps are 18 and 20 cents a gallon. - Dave]

I wonder who is that hiding behind the bulk oil dispenser? Doesn't appear to be wearing a pump jockey uniform.

Few people who are less than solidly middle aged have seen gasoline pumps that show a sale's cost with only three digits. Yet before the 1973 oil embargo they were ubiquitous.

I guessed it might be cotton velveteen?

Adjusted for inflation, 20 cents in 1942 would be $3.83 today.

Wonder why there are two "extra" pumps sitting inside the station in the background apparently not (yet) in use. Maybe the station was in the process of converting over to the "new" style pumps and that's what motivated this photo.

[There are pumps on both sides of the island. What motivated the photo is wartime girl station attendants! - Dave]

An adult woman, to my eye. But those were different days.

A fine example of modern looking "computer" pumps, at least if we ignore the archaic sight-glass (and those weird dome tops, that give them the appearance of small mosques).
What particularly caught my eye, however is the curious(ly skimpy) "No Smoking" signage: the placement gives the illusion that the proscription only applies to the regular grade

Women employees had certainly improved the look of stations since John Vachon photographed one two years earlier.

Tell me that's not Ethyl manning the pumps!

Am I reading the price correctly on the gas pump?

[Um, no. - Dave]

Velour? Corduroy? It has a soft, plush look.