Steve let me know a lot about this photo, this truck has an air compressor mounted in the bed, and that barrel is a tank for the compressed air, (Joe also commented on that tank being for compressed air) it's high mounted to leave space in the bed for tires.
This guy is Chuck Brown, son of the business founder A O Brown. The photo was created in 1966
Alpha Otis "A.O." Brown Jr. And his wife Helen started the station in Parsons, Kansas in 1939. He was born in Parsons in 1908 and in 1934 he was a bulk agent for Shell Oil. In 1936 he moved to Independence to be a commission agent for Shell. By 1939 he'd made enough money to return to Parsons and buy the Jones Motor Inn, a 14-year old tire and Diamond D-X gas station at 1800 Belmont Avenue. Before their marriage Helen worked for the Katy Railroad.
In 1925 Horace "Horses" Jones started a tire service station at the corner of 18th and Broadway before moving a few blocks south a year later. By 1927 Jones was the wholesale jobber for the Diamond D-X Petroleum Company and had a bulk storage facility on 20th Street at the Katy railroad. He decided to create a "1-stop. completely modern equipped service station" and so built a new L-shaped building on the southwest corner of 18th and Belmont - the business and location that A.O. Brown purchased 12 years later.
By March, Brown had rebranded the business as the A.O. Brown Oil Company, a Mobilgas filling and bulk station, and Goodyear products dealer. By 1941 it was known as the Brown Oil & Supply Company.
Married in 1930, A.O. and his wife had three sons: A.O. III; Eldon; and Charles W. "Chuck" Brown. While all three boys worked at the station growing up, only Chuck joined the business permanently, doing so in 1960, becoming Vice-President with his father being the President and his mother the Secretary/Treasurer. It is Chuck himself in the picture with the 1958 Chevrolet Model 3104 Apache stepside pickup at the Belmont Avenue location. The photo itself (part of the Steve Given collection) was purportedly taken in 1966, making the really good condition truck 8 years old here. They paid extra for that bumper.
In October 1959 the Brown Oil & Supply Co. became the distributor for Sinclair gasoline, and in May 1961 was named the dealer for General Tire and Kraft Retreading. In February 1964 Brown Oil & Supply Company was awarded the franchise for Firestone Tires and Accessories, and changed their name to Brown Oil & Tire Company. In May 1971 Brown Oil & Tire Company changed brands again and became the distributor for the Continental Oil Company (Conoco). In September the company moved to a brand-new, larger location at 1528 Main Street on the corner of at 16th & Main.
In March 1993 A.O. Brown, long since retired, passed away. Just over a year later his son Chuck decided to retire also and sold the business to George and Pamela Lockwood who had heretofore owned and operated the Tower Bowl. The Lockwoods had never run a gas station but George had always been a "car-type person" as so decided to take the plunge.
The first newspaper ad for the newly minted Lockwood Oil & Tire Company was published on June 30, 1994. The last ad appeared exactly six months later on December 30, 1994. Today the site of the Conoco station at 1528 Main Street is the site of a Walgreens, while the original station at 18th & Belmont is now the location of a Senior Center. Even the private homes of the extended Brown family are gone.
Usually that would be a compressed air tank fed by an underhood compressor for remote service (I see 'Farm Tire Service' on the side). That tank has quite a few extra welds which, if still used for compressed air would make me a little nervous. Gasoline or high pressure air - either way a bomb on the roof!
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