In the time frame between the mid thirties and the late forties, the Shell station at the junction of three streets: Riviera Drive, College Avenue and E. 63rd Street was a popular hangout; as popular for men as Lobraico's was for boys. The owner was one Clifford L. "Kick" Frazier, a kindly, affable, and popular gentleman. Civic minded, he was active in the Broad Ripple Merchants' Association, and served as crossing guard at his corner for the school children.

The place did a land office business, keeping three or four full time workers and as many part time high school boys busy. At times there was a mechanic and/or a car washer. The station stayed open around the clock. In addition to teaching and helping with the work, Kick could usually be seen at his desk doing paper work and observing everything. He could not do mechanical work or grease work because the skin on his hands became irritated. He was at his best when he went out to the pumps to greet and chat with his customers and to wash their windshields.

For years he did a lot of credit business "on the cuff", meaning a sheet of paper on the bulletin board behind his desk. If the workers needed a draw, the amount was entered on the sheet. Eventually things got heavy, so he obtained credit cards for customers as many as possible.

Kick's family consisted of his wife, a son and a daughter. The son was a big, jolly, red-headed boy called "Sonny". Kick did a lot of the cooking at his house, which he always detailed to us every morning when he came in, even spelling out the recipes.

My very first full time job was there on the night shift, replacing Dick Tolbert who worked days at a burglar alarm company. He still hung around half the night; he could go without sleep longer than anyone I ever knew. I even saw him go to sleep standing up a time or two. My buddy Howard McCracken helped keep us company, and he or Dick would slip down to the bakery across from the fire station and bring back a dozen hot doughnuts and three quarts of milk. This served as a delightful treat at 3 A.M.

The daytime assistant manager was Ronald Tolbert, Dick's older brother. He was one of the most outgoing persons I ever knew. Full of smiles and jokes, he fairly swaggered as he went out to greet customers. The other full time boys variously included Billy Joe and Norval Klingler, Charles "Cueball" Greenwood, Gene Traylor, and Keith "Pejoe" Blake. During WWII Keith fought in the infantry at the battle of Amzio in Italy. Norval was a mechanic and eventually opened his own garage at 64th and College. He served also as bartender at Sandy's tavern across the street. He met and married his wife, Penny, a waitress there. Going by his middle name of Lee, Norval was so personable that he was regarded as leader of a group of local men, all older than he, whose main hobby was playing poker and billiards. A partial list of part timers included Torn Osborne, and "Pooch" Hunter who are real estate agents - Carrol Coombs, Phil Walker, Wally Scott, a successful financial consultant, Guy Verderosa, and Bert Boaz.

Frazier's Shell was one of nine or ten gas stations in the greater Broad Ripple area. Kick's brother Gilbert "Gib" Frazier had a Standard station on the opposite corner, but moved it to Illinois Street across the canal from the Riviera Club. Behind the first location was Bob Crozier's Marathon. Bob is retired but the station is still in business. Behind the bank along Riviera Drive was Russell Ware's garage with Flying A pumps . Russ had two children, Russell Jr., and Irene, both handsome kids. At Riviera Drive and the Monon stood Joe Campbell's place with a garage and fishing supplies. A Pure Oil station was at the corner of Bellefountain (Guilford) and 63rd Street but was superseded by "Curley" Dodd's Sinclair. One block east was Gene Purcell's station. (Texaco?) At 59th and College was a Gulf station. Ledward "Led" Drullinger was a mechanic there where "Howdy" Rogers was owner. Across College from him was another Standard station. Hedlund's hardware at 62nd Street and Keystone had gas pumps, too.