Record-breaking gas prices

Americans immediately felt the impact of the oil embargo by several Arab nations in 1973: the average price of gas jumped 16.6 cents per gallon in 1974 to 55.1 cents.

At left, in 1974, cars lined up at a gas station on Route 1 in Norwood. At right, as of May 15, this Shell station in San Mateo, Calif., sold gas for over $4 per gallon, or about seven times the price of gas during the embargo in 1974.