Gulf’s Public Service Ads

As I was digging through the CCJ archives looking for interesting blog fodder, this ad caught my eye. It’s one in a series of ads Gulf Oil Company was running in 1938 playing up the end of the Great Depression and the good fortune of being an American as war clouds gathered in Europe.

 Initially, of course I fixated on the flustered motorist wigging out over .30 cent gallons of gas. We’d all start turning cartwheels if we could find someone to sell us gas for that price! But, as another ad in the series pointed out, gasoline at the time was selling for about .13 cents a gallon. So maybe Mr. Cool Fedora Motorist had a right to be upset, after all. I also like the guy buying the shotgun – although he’d get laughed out of my hunting club pretty quick if he showed up wearing those fancy duds. And let’s not even bother discussing the guy smoking a cigarette at the gas pumps while the service station attendants crawl all over his car.

 Yes, Gulf was doing its part to end the Great Depression – by selling gasoline. It’s a convoluted argument, at best. But, then again, every little bit helped, I guess.