# Looking for 1950s "gas council" ad **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 31, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-1950s-gas-council-ad/721277 "2015-05-31T19:01:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-1950s-gas-council-ad/721277/1 "2015-05-31T19:01:37Z")
I am trying to find examples of ads that ran in the early 1950s, from the American Petroleum Institute or similar industry bodies, that essentially urge families to go out and drive around to use up gas - because it’s not just fun, it’s Good For America. I’ve seen them, but I can’t find any examples online. Anything in that general vein will be appreciated, but one virtual wooden nickel to the Doper who can find an exact example. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-1950s-gas-council-ad/721277/2 "2015-05-31T19:57:25Z")
I’ll be interested to see if anyone can come up with a real example. Sounds to me more like a spoof Bruce McCall would have done for the National Lampoon, a reversal on the WWII posters exhorting carpooling to save gas. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-1950s-gas-council-ad/721277/3 "2015-05-31T20:14:25Z")
No hit, but [**this site**](http://amhistory.si.edu/archives/AC0711.htm) might help if you contact them, assuming the promo wasn’t a joke. The link above led me [**here**](http://americanhistory.si.edu/gsearch/American%2BPetroleum%2BInstitute), but I couldn’t find the buy-gas promo, even with a search for American Petroleum Institute (which led me back to the first link), then buy gas and buy gasoline. You might hit upon a better search term. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2015, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-1950s-gas-council-ad/721277/4 "2015-05-31T20:56:25Z")
Therewere plenty of commercials from [car companies](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ5tKh0aBDc&list=RDjQ5tKh0aBDc) that extolled the virtues of driving around. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-1950s-gas-council-ad/721277/5 "2015-06-08T17:36:56Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I’ll be interested to see if anyone can come up with a real example. Sounds to me more like a spoof Bruce McCall would have done for the National Lampoon, a reversal on the WWII posters exhorting carpooling to save gas. No, they’re real - I’ve seen them. I was first referred to them in a 1980 autobiography and thought, “What BS!” - then went looking, in the days when old magazines were sold as collectibles in dusty shops, and found a few. Jaw-dropping. (ETA: I didn’t buy them because $5 for an old magazine I had no other use for was a lot of money for me at the time.) I can’t remember magazines or details now. I would like to have a sample or two for reference. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-1950s-gas-council-ad/721277/6 "2015-06-08T18:25:04Z")
I believe you. But at the same time, I can remember small details of things I know absolutely positively I’ve seen … but can find not a particle of evidence that they ever existed. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2015, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-1950s-gas-council-ad/721277/7 "2015-06-08T18:58:44Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I believe you. > > But at the same time, I can remember small details of things I know absolutely positively I’ve seen … but can find not a particle of evidence that they ever existed. Completely understood. And you have more evidence than most that I’ve fried my brains. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-1950s-gas-council-ad/721277/8 "2015-06-09T18:04:37Z")
[**Could this be it**](http://www.atticpaper.com/proddetail.php?prod=1954-american-petroleum-ad&cat=7)? It’s not very hi-def, unfortunately. Found it with [**this search**](https://www.google.co.uk/search?as_q=old+magazine+petroleum+gasoline&as_epq=&as_oq=ads+advertisments+&as_eq=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&lr=&cr=&as_qdr=all&as_sitesearch=&as_occt=any&safe=images&as_filetype=&as_rights=#as_qdr=all&q=old+magazine+petroleum+gasoline+ads+OR+advertisements). It’s the fourth link down. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-1950s-gas-council-ad/721277/9 "2015-06-09T19:50:07Z")
That’s very much in the same vein as the ones I recall and has much the same look. The specific argument was that we had to use a lot of gas to keep all the pipelines flowing and thus make the economy wonderful for everyone… which is kind of a hazy subtext in this ad. Thanks. Great find. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2015, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-1950s-gas-council-ad/721277/10 "2015-06-09T22:25:25Z")
I haven’t hit quite the right ad yet, but the Ethyl Corporation had a few in this vein from the mid-50s.