Retromercial: Esso "Extra" gasoline (ca. 1938)

[Sheri451]

I thought they were going to say "Put A Tiger In Your tank"

[Lockbar]

There is nothing happy about that sign. Looks like a nazi invention.

[requirementforadream]

Surprised that a black kid was incorporated into the commercial.

[Max9507]

Notice the $0.00 counter does not exceed $9.99? Today's pumps go $99.999.99

Thanks environmentalist whackocrats !!!

[sneakers55]

What I find interesting is one of the Kansas City stations used the "Your Esso Reporter" format but the closest you can find them now is Oklahoma.

[sneakers55]

@DrSurprise The "LEAD" warning also stated "FOR USE AS A MOTOR FUEL ONLY." I wondered what other uses there was for gasoline. About then, I learned of the many uses of "white gasoline."

[DrSurprise]

at 0:42 Where the two guys are singing, you can see on the gas pump it says "lead". they should've said "extra quickpower, extra antiknock and extra pollution"

[andreetje66]

ES-SO

Means "'Standard- Oil"'.............



[brainysnaeha]

1930s and 1950s sures look so similair except cars.

[TheObladee]

i have a photo of my grandfather working at an old white rose ' staion in 1939 and the fuel cost was 13 cents a gallon.

[someonenow1]

For terror that is tops and fright that's extra fine, there's a nightmare waiting for you at your sleepytime!

E..S...S...O...Scares your kids so!

[zekest]

@someonenow1 I am not scared ...you may scare me though!!!!

[someonenow1]

E..S...S...O...Scares your kids so!

[Johor1125]

Kikikikiki. So old

[sneakers55]

Did you note the "For Use As A Motor Fuel Only CONTAINS LEAD" warning. Haven't seen that on a pump for many years.

[sneakers55]

@timbabcock ESSO from what I've heard was "Eastern Seaboard Standard Oil." In addition to ENCO, they also used HUMBLE (after the Texas city of the same name).

[Kitaroija]

Bear in mind the changes in the value of money when thinking about prices from nearly a century ago.

[sneakers55]

@floooky1 No antibiotics either.

[sneakers55]

I wonder... do they have the KFC "S-O-G-double-O-G good" commercials in Canada? The first time I saw it, I was surprised to hear "ESSO" come out of the TV.

[sneakers55]

@Miradart Imperial Oil is 69.6% owned by ExxonMobil. They stayed with the Esso name because there were no other names that conflicted (Calso for one, And Sohio for another).

[ECILAROX12]

omg creepy morphing face is evil, sooooooooo not sleeping for a while!

[1952kid]

in the late 1960;s i would put a dollar's worth of gas in to get to work and back .

[floooky1]

Posies for the girlfriend, a bone for the bowwow. I think I'm really glad I wasn't around back then.

[stas080]

just pause and go to 0:56! Happy, evil face of esso ;-)

[shikamaruluver3]

That.. Esso face near the end....

D: i wont be able to go to sleep for a few days ...

[jsemancik1]

just think at this point in time ,, Gas was probably like 39 cents to the gallon if not cheaper !!

[MikeinVirginia1]

@jsemancik1 When I started driving in 1969, gas was about 29 cents/gallon. Cheaper when they had "gas wars." My parents told me it was about 12 cents/gallon during WWII (when you could get it). I'm guessing it was about 10 cents/gallon in 1938.

[fjbutch]

I want the petrol pumps.....!

[intelinside1990]

0:54 - 0:59

OMG this is scary o___O

[Coullion43]

Because Global Warming and Climate Change are Bullshit hoaxes...

[MisterEvasion]

Full Service has become rarer since Self-Serves started popping up around the mid1970s. Pumping gas used to be a common occupation of starter employment. That was my first ever job after school.

[altfactor]

This little film was titled "Your Esso Reporter Presents 'Extra' ". Esso back in the day sponsored radio newscasts on local stations in its territory called "Your Esso Reporter", which were simply a few minutes of wire-service news headlines.

In the years prior to 1938, there wasn't that much news on radio, so in many cities, "Esso Reporter" programs were among the few sources of radio news available.

Later, Esso sponsored "Esso Reporter" newscasts on local TV stations.

[lkrnpk]

Cinema existed already at that time. They'd show it before the movie or in between the movie, during the break.

[biscayne427]

Pause it at 0:55 the face is pretty creepy looking lol

[brianisbs]

@biscayne427 HOLY CRAP.

[mginsel]

Man I wished I lived in that time, dogs in butcher shops, gas attendants in ties.....

[1L6E6VHF]

.......18% unemployment, news flashes of Hitler's demands being submitted to by Europe..hmm

[PineBrookMotorLodge]

esso. esso. ess-o

[Sandman1278]

in new England we don't call anything "something to boot"

[piveroworldmedia]

totally agree "bakers dozen" yes , but "something to boot" never

:) .have lived in New England all my life as well :)

[visor109]

I agree, also. Something "Wicked!.

[fromthesidelines]

"Esso" originally stood for "Standard Oil"...

[MrUnidyne]

Two names used in the USA were "Esso" (East Coast) and "Enjay" (West Coast), the phonetic pronunciation of the corporate initials S.O.N.J. (Standard Oil of New Jersey) prior to finally becoming "ExxonMobil". The name "Enco" was also used in the Midwest.

[TruWatcher]

That creepy morphing face on the sign is definitely enough to give you nightmares. If I'd been a kid in the 1930s and saw this at the movies, I'd be terrified to have my parents pull up to an Esso station while I was in the car...especially at night...I'd be afraid of that damn sign coming to life and attacking us..."Happy Motoring...over the cliff to your DEATH! Bwahahahahaha!"

[fromthesidelines]

The company that controled the right to market the gasoline under various names across the country [Esso, Enco, Enjay, Humble, Standard, etc.] decided their gasoline would be marketed by just ONE name in 1973...and that was "Exxon".

[sneakers55]

@fromthesidelines It almost became "Exon" but there are at least two other meanings (the name of a politician and a structure in DNA) for EXON. They then decided to go to the double-X as that combination is only used in the Maltese language and they could check all the words in Maltese easily enough.

[budgienation]

@sneakers55 Yes, it's Exxon, the sign of the double cross "X X" that they've been giving us all. That, and 'the finger'......

[Coullion43]

You got that right, handinside! Kudos to ya ,buddy!!

[mariaRV2]

I remember seeing an esso in canada a few years ago

[Coullion43]

Why did they change the name from Esso to Exxon? At an average of almost 4 dollars a gallon nationwide now (2008),and at close to 90 dollars a share stock (now);they are Exx-ing out the working man by raping him/her at the pump. They should have went from Esso to Ass-hole. Thieves...

[handinside]

How about the REAL assholes? Namely the Sierra Club,the Environmental Defense fund, Earth Justice,etc.,etc..If we'd stop kissing them and Al Gore's ass,maybe we could have halfway decent priced energy. And--START DRILLING ANWR!!!!!!

[longfade]

You know, if you would take the time to do a little research you'd know it doesn't work like that. We're not set up for that kind of drilling, for one thing. But people like you would rather spew out that empty-headed Republican nonsense, blame someone else, and do anything but accept the hard facts.

[youfilm88]

Handinside - well you've proven that you don't have much of a braininside. DOLT!

[handinside]

Go ahead--ride you little ten speed and think you're saving the planet. Give me a Hummer any day!

[ecogazoo]

Get this! Somebody who loves handing money to Arabs!

[handinside]

No,I don't love the towelheads. But nietheir do I like the idea of having to give up our way of life because Al Gore(who lost the 2000 election ,get over it) thinks Global Warming is destroying the planet Whether we all ride SUV or bicycles,this world will be here for another billion or two years.

[sneakers55]

@Coullion43 Between the Department of Justice and the complaints of SOHIO (now part of BP) and Chevron (who used the name "CALSO" in their territories at that time, nearly every time they tried to expand the "ESSO" marketing area sombody objected. However, in areas where Mobil had the "Standard" name, they didn't object to the use of the ESSO name.

[bruce64h]

where i lived it was known as ''enco''.

[Buckpenn]

What I liked were the Esso ads that suggested that you "put a tiger in your tank".

[uccomic]

The only motoring I'd do would be straight out of town after seeing that demented face.

[phishstyx1011]

thats one creepy ass face

[retrotvluver]

"Happy Motoring...MMMWAA-HAA-HAA-HAA-­HAA!"

[Waldo99]

I remember the company used ESSO when I was a kid in the 70's, and it they changed it to Exxon. Back then there was no self service and the attendant cleaned your windshield and checked your oil on almost every fill-up... lol, back in the day...

[patertre]

Hi. Thanks for the memories. I like this comercial.Congratulations

[center4ants]

why did they change it too Exxon..Esso rolls off your toungue

[altfactor]

Due to some kind of Justice Department ruling, they could only use "Esso" along the East Coast from Maine to South Carolina, then across to Tennessee, Arkansas, and Louisiana.

Elsewhere, they couldn't use "Esso", which is why there was "Enco" in much of the rest of the country, then the name everywhere was changed to "Exxon".

Had they gotten the go-ahead to use "Esso" in all 50 states, the name "Exxon" might never have been used.

[Miradart]

@altfactor Just as a thing, up in Canada it's always been Esso. But the parent company was Imperial Oil. It still is today. Although I'm fairly sure that Imperial Oil is probably an arm of Exxon.

[handinside]

@Miradart True. Watch Canadian NHL games and you'll see Esso ads in the arenas

[timbabcock]

@altfactor It was because of the Standard Oil anti trust lawsuit. Esso stood for Eastern Standard Oil Company. Since the Standard Oil name was being used in other markets, they had to change the name to Enco where it overlapped.

[luvsnl25]

omg WHATS WITH THE FACE!!!!

[handinside]

Move over Men From Texaco!

[fromthesidelines]

There was a daily newscast on radio at that time, known as "Your Esso Reporter"..and they borrowed that tag for this theatrical commercial (which wouldn't be TOO different from Esso's TV ads of the early '50s). Standard Oil only marketed "ESSO" on the East Coast and the Far West sections of the U.S. Other names-"ENJAY", "ENCO" and the like- were used to sell the same gas in other areas until 1973, when one name was chosen- "EXXON".

[archNagel]

Evil face!!!!

[frednora]

COOL commercial... you can tell its really dated. I have never heard anybody ever use the word "posies" outside the "ring around the rosie" song. Plus HOLY SHIT that face will give you nightmares. I saw an Esso station in the Cayman Islands once. Nice...

[stashyboy1]

wow, that face was scary!

[ffa14]

With ESSO you get "Extra" Barbershop Duo!!.

[RatPfink66]

Hap-py motoring! ;-)

[tehnatbat]

OMG that was trippy

[electrogeek77]

OH DEAR GOD THE ESSO FACE!!!!