Friday, January 4, 2013

Bill Thomas Service 1957 Grand Opening

Wow, I never intended to spend three days on the Bill Thomas Service station. Oh well – I promise you a new topic on Monday!

A few years after its ad with the Davy Crockett tie-in, the business celebrated its Grand Opening with this May 1957 ad that appeared in the Lorain Journal.

Huh?

Actually, the Grand Opening was apparently a sort of reboot of the station, which was switching from Fleet-Wing gasoline to the Sinclair brand. (You might remember that both Fleet-Wing and Sinclair gasoline were refined locally by Lake Erie Oil.)

There's plenty of stuff being given away as part of the promotion, including one of them thar newfangled clock radios, a pop-up toaster and an automatic coffeemaker. Plus more glasses (this time without Davy Crockett on them, however.)

The ad also is a quaint reminder of what full-service service stations used to be like. Uniformed attendants to pump your gas, comprehensive automotive repair services, and tires for sale were standard features in the old days.

Nowadays, you get to stand out in the cold and pump your own gas (with no apparent savings), and heaven help you if you need a mechanic.

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