Jenkins Fleet-Wing Service Ad – Feb. 21, 1952

About a year ago (here) I did a post about the Grand Opening of the Red Head gas station that was located at the corner of Washington Avenue and West Erie Avenue from the early 1970s until the 1990s. Well, above is an ad for the gas station that preceded it at that location.

The above ad announcing the Jenkins Fleet-Wing Service Station ran in the Lorain Journal on Feb. 21, 1952. Previously the outlet had been operated by C. Norman Kent.

Here is the 1952 city directory listing (below) showing the various partners in the enterprise.

It looks like the business was under this ownership team for only a couple of years; by the time of the 1955 City Directory it was listed as Bowers Fleet-Wing.

Speaking of Fleet-Wing, I wonder whatever happened to that gasoline brand? There's a Fleetwing Corporation that distributes petroleum products, but I don't think it's the same company.

Anyway, what's interesting about the 1952 ad is the promotional offer of a pair of Color-King ash trays. Apparently they were made by the Federal Glass Company, located in Columbus, Ohio.

I guess it would be hard to make a living selling ash trays these days.

Color-King ash trays are easy to find on the internet (especially on Ebay) in a variety of colors. It's hard to date the ones in the Fleet-Wing ad, though, because although the ad is from 1952, the style of Color King box seems to be much older.

Here's a box that matches the one in the ad. It's identified online as being from the late 1930s.

And here's the corresponding ash trays, courtesy of Etsy. 

They're actually quite nice. They remind of the little trays you use to poach an egg.

Here are a couple more Color-King sets supposedly from the 1950s. It looks like whoever was designing the boxes was having a hard time deciding on a type font.

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UPDATE (March 5, 2015)

I received an email from Renee Dore who informed me that her husband Phil's father (also named Phil) was part owner of the Fleet-Wing gas station. She said that her husband always called Mr. Jenkins "Grandpa Jenkins." Renee also explained "They had another place on 28th Street. It was called Cap's Auto; that was for Clarence, Andy and Phil."