Wednesday, May 20, 2026

Boron Ad – May 1956

Anyone that grew up in Ohio in the 1950s, 60s and 70s no doubt remember Sohio service stations. My parents were pretty loyal to Sohio, seeing as it was right on Oberlin Avenue at Meister Road. Being a Sohio customer seemed both patriotic (with the brand's red, white and blue color scheme) as well as the right thing to do as an Ohioan. Mom and Dad's Sohio credit card also came in handy on our cross-country camping trips, as it was good at other gas stations affiliated with Standard Oil. 

Part of the mystique of the Sohio brand was its Boron gasoline, which was advertised as being better for your engine – especially in winter since it contained Ice-Gard®.

But Boron was advertised in the summer too. Here's an eye-catching ad that ran in the Lorain Journal on May 15, 1956.

It's actually kind of funny in that it resembles a horror movie ad. You can imagine the wide-eyed beautiful blonde reacting to a giant tarantula or crab-like monster. I also love the Boron logo with its rotating atoms (or electrons or whatever they're supposed to be).

Note that at the bottom of the ad there's a man's head next to the Sohio logo that looks like he's missing his pipe. That's Tom Holiday, the Betty Crocker-like fictional manager of the Sohio Customer Service Department. 
Here's the ad introducing Mr. Holiday. It ran in the paper on Nov. 22, 1955.
Other ads in the Boron campaign aren't as much fun, although the first one below is mildly amusing.
March 19, 1956
June 27, 1956
July 9, 1956
Nowadays, I doubt that most people think very much about the gas they put in their tank, other than whether it's regular, plus or premium.
I'm embarrassed to say it, but I almost put diesel in my car the other day by mistake at a gas station that I've never been to before. I was so used to the diesel pump looking a certain way (and being located at a certain spot) at my regular station that I missed all the visual cues. But a friendly Good Samaritanette saw me standing at the Diesel Pump and kindly asked me if that was what I really wanted – saving me a world of grief and a tow to boot!
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2 comments:

  1. -Alan D HopewellMay 20, 2026 at 10:36 AM

    We were regular Sohio customers; I can still hear my mom saying, "A dollar's worth of Boron, please!"
    Does anyone remember the Sohio commercials from the early Seventies, with the gorgeous blonde in the red white and blue pantsuit? Can't find them on YouTube.

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  2. BusterMay 20, 2026 at 11:11 AM

    Boron was what people used to call "hi-test" or "Ethyl" - it had more lead (made by the Ethyl Corp.) so it had higher octane. In the winter it had some "dry gas" added. That was an alcohol-based concoction that kept condensation from forming in your gas tank. (I had a Volkswagen that would not run in the winter without dry gas being added to the fuel tank.) Not sure what the additive was that kept valve seats from corroding.

    Those ads with exhilarated drivers were common back in the day. You can find them as far back as the 1920s. The principal virtue of higher octane gas was that your engine would not "knock" if you used it. It had no effect on engines that did not need high-octane gas, but it was marketed as a "premium" product. Today, higher octane gas is still called "premium".

    Not sure why Sohio thought it a good idea to advertise Tom Holiday, but more power to him. He does look just like that cartoon character with a pipe. Can't remember his name - I asked AI and it suggested Popeye.

    By the way, Standard Oil of Ohio did have some stations in nearby states years ago that were branded as Boron rather than Sohio.

    Loved the ads, Dan - and your essay, of course!

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