I can remember pumping Sunoco 260 for the local Saturday nite cruisin session to Oshawa A&W. The smell was pretty sweet. Used to get it at Sunoco , bottom of King street Bowmanville across from the Ontario Motors dealership.
Ethyl's sister was Mabel and when you wanted Carling beer you said," Mabel, Black LabeL.".................. Later in the evening it was "Mabel, off the table, the quarter was for the beer."
That was me, too, at 19 in Ottawa Kansas. And if the customer was a regular, I'd also vacuum the interior and trunk, and empty the ashtray. If they washed the car there in the new fangled car wash, I'd chamois it off for them, too. Once I got a $1.00 tip. I bought 4 gallons of gas with it. What a great day!
Yup TEL was THE product. But it was the behind the scenes work, products, that A&U worked on, with. Heard stories of special fuel tests, wish I could get some of the stuff they worked with today.
Wasn't she the scary-looking gal that had the hots for Jughead and sometimes Reggie? Betty and Veronica would never put out,maybe ethel,or ethyl delivered? .26 cents gallon is the cheapest I can remember.
My dad still called it that even in the late 1960s. The brand power was amazing. All of the major brands had their own name for it, and still many double-branded their premium as Ethyl -- just like "Intel Inside" now-a-days. Of course, Ethyl Corp changed their name to Afton a few years ago. "Fill it up with Afton." just doesn't have the same ring to it. But I think they are probably still selling TEL (tetra-ethyl-lead) to the aviation industry for small reciporcating engine aircraft. The patents have long since run out, but they have the manufacturing expertise to be the only one (not positive if they're not more) in the market.
...is a real sign. Posted at the entrance to Ethyl Washington. True story! Better yet, a nearby town is named Packwood. I can hear the locals now... "Yup...gwine down to Packwood" "Ah iz gwine to Enter Ethyl myownseff"
Ha ha ha!!! Thanks for the memmories guys. I remember my Mom flirting with the attendants... Pulling her skirt up, playing with her hair, adjusting her bra.... And the pump jockey taking the longest time to wash the windshield. Mom was a looker! Actually, she still is!!!
From the wiki: The formula for ethyl fluid (to mix with gasoline) is: Tetraethyl lead 61.45% 1,2-Dibromoethane 17.85% 1,2-Dichloroethane 18.80% Inerts & red dye 1.90% Lead no worky with catalytic converters...
Showing my age!! My parents opened a new cafe/service station in 1950. We were a Standard station and had those fab crowns on the pumps red and white, reg. gas was 14.9, at the opening I put red or white crown valve caps on everyones tires. And there were always the jokes about pumping Ethyl out back. Some great memories for me!!~Sololobo
About 1958, when I was in high school, MacDonalds had a jingle on the radio: "Thirty-five cents for a three course meal, at MacDonalds!" (Coke, burger, and fries).
I'm not old enough for that one, but I do remember the "change back from your dollar" McDonalds add, with the burger, fries, and coke for .99 sometime around '72.
I had never heard of a McDonald's in 1958. But I never knew there were such things as marijuana, cocaine or heroin or gays either. Gay meant happy! The joys of growing up in a small midwest town. I was a junior/senior in high school in '58.
I remember over a million sold. Ethyl was .33. New double eagles were 45$, never could afford a set., You put your clothes on. Good times.
I can remember going to the Flying A station on my bike and buying White Gas for my scooter, it was the thing to use. Back in 1950--TV
Sorry but I'm bringing this post back from the dead... A TEL additive is still availible for our old rods if you feel the need... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=363888 If your interested I sell it and I use it... Please don't beat me up too bad for going after the cheap plug...
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