Why The Diesel Chief Changed His Stripes

One of the things I like to collect is vintage porcelainized metal signs.  I collect those from products or companies that have personal interest for me  (for example, I have a beautiful sign for “Blue Coal”…not because I collect coal signs per-se but because Blue Coal sponsored “The Shadow” on the radio at one time and the graphic on it was pretty, to me at least….a good enough reason for me.)  Some are oil and gas station signs, engine companies, others are builders plates from neon companies, and still others are safety signs….if it is a real vintage example and has some nice graphics that appeal to me, I probably  will try to hunt one up for my collection.  This has become a bit harder in recent years as it has become popular and so not only are the prices higher (often out of reach) but there are also more fakes out there.  No, this article is not about spotting a fake….maybe I will write that one later.  This one is about a change to a very specific product’s signage and a possible explanation for it.  (note that the sign photos used in this story were pulled from online auctions and are for illustrative purposes only)

The Texaco company marketed their fuels under the “Chief” or “Firechief” moniker for many years.  I have a couple of original variations of gas pump plates in my collection for “SkyChief” and the “Diesel Chief” fuels as will be discussed here.  These always had some neat graphics and colors.  Down right pretty if you ask me.

Their Diesel Fuel offerings were at one time simply marketed as “Diesel Chief” in keeping with the general product lineup.  The pump plates I have seen had a graphic that looked like an injector spraying the fuel–just as it does in the engine when operating.  It is a well done graphic and whomever designed it should be commended.  There have been four versions of this that I have seen.  Perhaps others exist, but these four –or at least a couple of them tell a story in and of themselves.  Or maybe I am reading a story where one does not exist, you can be the judge.

What I will call the early version dates to about 1940 or earlier.  The pictured example has a March of 1940 pattern date on it.  The spray pattern is a wide spread of bands.  We can refer to this as the wide pattern.

Later, a “Diesel Chief L” was marketed.  This example is from 1947.  By this time the spray pattern had been given a much finer look.  The spray lines are thinner and the lettering color scheme is swapped from that of the 1940 version.  In 1962 this same pattern was used but the name was simply “Diesel Chief” as was done before (no “L” on this one)  Additionally, there was a green version for the heavier #2 fuel oil variation and I believe they may have used a yellow for the lighter #1 fuel although I have not seen one of these.  The example shown is from 1960.

What I find interesting is the transition from the wide spray to the finer spray.  Partly this is due to aesthetics.  It also may have been intended to depict the technology–not of the sign making process but of the engines.  Diesel engines are more efficient with finer, higher pressure injection spray patterns.  This was known at the time and maybe…just maybe as these changes went into newer engine designs for trucks and machinery they opted to update the signage as well.  Or maybe (most likely) an advertising designer just wanted to sell Texaco on an update.

There is one other possibility that is, to me at least, equally likely.  The war.  Sometime between the 1940 pattern and the 1947 pattern those spray lines got thinner.  I do not know the exact date of the change.  Likely it took place earlier than 1947, but the ’47 pattern for the “L” fuel is the earliest I have seen with the newer, finer spray lines.  For sake of argument let’s say it was a bit earlier than 1947 but the exact year is not too critical.

Take another look at the 1940 version with those wide lines of red spray.

Does it remind you a little of this?……

Not an issue to Americans in 1940 when it was made.  But after December 7th, 1941 it was a big deal.  I suspect that this wider spray pattern was done away with as soon as feasible after that.  I suspect that while the signs themselves may have lingered at some stations for a while this design was dropped from any printed material right away.  Now of course material rationing during the war would have made replacing all the signs at various stations a no go for quite some time, but I am still pretty sure it was phased out soon afterward and certainly by the end of the war these were becoming scarce having succumbed to scrap drives, kids target practice, and general aging.

The suggestion that the resemblance to Imperial Japan’s war flag is a factor in the change has a little more credibility when it is considered that other products were dropped or changed in the late 1930’s/ealy 1940’s for similar reasons–Studebaker quit producing a car called the “Dictator” for example.  Clearly such perceptions mattered to them and I am pretty sure they mattered to Texaco as well.