18 Ethyl Gasoline Ads "-- and there is a powerful difference, too,..."

The Ethyl Corporation, 1950-1952  (makers of lead additives for fuel, yay, still)

Each of these ads relied heavily on the skills of the illustrator to make two rhyming objects appear as similar as possible, even if dissimilar.  In some cases, the results were quite successful, in other cases less so, and in every case, eye-catching.  Prepare to learn some new vocabulary!



These ads range from









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I picked this last ad for what it illustrates about language shift (::donning linguist hat::) and what it confirms about how hoity-toity all those folks in 1940s films still sounded with their vaguely British accents - for most people in the US today, these two words are not exact rhymes but in the 50's they were still close enough:

Which is your favorite?