Mid-Century Motor Oil Advertising Card Treat Your Motor Rich Fresh Oil Koch NYC — Vintage advertising card, printed in two flat colors, mid-century. Approx. 5.35 x 3.50 in.
Description
“Treat Your Motor to Plenty of Rich, Fresh Oil” — Koch, N.Y.C.
Bold hand-drawn lettering fills the card: treat your motor to plenty of rich, fresh oil.. remember- THE BETTER YOU TREAT YOUR MOTOR.. THE LESS TROUBLE IT WILL GIVE YOU! A cartoon beside it shows a stemmed goblet tipping a golden stream of oil into a boxy engine, a flower-shaped fan at its base, all in black and yellow with a yellow band along the foot. A credit in the lower left reads © KOCH N.Y.C.
The reverse is blank. No oil company or garage is named anywhere on the card.
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Historical Context
This is a stock card, drawn to be sold to garages and service stations who wanted something to hand customers at an oil change. The joke is the one the whole design is built on: pour your engine a glass of the good stuff, like a guest you want to keep happy.
It belongs to a different world from the Victorian cards in this collection. By the time this was printed the car was an ordinary part of life, and the advice — change your oil, it costs less than a repair — is advice every mechanic is still giving.
Condition
Clean, with light toning; minor edge and corner wear. No advertiser imprint, stamp or writing on either side. Please view the images carefully.
About The Printing
This is a twentieth-century commercial printing, not a Victorian chromolithograph. It is printed in two flat inks, black and yellow, laid down as solid areas of color with crisp edges rather than blended tone.
Under magnification the ink sits in solid fields with no dot structure and no four-color rosette. The exact press method cannot be determined with certainty from a scan, so none is claimed here.
Provenance
From my family's estate collections, built over more than 60 years by knowledgeable antiques collectors and traders. Stored in a climate-controlled environment.
Also In Our Store
More Victorian advertising trade cards are in our store.
Disclaimer
The images and any video show the actual item and are part of the official listing description, so please review them closely. Measurements and weights are approximate, and any maker or material we haven't confirmed is described as assumed. Questions? Message us; we answer quickly.