A milk pitcher. That is the entire center of this sign — a white enamel pitcher with More Miles to the Gallon lettered across it, floating on a red field inside a green ring. Associated took the most domestic object in the American kitchen and used it to sell fuel economy.
Printed on a Gildan 18500 heavy blend hooded sweatshirt — 8 oz cotton-poly, classic fit, double-lined hood with a color-matched drawcord and a front pouch pocket. Tubular knit with no side seams. Tear-away label. Machine wash cold, tumble dry low.
Associated Oil Company was founded in San Francisco in 1901 and served the Pacific Coast before merging into Tide Water Oil in the 1930s — the combination that produced the Flying A brand. The pitcher predates that, from the period when mileage was still an argument you had to make visually because nobody had standardized a way to measure it. This design comes from a 1980s silk screen ceramic reproduction of the original graphic, part of a set that has been in the family collection for decades.
The perfect gift for the West Coast collector, the sign hunter who prefers an odd object to a mascot, the restorer with a Flying A station in the family history, the dad who still calculates mileage by hand at every fill-up, and anyone who likes advertising that makes an argument instead of a boast.
The Faded Label Co. — keeping the golden age of American roadside art alive, one product at a time.
