Deceptive Appearance

The Convair 990 was one of the most dynamic jet airliners ever designed. It was an update to its slightly older brother, the 880. The design screams speed, and many pilots felt they were in a very special class to command one. Echoing these accolades, it was best showcased in the classic American Airlines scheme above, a carryover from the prop days. It exudes style and excitement. From the fighter-bomber's nose cone to the stovepipe jets to the four anti-shock Whitcomb body pods on the wing's trailing edge, it was truly a unique beauty. The 990 was the fastest subsonic airliner until being surpassed by the Mach 2 Concorde. 

The narrow-body 990 arrived too late to compete with the Boeing 707 or Douglas DC8. It was a failure in America, with fewer than forty being manufactured during its short, ten-year career. With its thirsty J-79 turbojets, the same engines used by the world's first supersonic bomber, Convair's B-58 Hustler, it could not carry enough passengers to justify longer flights. It was more efficient on short hops in many foreign countries, Swissair being the biggest overseas purchaser of the airliner. Though Convair initially called the aircraft the Coronado, only Swissair officially named its planes with that specific name. 

The 990 was a classic example of how outward appearance overshadows many inner flaws. By the same token, one cannot necessarily judge the contents of a book by a beautiful cover.

Cottage Home Service

Hired from Gulf Oil in late 1925 to lead the Pure Oil Company's new marketing construction department, architect Carl A. Peterson was charged with creating a structure distinct and recognizable, utilizing Pure Oil's blue and white corporate livery prominently in his design, making their corporate affiliation obvious from a distance. His goal was to harmonize with residential neighborhoods that opposed flashy and brightly colored industrial structures.

Pure Oil unveiled Peterson's final design in 1927, which he called the "English cottage." It featured a design reminiscent of private homes in an effort to make the stations comfortable for motorists and incorporated many aspects of the popular Tudor Revival architecture of the time. These included homey details such as chimneys, window shutters, and flowerboxes. The brick walls of the building were white, and the roof was covered in an expensive, non-fading, gloss blue tile. 
What now seems quite amusing in self-service times, imagine this service attendant's helpful comment: "This pipe fits behind that little door on the driver's side of your car. It's difficult, pal. That's why I do it for you."

What now seems quite amusing in self-service times, imagine this service attendant's helpful comment: "This pipe fits behind that little door on the driver's side of your car. It's difficult, pal. That's why I do it for you."

Peterson oversaw and designed many variations on his initial design to account for economic, geographic, and other regional differences. The English cottage became an icon for the company, with more constructed into the 1930s. Pure Oil produced popular birdhouses and radios designed to look like their stations. A half-size replica produced for the 1933 World's Fair was a top attraction. With Pure Oil's merger with Union Oil Company of California (Unocal) in 1965,  the English cottage style became a thing of the past. However, many have been added to the National Register of Historic Places.