Your Rental Needs May Vary

Avis Airlines Rent-A-Car System was founded in 1946 by Warren Avis (1915-2007), an owner of an automobile dealership in Detroit. He had the idea of providing car-rental services at airports, astutely believing air travel would quickly become more popular than rail travel. They were the first car rental business to be located at an airport, opening two locations at Willow Run Airport near Detroit and at Miami Airport in Florida. He established branch operations across the United States over the next few years and became the second-largest car rental company in the country by 1953. 

In 1962, their corporate slogan, "We're only No. 2. We try harder," was a positive campaign to compete with the number one competitor, Hertz. Today, Avis is a provider to the commercial segment, serving business travelers at major airports internationally, and to leisure travelers at off-airport locations. Avis featured General Motors vehicles during the late 1970s, but Ford vehicles were showcased prior, as the above 1958 advertisement proves. Other popular brands comprise their fleet today. Avis has been owned by a number of other companies, along with several periods of being a public company.

Executive Leasing Company and its fleet of seven vehicles were founded eleven years after Avis by Jack Crawford Taylor (1922-2016) in St. Louis, Missouri.   Taylor was a naval aviator during World War II, serving on the USS Enterprise. In 1969, he would rename the company Enterprise Rent-A-Car to honor the aircraft carrier and reflect his personal values and leadership philosophy. The company focused on city-based rentals rather than competing with airport-centric rental firms for persons needing a rental while their own was being repaired. A wise strategy that helped the business grow steadily.

Their iconic "e" highway logo was introduced early on, but went through a few color and design changes before settling on their classic green and black color scheme. In the early 1970s, the "We'll pick you up" tagline was introduced, a unique service that became a trademark of their customer-centric approach. This service, along with partnerships with auto repair shops, helped Enterprise build a strong city-based "neighborhood" network. The leadership has been passed down through generations of the Taylor family. Enterprise eventually embraced Avis's airport innovation in the early years of the twenty-first century after acquiring the Vanguard Car Rental Group, National Car Rental, and Alamo Rent-A-Car brands to its portfolio. 

Mr. Varitably Clean

Mr. Clean is a brand name and mascot owned by Procter & Gamble since 1958, after purchasing the formula from Linwood Burton. The original all-purpose cleaner was formulated by Burton, a marine ship cleaning businessman in the United States. He named it “Mr. Clean” based on a bald United States Navy sailor. Though to many, he seemed just as much a genie with his earring, folded arms, and tendency to appear magically at the appropriate time. Mr. Clean made his television commercial debut that same year. He was initially portrayed in live-action versions by B-movie and television character actor, House Peters Jr. Within six months of its debut, it was one of the best-selling cleansers on the market.

The Mr. Clean mascot was conceived in 1957 by Harry Barnhart and Ernie Allen, employees of Chicago's Tatham-Laird & Kudner advertising agency's art department. Mr. Clean's theme song, or jingle, has been around since the product's introduction and is the longest-running advertising jingle in television history. It was written by Thomas Scott Cadden, a pioneering television commercial producer, director, writer, and songwriter from the 1950s to the 1970s. 

Note: Most people assumed Mr. Clean ever needed a first name. In 1963, a Procter & Gamble marketing ploy promoted a “Give Mr. Clean a Name” contest with the odd name of "Veritably" as the winning name. I was a short-term gimmick, I suspect, as the "Mr. Varitably Clean" name is apparently no longer used. Or was it "Veritably Mr. Clean"? Getting rid of that first name is another good use for its Magic Eraser pads.

Dum-de-dum-dum

Radio's Dragnet became one of the most realistic and popular programs of all time. As played by Jack Webb, Sergeant Joe Friday played it by the book and understood the seriousness of his duties. The program’s debut in 1949 was bumpy as Webb and company worked out the format and grew more comfortable with their characters. Friday's deadpan, fast-talking persona emerged as a cop's cop, tough but not hard. Webb was a stickler for accuracy and Dragnet used authentic touches, such as the LAPD's actual radio call sign and the names of actual department officials. The crime stories were taken from actual case files of the Los Angeles Police Department. The ominous, four-note theme with brass and tympani entitled, "Danger Ahead," was composed by Walter Schumann. It is derived from Miklós Rózsa's score for the 1946 film The Killers. The notes are the same for both but the film’s faster, steady tempo disguises it from Dragnet's halted rhythmic version.

Friday took his orders from Ed Backstrand, Chief of Detectives, played initially by Raymond Burr, then Charles McGraw. Both left the series within a year for budding film careers. Friday had a partner, and each actor brought their own personality to the series. Barton Yarborough as Sergeant Ben Romero, perhaps provided the most realism. His untimely death in 1951 brought in character actor Barney Phillips as Sergeant Ed Jacobs for a short run. The longest-serving partner was Ben Alexander (below left) as Officer Frank Smith. Smith would talk to Friday about his family or give advice, often with amusing results. Friday offered voice-over narration throughout the episodes, noting the time, date and place of every scene. Dragnet handled controversial subjects such as sex crimes and drug addiction with unprecedented and even startling realism.

The sound effects artists were extraordinary and brought realism to the show. The pictures in a listener's mind were all that was needed. While most radio shows used one or two Foley experts, Dragnet used five. A script clocking just under thirty minutes could require up to 300 effects. Accuracy was key. The exact number of footsteps from one room to another at Los Angeles police headquarters were mimicked, and when a telephone rang at Friday's desk, the listener heard the same ring as the telephones in Los Angeles police headquarters.

The show's opening narration was alternately provided by announcers Hal Gibney and George Fenneman, just one of the show's trademarks: "Ladies and gentlemen, the story you are about to hear is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent." Later versions dropped the words "only" and "ladies and gentlemen." Friday's oft-parodied catchphrase, "Just the facts, ma'am," was never actually uttered. The closest was "All we want are the facts, ma'am" and "All we know are the facts, ma'am." Fenneman took over narration duties full-time after 1957 and for the two television series.

Note: Due in part to Webb's fondness for radio drama, Dragnet persisted until 1957. The last two seasons were repeats, however. It was one of the last old-time radio shows to give way to television. A total of 314 original episodes were broadcast from 1949-1957. The TV show proved to be a visual version of the radio scripts, more in line with the Ben Alexander days with Harry Morgan as Friday's partner. The radio show was also adapted into a comic strip by Mel Keefer.

Boeing The First

 

On this date in 1957, the first production Boeing 707 jet-powered commercial airliner was rolled out at the Boeing aircraft assembly plant at Renton, Washington. The Model 707 was developed from the earlier Model 367–80, the “Dash Eighty,” prototype for an air-refueling tanker that would become the KC-135 Stratotanker. The new airliner had been sold to Pan American World Airways, the launch customer, as part of an order for twenty in 1955. The Boeing 707 was in production from 1958 to 1979 with military variants continuing until 1994. Over 1,000 were built.

Note: shown above during the airliner's second flight.

A Singular Flight

 

On this date in 1957, Pan American World Airways Boeing Model 377 Stratocruiser, Clipper America, flies from Christchurch, New Zealand, to the United States Navy’s Antarctic research station on Ross Island in McMurdo Sound. The flight was to test the feasibility of commercial flights to support the U.S. Navy’s operations in the Antarctic. Following this flight, Captain Ralph Savory, an expert in Arctic flying, said the lack of an alternate airport amid unpredictable weather deemed further flights too dangerous for commercial operations. No future flights were made.

Boeing built fifty-six 377s, a four-engine civil transport developed along with the military C-97 version from the B-29 Superfortress. It utilized the wings and engines of the improved B-50 Superfortress. The airliner was delivered to Pan American in 1949 and named Clipper Southern Cross. Later the name was changed to Clipper Reindeer, and finally, Clipper America, the name given to almost every Pan Am Stratocruisers during their service with the airline.

Coupe de Trunk

 

The Ford Ranchero is a coupe utility that was produced between 1957 and 1979. Ranchero was adapted from a two-door station wagon platform that integrated the cab and cargo bed into the body. A total of 508,355 units were produced during the model's production run. It was variously derived from full-sized, compact, and intermediate automobiles sold by Ford for the North American market. The original Ranchero sold so well General Motors introduced the Chevrolet El Camino two years later as competition.

Note: The "station" wagon refers specifically to train stations, where people and their luggage were shuttled to and from train depots. The very first vehicles recognized as being station wagons were largely custom wooden-bodied variants of Model Ts which were known as "depot hacks." "Hack" referred to "hackney", a horse-drawn taxi. There are more than a half-dozen different names used worldwide instead of "station wagon."

The Whirlybirds Greatest Hits

 

Whirlybirds is a syndicated American drama/adventure television series, produced by Desilu Studios, aired from February 4, 1957, through January 18, 1960. Desilu Studios was intrigued by the Bell 47 and its manufacturer and began discussions with Bell Aircraft about how the entertainment potential of the Bell 47 might be further developed for a television audience. The result of this collaboration became The Whirlybirds, the show's original title. The program features the exploits of Chuck Martin (Kenneth Tobey) and Pete "P. T." Moore (Craig Hill), owners of a fictitious helicopter chartering company, Whirlybirds, Inc. Their secretary was played by Nancy Hale as Helen Carter. The series was filmed originally on California's former Santa Susanna Airport in Simi Valley. The airport was near the Iverson Movie Ranch, used to film countless westerns. The entire area has long since been developed.

Professional pilots actually flew the helicopters with a cut-a-way mockup cockpit to film the stars. The two helicopter types used on the series, both classic Bell models, a 47G and the modified 47J Ranger. The 47 became the first helicopter certified for civilian use in 1946 and delivered to Helicopter Air Transport. More than 5,600 Bell 47s until 1974.

Pluto Platter. Just Call It a Frisbee.

Headquartered in Emeryville, California, since 1948, Wham-O, Inc. has provided children and adults with innovative, imaginative toys that spark creativity, encourage social interaction and get kids playing. The Wham-O name was meant to evoke the sound of a slingshot when it connected with a target. Wham-O continually redefines the concept of fun by remaining simple, uncomplicated and without age boundaries. In 1958, Wham-O introduced the Hula Hoop, which became a national phenomenon.

But first came the Frisbee in 1957, thanks to a California carpenter, Fred Morrison (above), who obtained a patent in 1955 for his plastic throwing discs he called Pluto Platters and cashing in on the martian craze at the time. He sold the rights to Wham-O and within the year, they had sold a million discs. In 1958 Wham-O enhanced the design of the disc and renamed it Frisbee---the origins of the name are immersed in mythology---though the Pluto Platter name remained on the disc for some time after. The Frisbee proved an enduring favorite, and eventually Wham-O marketed and promoted the toy, creating a Frisbee sport and then sanctioning national competitions by the 1960s. Frisbee sports grew so popular that by 1974 the World Frisbee Disc Championships were held in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Many manufacturers have since produced their own versions of the "flying saucers" yet most are colloquially referred to as a frisbee.

International Geophysical Year of 1957-58

 

The Scripto Satellite was a $1.95 ballpoint pen that wrote up to two years without a refill. Truly atomic! The pens were designed to help celebrate the International Geophysical Year, 1957-58. Scripto's other "firsts"  included Fluidlead in 1955, a pencil that wrote like a pen using liquid graphite. Soon, Parker Pens developed a similar product called Liquid Lead. The two companies agreed to share their formulas rather than go to court. 

Scripto is an American company that was founded in Atlanta, Georgia in 1923 by Monie A. Ferst. Originally known as the M.A. Ferst Company, the name was changed to Scripto, Latin for "I write." At one time the largest producer of writing instruments in the world, they now produce butane lighters. Through the typical maze of corporate takeovers, the name was again changed to Scripto, USA in 2006.