Esso Blue - Illuminated Shop Sign

Here's a lovely blast from the past - an Esso Blue illuminated sign, seen above unilluminated, featuring Joe the Esso Blue dealer, befamed of the "Boom Boom Boom - Esso Blue!" TV ads from the 1950s to the 1970s.

On dark winters' evenings, signs like this would glow at us from shop windows as we made our way home.

The sign illuminated, with Joe informing passers-by: "ESSO BLUE PARAFFIN ON SALE HERE".

They're still around, of course, but the retro charm of the old days is somehow lacking (to younger generations, the present illuminated signs will probably assume greater charm in years to come, envoking fond memories of childhood).

When I was a kid, I imagined that the inner-workings of these signs must be somewhat sophisticated. Not till I was about eight did it occur to me that the striking effect was achieved with a single light bulb.

Saturday Cat and Real Dairy Cream

Saturday - the cat that got the (real dairy) cream.

It was appropriate, of course, to have a cat advertising Real Dairy Cream. And why not a cartoon one?

Saturday Cat was the advertising feline for Real Dairy Cream in the UK around the early-to-mid 1970s. He may have first appeared earlier than the 1970s, and his tenure may have been longer than I remember, possibly extending into the early 1980s, but I think his reign was brief, and I know he is little remembered today.

But for a time he was the star of TV, magazine and newspaper ads, badges and booklets.

Ah, how fleeting fame can be!

December 1973 magazine ad - "Make Christmas really creamy!" That pud and pastry looks a tad indigestable to my finely-tuned 21st Century tummy.

Why was our hero of mag, book and screen called Saturday Cat? Well, the "Cat" part of the name is self explanatory, but perhaps "Saturday" indicated that Real Dairy Cream was a weekend treat? I confess myself puzzled. Does anybody out there know the answer?

"How to make the best use of cream - as recommended by Saturday Cat" - Dairy Produce Advisory Service, Milk Marketing Board, circa 1980.

"Boom Boom Boom Boom!" - Joe The Esso Blue Dealer

This lovable little animated chap is known to many of us as he appeared in a long series of TV, newspaper and magazine ads from 1958 until the 1970s - I'm not sure exactly when he bowed out during that decade. He was Joe, the Esso Blue Dealer.

What was Esso Blue? T'was paraffin for domestic heaters and stoves. The heaters were OK, but caused quite a lot of condensation. However, in the 1950s, '60s and '70s nobody round my neighbourhood had central heating. Heating was supplied by coal, gas or paraffin. Most people opted for gas or coal. We also had a one-bar electric fire, but it ate electricity at a tremendous rate so we never dared use it. We had a paraffin heater, but could rarely afford the paraffin. In consequence, the ground floor of our house was warm enough in the winter (coal fire in the back room, gas fire in the front), but upstairs was FREEZING. It was common in the winter months to awake to ice on the INSIDE of the bedroom windows.

The little Esso Blue fella, with his natty bow tie and dinky bowler hat, had his first telly airing in 1958.

In one late '50s ad, the Esso Blue dealer is seen at his desk, answering the phone to a variety of people, all asking if he's Joe. To each, he replies, in a Northern English accent, that he isn't - he's the Esso Blue dealer. A sexy sounding female, also asking for Joe, flusters the poor little beggar and he tells her he is the "Esso Blee dooler". Poor lad. In the end, the mysterious Joe phones, asking if there have been any calls for him. In between calls, the dealer sings to himself "Boom boom boom - Esso Blue!" and, at the end of the ad, we get the famous jingle.

Later, we learned that the Esso Blue dealer was also called Joe.

The Esso Blue dealer as he appeared in a late 1950s ad.

YOUR DEALER RECOMMENDS ESSO BLUE. A shame, because it's no longer available.

The "Esso Blee dooler" ad line came about by accident. The actor Dorland Advertising had employed to do the voice-over was late arriving at the recording session for one of the ads. Time was pressing, and Dorland executive Tony Solomon stepped forward, champing at the bit to get the sound balance right, and said: "Let me have a go at it." He then said "I'm your Esso Blee Dooler" instead of "Esso Blue Dealer", which "brought the house down", causing great hilarity amongst the staff looking on. So, Mr Solomon's bit of genuine tongue-tiedness was incorporated into the script for the ad, and was also a tremendous hit with telly viewers. 

 A boggle-eyed Joe on an Esso Blue Delivery Service order postcard.

 A lovely filled-in Esso Blue receipt from Leighton Buzzard - March, 1971.

 Cor, self-service Esso Blue!

In those days of few TV channels (two when it first aired, three when it ended, and four from November 1982 until 1989 when Sky launched), we eagerly grasped hold of various jingles and catchphrases and, even today, many of us remember them. From the likes of "Murray Mints, Murray Mints, too good to hurry mints!" to Beattie of BT's late 1980s ads ("You got an ology?") and beyond, we took 'em all to our hearts. "Boom Boom Boom Boom - Esso Blue!" is still etched on my mind today.

Joe assured us that, with Esso Blue, smoke wouldn't get in your eyes. Esso Blue didn't smoke. But all paraffin heaters gave off a slight smell. In 1971, Joe starred on his own flexi-disc recording - "The Great Blue Singer" ("They asked me how I knew it was Esso Blue. I of course replies, with lower grades one buys, smoke gets in your eyes."). The flexi-disc ended with the "Boom Boom Boom Boom - Esso Blue!" jingle, which featured at the end of each ad and became a national catchphrase.

 Here's Joe appearing on an Esso Blue can. He looks so happy - obviously a man who believed in his product.

After the Esso Blue dealer left our screens, there was a reminder of him for many years in my neighbourhood: Mr Dean, the local greengrocer, florist and Esso Blue supplier, had a tin sign showing Joe, stating "ESSO BLUE SOLD HERE" - or some-such. The sign, which Mr Dean put out on the pavement by his shop every day, ensured that the dear old dealer was a presence in my neck of the woods long after he'd finished on the telly.

Newspaper ad from 1960.

Three Esso Blue badges from the early 1970s - Joe The Non-Smoker, Boom Boom Boom, and Conserve Your Energy.

An Esso Blue receipt from the 1970s. "YOUR HEATER NEEDS BLUE". The inclusion of V.A.T indicates that the UK was a member of the Common Market by the time the receipt was printed.

July 1979: Smurf of the Month

This is "Smurf of the Month", July 1979 - one of a series of collectable figurines, available at National petrol stations.

The Smurfs' origins actually date back to the late 1950s, but over here in England most of us had never heard of them until they released a pop record called The Smurf Song, which entered our pop charts on 10/6/1978.

"Where are you all coming from?"

"From Smurfland where we belong."

Of course there was the invitable spoof version: "Where are you all coming from?"

"We're from Brixton on the run!"

The Smurf craze continued into the 1980s.

Milk: Post-60s Sauce!

A magazine advertisement from 1973.

Are you getting enough? (nudge, nudge, wink, wink, oower missis, etc, etc).

Following the 1960s sexual revolution, "amusing" double entendres were everywhere.

Buzby and the Arrival of British Telecom

Buzby - the talking cartoon bird, voiced by Bernard Cribbins, was launched c. 1977 and was around well into the 1980s. Buzby's catchphrase was: "Make someone happy with a phone call." A cynical play on this, very prevalent in the late 1970s and early 1980s, was: "Make someone happy - wring Buzby's neck!"

Keeping in touch with developments at the All England Club - via "the blower"! In 1980, Post Office Telecommunications became British Telecom and would become a totally separate public corporation on 1 October 1981.

British Telecom has arrived, as seen in this newspaper advertisement from July 1980.