This is classic Texaco. It’s the logo many of us knew as the definitive Texaco brand – the red star to which one could entrust one’s car, and the green T, captured in a circle, held aloft like a prize in an upraised hand.

“Marfak lubrication” was another term of the era, and it always had a strange alien sound to it. WE COME IN PEACE WE ARE FROM MARFAK. (It’s the name of a star.) Sky Chief was a high-octane brand, introduced in ’38. The other brand? Fire Chief, of course. Just as MARFAK mystified my young ears, the Sky Chief logo looked strange – was that a wing? An L? Hot dogs and a fork?

My Dad said they were wings, and he would know. HE worked for Texaco. He sold MARFAK.