A large classic Americana c. 1950 oil painting on canvas created for Atlantic Petroleum by Hayden Hayden. This was likely created as a billboard advertising design. In this all-American apple pie depiction, a clean cut high school football star has attracted the interest of a pretty co-ed after being “Fixed Up For The Fall.” The suggestion being, of course, that with a tune up by Atlantic Petroleum, you too could be the lucky fellow enjoying the company of the girl next door of your dreams. A well conceived and iconic large format Petroliana original advertising painting from the Golden Age of Illustration. Signed lower right with painted on text and Atlantic Petroleum logo.
Atlantic Petroleum was an oil company in the Eastern United States headquartered in Philadelphia, and a direct descendant of the Standard Oil Trust. It was also one of the companies that merged with Richfield Oil to form ARCO, now part of BP. After an unsuccessful spinoff from ARCO, Atlantic was acquired by Sunoco in 1988. Atlantic was founded as the Atlantic Petroleum Storage Company in 1866 in the then-fledgling oil business. In 1874, the company, now known as Atlantic Refining, was purchased by John D. Rockefeller and integrated as part of Standard Oil. The acquisition gave Rockefeller a major presence on the East Coast in his growing empire.