In February of 1950, the Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation had a booth in the exhibit hall of the Chicago Automobile Show (now known as the Chicago Auto Show), billing themselves as oil producers and refiners.

The Chicago Auto Show is an expo that has been held annually at Chicago’s McCormick Place convention center, and it is the largest auto show in North America — and, perhaps the longest running one.

At the show, Anderson-Prichard was particularly featuring their APCO-COTE / APCOSEAL automovite undercoatings, with two large drums of it at the entryway of their display, and smaller containers on the counter in the back of the booth.

One can see at the top of the booth that the company featured the “AP” monogram logo.

Interestingly, they chose to use their “APCO” acronym abbreviation brand as part of the APCO-COTE / APCOSEAL brand names. As you may know from our other information pages, Anderson-Prichard Oil Co. long sought to be able to establish registered trademark status for the “APCO” name, but they were stymied for some years by other companies that held some claim to the name or very similar names. It was not for some years later that the company was able to formally use the “APCO” name, stand-alone, as their primary brand name at gas station and on products, such as oils, kerosene, and other items. (When the assets of Anderson-Prichard Oil Corporation were sold in 1960, the new company opted to use “APCO Oil Corporation” as its legal entity name, while continuing to use the “APCO” brand on porducts and gas stations.

The Anderson-Prichard Producers & Refiners exhibit hall booth has a nicely polished feel to it, and one can imagine their professional salesmen operating the booth during the expo, pitching the company’s products to industrial car manufacturers.

Most of the exhibit booth signage is illegible, but in the lower righthand area of the graphics, one can see the image of APCO Tower, the company’s headquarters building from Oklahoma City.

Source: Chicago Auto Show Archives