The end of globes

History

Luminous announcements of Benzina, Benzina pura, Essence, Essence filtree appeared in Europe in the early Twenties, while across the Atlantic the competition among brands was already fierce.

One-piece globes remained in use longer in some parts of Europe and, aside from Shell Oil’s shell, simpler types tended to prevail.

Meanwhile, in the USA, there began to appear in 1933 (though uncommon until after the war) the first plastic globes.

If the end of these objects came between the Fifties and Sixties, the decline had begun, at least in America, almost twenty years earlier.

The simple gas pumps placed at the roadside were gradually replaced by a more complete structure, which in the attraction of customers had its own drawing power.

The illuminated globe was no longer indispensable, now that the image and the attraction of the filling station depended on the sum of many elements, including the supplementary services they now offered to the public.

Additionally, as the pumps gradually became more compact and less monumental, the presence of the globe became formally superfluous.

Placing the trademark on the pump itself was enough, for the most spectacular task -that of attracting the customer from afar- had for some time been entrusted to the great flags mounted on colossal poles.