Sinclair the Happy Dinosaur
There are many wonderful things about the Mountain West, where we spent about five days of our Wedding Road Trip. These include:
• Incredible scenery featuring snow capped mountains and horses grazing in rugged pasture
• Clean cities that mix houses and highways with lofts, light rail, and arts districts
• A culture of biking, hiking, and skiing that keeps the population fit
• Good food and strong margaritas (thanks, Katie and Jason!)
However, my favorite thing about the Mountain West? The Sinclair gas stations.
Sinclair is a regional gas station chain whose signs feature a green dinosaur looking some damn pleased that you’ve just used him or her for your petroleum needs – literally. How awesome is that? It would be like showing a smiling tree on a cardboard box, or a dancing cow on a hamburger wrapper.
Even better, the dinosaur symbol looks like a reject from a 1962 ad campaign. Between its curvy flair and no-nonsense green tone, this is a brontosaurus that Frank Sinatra would feel comfortable with.
Finally, Sinclair takes me back to those childhood days when I was fascinated by dinosaurs (along with other “lost world” concepts like ghosts, Star Wars, and the Detroit Lions). Their logo is perfect marketing for six-year old boys…if only six-year old boys bought gasoline on a regular basis.
Sadly, since Roxy Fusion (who is not a hybrid) pulls around 30 MPG, we’ve only had the occasion to visit Sinclair once or twice. Happily, we’ll be back through Colorado and Utah in about a month and can visit the happy dinosaur one more time.
Tags: colorado road trip, denver road trip, sinclair the happy dinosaur
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I love the happy dinosaur too! he’s soo cute!!!
A long, long time ago, we had Sinclair stations in New York, too. There was one at the corner near my house - so I could walk there. (I loved the smell of gasoline then)They had great premiums. I sent away for a 3 foot inflatable dino and I remember it was delivered on my birthday! Ah! the scent of new vinyl!
You can find a lot of their logos in the history of Sinclair:
http://www.sinclairoil.com/history/history_p40.htm
The Sinclair myth continues. Oil comes from zooplankton and algae compressing and decomposing over long times. Dinosaurs are not the source of oil. In fact some wacky scientists think oil has inorganic origins altogether.