Reply #41: I know it is Dutch [View All]

[kcwayne]

but most people, especially in 1970 did not know that, and had they known it, it would be irrelevant. Shell had/has stations all over the US. They are a highly visible supplier of gas in the US.

When the guy on the street thinks about an oil company, he thinks about the local gas station, and Shell was a dominant marketer of gas back then.

My point was not to pick on Shell in particular, the reason the Shell Oil worked is that upside down numbers on those old calculator displays would spell Shell Oil (71077345), but wouldn't spell Standard, another popular brand.