{"id":557,"date":"2016-02-07T23:37:46","date_gmt":"2016-02-07T22:37:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.innerpieces.net\/blog\/?page_id=557"},"modified":"2024-02-10T21:56:45","modified_gmt":"2024-02-10T20:56:45","slug":"national-benzole","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/innerpieces.net\/blog\/national-benzole\/","title":{"rendered":"National Benzole"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE NATIONAL BENZOLE CO. LTD.
\n50 YEARS ANNIVERSARY
\nPublished in bought space in all National papers<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the beginning 1919 – 1929<\/strong><\/p>\n

Palefaced Tommies
\nin shabby civvies
\nconsoling wives
\nsaving divis<\/p>\n

Eyes still filled
\nwith mud from Flanders
\ndisillusioned, work demanders<\/p>\n

Novocastrians
\nin the pit
\nchip the black
\nbit by bit<\/p>\n

Miners’ hands pass solid power
\nto men of science, researchers dour,
\nBenzole found in each slab’s womb!
\nAs great a moment as sonic boom?<\/p>\n

Benzole mixed with petrol straight
\nWelcome National!
\nThe blend was great.<\/p>\n

New petrol power
\nfrom brawn and brain
\ngrown in Britain
\na gain again.<\/p>\n

The gangling gibbets
\nsold gallons vast
\nto drivers thirsty to go fast.<\/p>\n

Hurrah for the sign of the mercurial head
\nThe symbol that, in performance, led.<\/p>\n

In the 30’s 1930 \u2013 1939<\/strong><\/p>\n

Vintage days
\nand vintage cars
\nHollywood moguls
\ngorgeous stars<\/p>\n

Big band broadcasts
\nBenny Goodman
\nNat Gonella
\nand Woody Herman<\/p>\n

Strawberry jam
\nand open tourers
\nDonald Bradman
\nlocal brewers<\/p>\n

Bentleys first
\nBentleys second
\nHalcyon days
\nSwastika threatened.<\/p>\n

Mr. Morris built for the bosses
\nHenry J for those with losses
\nNational petrol
\nled the field
\nAll competitors had to yield<\/p>\n

Ethyl and Pratt
\nWhat naughty names!
\nWooed male drivers
\nLike desperate dames.<\/p>\n

Oodles of others
\nfought like blazes
\nbut looked at National
\nwith envious gazes.<\/p>\n

Great John Cobb
\nwith National fuel
\nsped for Britain
\nin Bonneville.<\/p>\n

He broke the record
\non Utah flats.
\nBoth Eyston and Seagrave
\nraised their hats.<\/p>\n

But out in the lead
\nNational heard
\nJackboots, drumbeats
\nthe threatening herd<\/p>\n

In the 40’s\u00a01940 \u2013 1949<\/strong><\/p>\n

Petroleum boards
\ncamouflaged tankers
\npool petrol
\ncoupon bankers<\/p>\n

Farewell young men
\ncome back after
\n(their lives, so poised
\non a lethal rafter)<\/p>\n

Petrol by boat
\nthrough dangerous waters.
\nPetrol by road
\nunder guns and mortars
\nendless years of death and destruction
\nsurvival was learned
\nunder instruction.<\/p>\n

We propelled our liquid
\nand some of us fell
\nbut nothing compared
\nwith that military hell
\nthat our young men who left us
\nsaw from the fight’s first bell.<\/p>\n

The great God of battle
\nended the fray
\nmay the great God of peace
\ngive us peace in our day.<\/p>\n

In the 50’s – 1950 – 1959<\/strong><\/p>\n

The legend of Winston
\nhas passed, in the peace
\nthe tools are with Clement
\nto make us one piece.<\/p>\n

Goodbye Mr, Attlee
\nEnter a Tory
\nthe start (and the stops)
\nof the 13 year story.<\/p>\n

High octane fuels
\nfor higher compression
\nSuper National made
\nsuch a dynamic impression.<\/p>\n

The motoring market
\nbegins to explode
\nthe petroleum industry
\nmeets the new load,<\/p>\n

Mr. Mercury’s face
\nis given a lift
\nfully National stations
\nemerge with the shift.<\/p>\n

The new dress is planned
\nin yellow and blue
\nwith whiter than white
\nin the background too.<\/p>\n

British drivers
\nbuild Britain’s prestige
\nand win all the pots
\nin world Grand Prixs.
\nMarket arrivals
\nin peace-time gear
\nput up their pole signs
\neverywhere, here
\nTotal and Mobil and Fina and Jet
\npolish the screens of the motoring set.<\/p>\n

In the 60’s : 1960 – 1969<\/strong><\/p>\n

East of Suez, trading gaps
\nhardly time to take short naps.
\nBalance of payments, Zurich gnomes
\nhardly time to see our homes.<\/p>\n

Hot computers, cold advisers
\nPetrol tax and breathalysers
\nHong Kong flue and student power
\nPop and pot every hour.<\/p>\n

Cut-price petrol
\nnow Trade description
\nensures the truth
\nof each inscription.<\/p>\n

Good for National
\nwho ply fair trade
\nbad for those
\nwho false statements made,<\/p>\n

Wider range and more octanes
\npromises National bigger gains,
\nlatest petrol named Economy,
\nmarket planners use Autonomy
\n99 and Super too
\njust see what engines can really do.<\/p>\n

The golden age of Getaway
\nwith guys and gals in svelte array
\nwith freedom granted
\npleasure grasped
\nand National fuel to perform the task.<\/p>\n

E type Jags
\nItalian fastbacks
\nsun and beaches
\nthighs in tight slacks
\nlove the metal
\nlove the gal
\ncherish the spirit
\nof National.<\/p>\n

Exciting times lie ahead
\nthrough the green
\nmind the red
\nLook for the sign
\nin yellow and blue
\nthere’s bound to be something
\nnew for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE NATIONAL BENZOLE CO. LTD. 50 YEARS ANNIVERSARY Published in bought space in all National papers In the beginning 1919 – 1929 Palefaced Tommies in shabby civvies consoling wives saving divis Eyes still filled with mud from Flanders disillusioned, work demanders Novocastrians in the pit chip the black bit by bit Miners’ hands pass solid…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-557","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/innerpieces.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/innerpieces.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/innerpieces.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innerpieces.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/innerpieces.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/innerpieces.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2012,"href":"https:\/\/innerpieces.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/557\/revisions\/2012"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/innerpieces.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}