Follies of the Madmen #356

The additive that Ethyl made was tetraethyl lead, the stuff that made leaded gasoline leaded.

Perhaps it's supposed to appeal to fishermen, who see line packaged like that.

I remember an essay in a one of my mechanical physics book where the author compared two methods of transporting a vehicle for one hundred miles. The first method involved a reel mounted on the vehicle, reeling in a 100 mile long cable and the second utilized an internal combustion engine and gasoline. The conclusion was that the gasoline was stronger, weight-wise, than steel for the purpose of moving the vehicle. I thought of that when I saw this picture in the advert.

Yes, Tetraethyllead was the lead additive to increase octane, very bad stuff indeed... When fuel is compressed in a cylinder it will eventually reach a point where it will ignite on its own, causing the "knock" if this point is reached prior to the spark being introduced. The more the fuel can be compressed without ignition, the higher the octane rating. High compression engines need high octane gas, and at one time Tetraethyllead (lead) was the additive that was used to boost the octane rating. Blah, blah, blah.

This is just a bad ad. Not only does it make no sense, it’s also pointless.

It cannot be an ad for fishermen; the hand holding the spool is clearly a woman's hand. Look at the long fingernails and modern bracelet. It can either be an ad for fisherwomen or plumbing ladies (teflon spools also come packaged like this) or a ploy to convince women to go fishing.

I figured it was a mermaid's hand.