As mentioned above, 1965 is the key date. From 1965 to current the Pegasus faces right, and is displayed within a white circle at least 95% of the time. From 1911 to 1965, Pegasus faced left, with the following exceptions that I know of. (1) When displayed on a moving vehicle (car, truck, boat, airplane, etc.) Pegasus should be facing forward. So, on the left side of the vehicle he faces left and on the right side he faces right. An image on the back , of a tank truck for example, would face left. That’s why there are some right-facing porcelain die-cut shield signs…..they were mounted on the right side door of truck cabs. They’re the same size as pump plates and are very rare. (2) On stations and other buildings, right-facing Pegasus signs were sometimes used for design symmetry. The large die-cut “cookie-cutter” Pegasus was sometimes made facing right if necessary to make the building look symmetrical, or if the building’s location made facing right look better. Some other die-cut Pegasus signs that face right for the same basic reason….they were mounted on the outside of buildings, as mentioned by Frank above.
All cans and globes that I’m aware of from before 1965 had Pegasus facing left, with the possible exception of some transmission fluid cans as mentioned above. I can’t explain those……it’s possible they date from after 1965.
The reason for the switch in direction for Pegasus is not clear. I was a long time Mobil employee, and the story from some company folks explain it as some sort of political statement…….like the company wanted to appear more conservative and was afraid “facing left” would be viewed somehow as being socialist or communist. You’d have to remember the political climate in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s to give that theory any credence…..it’s possible but not likely. Another story was that the trademark was allowed to legally expire by mistake and someone else got control of it. So, to keep the Pegasus image Mobil simply turned it around and obtained a new trademark. I don’t doubt that a mistake like that could occur, but I doubt that story also. It would have been much cheaper to buy the trademark back than to change the corporate image worldwide. My best guess is that some hot-shot marketing consultant convinced a high level Mobil marketing executive or the CEO it was time to “update” the companies image, thereby earning a million dollar fee and making all these treasures we collect disposable. If that’s the case, I guess maybe we owe that consultant a big “thank you”.
Of course, all the above is my understanding, which doesn’t make it necessarily fact.
Richard
