"The Seuss Navy"

 Many moons ago, long before the Cat in the Hat, Theodor Seuss Geisel worked for the oil industry. As part of an ad campaign, he conceived what was known as the Seuss Navy. 

It was his biggest success in ad campaigns and eventually led to his place in history as a children’s author.

In 1935, while working for Standard Oil, Mr. Seuss launched an advertisement for Esso Marine Lube at the New York International Boat Show. 

In his endeavor, he created some Seuss Navy story booklets with rhyming text and a crew of characters.

While he had already indulged in cartooning and rhyming for magazines and the like, Mr. Seuss seemed to really enjoy the new challenge and eventually went on to publish “And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street.”

 

It’s a wonder no one realized that the Seuss Navy even existed, but it was as colorful and imaginative as anything in his day. 

Perhaps if they had social media and television advertisement, it would have become as iconic as his books. 

I hope you appreciated some of the art I’ve collected from the Seuss Navy … 

( Fin )