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Join this channel to get access to perks: Want to learn more about Periscope Film and get access to exclusive swag? Join us on Patreon. Visit Visit our website This mid-1940s film was created by Shell Oil to promote careers in the service station industry, and tells a sort of American rags-to-riches story. The film follows the story of a U.S. Army veteran named Bill, who works himself up from a mere gas station employee to becoming a franchisee who owns a station of his own. The footage is mainly of conversations as well as cars being maintained at full service Shell Gas stations. The services offered in this era included complimentary gas fill ups, tire pressure checks, oil checks, and cleaning. The film was likely shown to people interested in entering into a franchise agreement with Shell, and probably also shown at local meetings of organizations like the Chamber of Commerce or Kiwanis. Note: this print is missing the main title and credits, so we don't know the exact name of the film or who stars in it. 0:08 A U.S. Army veteran named Bill sits at the dinner table with his parents about his post-war career 1:50 Bill kisses his girlfriend and then they have a conversation about the future 4:51 Bill walks towards a Vocational Guidance Office and meets a friend of his who dismisses the counselor's advice 5:09 Bill talks to a guidance counselor, 6:35 the counselor suggests different jobs all of which Bill does not like 7:11 the guidance counselor offers Bill a cancer causing cigarette, 8:16 Bill walks into an office of the Shell Oil Company and speaks with an employee there, 9:21 Shell employee begins explaining the company with footage of oil fields, refineries, storage depots, trucks, and scientists working in a lab, 10:32 a series of different Shell publicity material shots, 11:10 Bill and the Shell employee are back in the office and still talking, 12:20 Bill shows up at a Shell gas station and begins talking to the manager who gives him a job, 13:50 Bill starts his job at the gas station and looks under the hood of a car with the manager, 14:19 Bill services a car with a well-dressed man sitting in it while the manager observes, 14:56 Bill services another customer, 15:28 the manager is on the phone and then begins talking to Bill, 16:42 Bill accidentally runs gas over the back of the car of a well-dressed rich woman and begins cleaning her windshield, 17:51 Bill attempts to put a parcel in the trunk of the car and the woman gets progressively more annoyed, 19:14 Bill’s friend pulls up in an older car and Bill begins servicing him while they have a conversation, 20:37 Bill puts money in the cash register and begins talking to the manager, 21:06 Bill and his girlfriend go to dinner and the manager’s very fancy house, 21:41 the manager introduces his wife to Bill and his girlfriend, 22:08 Bill and the manager drink beer together and talk in the living room, 24:20 Bill is working at the service station while a calendar is switching in the background to show how long he has been there, 24:48 a family car pulls up and Bill talks with a kid in a scout uniform and his father, 26:13 Bill is woken up in the middle of the night by the phone ringing, 26:37 Bill puts a new tire on for the well dressed customer he had at the start of the film, 27:20 the Shell employee that spoke to Bill shows up at the gas station and talks to him, 28:16 Bill and his girlfriend run out of their house into a nice car as newlyweds, 28:48 Bill is shown working at Shell Gas station with his name on it, 29:46 several faster paced scenes showing bill filling up cars, cleaning windows, filling new oil, checking tire pressure, and talking to customers, 30:18 slow pan of a letter to Bill from the “Businessmen’s Lunch Club” inviting him for lunch, 30:25 Several shots of well dressed men including Bill eating at the club, 30:52 a man in an old car pulls up and hands over a present to Bill and they talk, 32:10 the present is a statue of Mary, 33:10 Bill fills up a fancy Cadillac car and talks with the owner while he smokes, 33:49 Bill answers the phone, 34:29 Bill continues talking to the customer in the Cadillac, 35:29 Bill begins talking to the camera, 35:54 Title with “The End” We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.“ This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
