Humble Roll Out

American oil company Humble (Esso) had connections with the space industry in the sixties and during the run up to the first moon landing and as rockets were lighting up the skies over the US, it came up with an especially fine promotional gift for motorists and their children.

The Energy rocket was a service station premium item and I was lucky to find a complete one, including all the parts and paperwork intact and pristine. Made from sturdy plastic and a good 18 cm long, this is a really fine piece of space memorabilia and i'd encourage any fan of space toys to look out for one.

The model comes in quite a complex little kit and was probably intended as more of a 'dads toy' as some of the fixings are tiny and require tools. Skipping past the building, the vehicle is motorised and runs along a trackway made of plastic 'drinking straws'.

Along the track is a buffer section, and as the transporter runs into this, a switch at the front releases the rocket from its horizontal transport mode, flicks it upright into launch position and a powerful spring blasts it off into the (virtual) stratosphere!

Its quite powerful too, as I found out to my cost after building it, accidentally letting the switch go, I ended up looking like Luna from Georges Melies 'Trip to the Moon' where the moon grimaces as a rocket plunges into its cratered eye!

Humble also did some gorgeous press ads later in the companies history such as the one pictured from a magazine featuring a beautiful painting of a proposed Molab.

The little Esso keyring  figure did not come from the Humble kit, but is shown as part of the advertising on the paperwork and is another survivor from my childhood!