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Garage mechanic near Newark, N.J., with Office of Defense Transportation badge. December 1943. Kodachrome transparency by Marjory Collins. View full size.
Ms. Goodwrench started in 1974 to give a common identity to service for all its dealers and brands. It started out as a friendly looking mechanic in a crisp light-blue shirt and evolved into a drawing of a brawny man in a striped work shirt hoisting the brand's blue G-shaped logo. General Motors is pulling the plug on the manufacturer Mr. Goodwrench. General Motors isn't canceling all dealership and brand service stations though. Instead, the names are just being changed. Service stations will be manufacturer specific. Mr. Goodwrench, launched in the 1970s, was changed to Goodwrench Service Plus in the 1990s. The brand is being dropped to accommodate the new GM advertising strategies.
ESSENTIAL TRANSPORTATION WORKER
ODT
Office of Defense Transportation
KEEP 'EM ROLLING
(My secret? One is for sale on EBay.)

I had a paper route from 1945 to 1949 and had one of those money changers which was a prized possession. Had to go "collect" for the weeks paper already delivered that week every Saturday, then walk the bridge to Ironton Ohio where I paid my bill to the newspaper and kept 1 cent per day per paper delivered. There were no credit cards in those days and almost everything was on a cash basis.
He probably pumped gas as well... Why go to a register to make change when you can do it on the spot?
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