Coke and a Burger: 1938

To our left of the Pan-Am Oil sign is a pretty large ad for the movie "Spawn of the North" (1938) starring George Raft, Henry Fonda and Dorothy Lamour - none of whose names is on the part of the poster that we can see. What is on the poster (and readable) are the names Akim Tamiroff, Barrymore,Platt, and Overman. They would be John Barrymore, Louise Platt and Lynne Overman. The movie is the exciting tale of two friends caught on either side of a conflict in the Alaskan salmon fishery. One of the roles that Raft didn't turn down.

Pan-Am was the Louisiana arm of American Oil Company, which in turn was owned by Standard Oil of Indiana. It went by the name Amoco until it merged with BP. Louisiana's native Standard Oil of Louisiana was wholly owned by Standard Oil of New Jersey, Esso, which is now ExxonMobil.

You can see a good number of Ella Cinders strips at Barnacle Press.

Here.

Ella Cinders was a daily comic strip that ran from 1925 to 1961. It spawned a movie and a short-lived comic book series, which the advertisement is probably promoting. Just the thing to read with a "Tasty" Coca-Cola or a "Twice as Good" RC. The movie advertised in the back is Spawn of the North.

[The ad is for Pan-Am motor oil. - Dave]