Indy 500 - Pyroil Scores Again!

Pyroil seems to have a problem with counting. In the ad copy they state "Six of the ten winners of the 500 mile Memorial Day race at Indianapolis kept their racing machines lubricated with the help of Pyroil." The problem? Well, in 1947 when this ad ran in Popular Mechanics there had been 31 winners of the Indy 500, not ten.

There isn't much in the way of history for Pyroil online. My search only turned up more ads and a few MSDS sheets, but nothing in the way of when the company was founded or by whom. We do know it was located in La Crosse, Wisconsin, but not much more. Pyroil products are still available, now marketed under the Valvoline brand.

Jerry the talking dog was sort of the animal equivalent of a side-show act, barking words for the boys in veteran's hospitals around the US at the behest of his Pyroil masters. Didn't find too much on Jerry, either, but I did locate a site with a good (autographed no less) photo of the little whippet!

By the way, I'm not exactly sure how many cans of Pyroil for Aircraft Engines the company sold, but it seems a little strange that they'd run an ad for it in Popular Mechanics. Back in '47 were there that many people with their own planes in need of lubrication?