From time to time we meet a creation so obscure that it simply blows our mind with its charm. Today’s article is about one such creation: The Doodlebug. But it’s not just charming – it’s also utterly delicious.
It was in 1934 that the Doodlebug was let loose on the streets of America, delivering petrol (or gas as the Yanks would term it) to petrol stations and aircraft for many years to come. In this fabulous lorry (sorry, truck!) form and function meet in perfect harmony. The design as a whole is simply overflowing with synergy. The breadloaf shape seems ideal for a fuel truck and it only measures a mere six feet or 1.8 meters in height. The curved windows in the cab would have been highly exotic in the thirties, and didn’t become the norm in automobile production until the late fifties. I’m also especially fond of the Texaco lettering, which appears to be almost floating above the bodywork.
Texaco had contracted industrial designers Norman Bel Geddes and Walter Dorwin Teague to modernize their brand. While the project was broad, it’s this intriguing truck which today stands out as the tour de force of advertisement through design.
