"Road Birds" 1950's Cartoon ads (3) for Ethyl Corporation -- by Eric Gurney

Description

Three great full-page ads for
Ethyl Corporation
with cartoon art by
Eric Gurney
.  This is three of a series titled "Road Birds."
Full page ad #1:  Rescued from a damaged issue of
LIFE Magazine, June 4, 1956.
It features "The No Budgie," and two "Smart Birds."  "It's smart to use
premium
gasoline..."Ethyl" Antiknock Compound, Ethyl Corporation.  Ad measures 9 7/8" x 13 3/8".  Reverse side of this ad has full page ad for "Walker's DeLuxe" Straight Bourbon by Hiram Walker.  Paper has yellowed with age, and there are some minor wrinkles from where page was bound in the magazine and pages were turned and handled.
Full page ad #2:  Rescued from a damaged issue of
LIFE magazine, August 27, 1956.
It features "The Wide-Eyed Gander," and two "Smart Birds."  "It's smart to use
premium
gasoline..."Ethyl" Antiknock Compound, Ethyl Corporation.  Ad measures 9 5/8" x 12 3/4".  Reverse side is the "Contents" page for this issue of LIFE magazine.  Paper has yellowed with age, and there are wrinkles from where page was bound in the magazine and pages were turned and handled.  Bottom right corner "Ethyl Corporation" writing has small corner tear, and was repaired with clear tape on opposite side.
Full page ad #3:  Resued from a damaged issue of
LIFE magazine, March 12, 1956.
It features "The No-See Gull, and "The Smart Bird."  "It's smart to use
premium
gasoline...Drive more...it gets cheaper by the mile!"  "Ethyl" Antiknock Compound, Ethyl Corporation.  Ad measures 9 7/8" x 13 3/8."  Reverse side is the "Contents" for this issue of LIFE magazine.  Paper has yellowed with age, and there are wrinkles where page was bound in the magazine and pages were turned and handled.
All three of these full-page ads were trimmed along edges to eliminate small bumps and tears in the paper of each.
I'll place the ads in a plastic sleeve and secure between two pieces of white foamcore for mailing by USPS First Class in bubble envelope.
Lots of great info on this noted cartoonist and illustrator:
Eric Gurney
(1910–1992) was a Canadian-American cartoonist and illustrator.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, he grew up in Toronto, where he began a career as a commercial artist.  In 1938 he emigrated to the USA to work with The Walt Disney Company, where he was a story writer and collaborated on several classic Disney films.  Turning freelance in 1948, he did cartoon illustrations for magazines and advertising campaigns, notably for the Ethyl Corporation.
Gurney is best known for his humorous illustrations in books for children and adults.  He illustrated Punctured Poems (1971) by Richard Armour; How to Live with a Neurotic Dog (1960) (text by Stephen Baker); How to Live with a Calculating Cat (1962) (text by William Nettleton); an edition of Sportsmanlike Driving (1965), a textbook published by the American Automobile Association; and many other titles, whose total sales number in the millions.
He received the National Cartoonists Society Advertising and Illustration Award for 1961 and 1971 for his work.
His first wife, Nancy Gurney, was his collaborator on several books including The King, the Mice, and the Cheese (1965). He was also the illustrator of other notable Beginner Books including The Digging-est Dog and Hand Hand Fingers Thumb.  After her death, Gurney married a second Nancy. They also collaborated on The Return of the Calculating Cat. In later years they resided in Tucson, Arizona.
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