Americana: The Ubiquitous "STP" Decal

[Bo Zarts]

STP oil treatment was first introduced in 1952 as a product of Chemical Compounds Inc. of St. Joseph, Missouri. An abbreviation for Scientifically Treated Petroleum, STP was a thriving business when Studebaker president Sherwood Egbert acquired the company and trademark on March 1, 1961.

The claim that STP stands for Studebaker Transmission Products is just a myth. That said, after the 1961 acquisition, the STP trademark was briefly co-opted to stand for Studebaker Tested Products. Soon after, Egbert realized the popular oil supplement was best kept as a stand-alone brand: STP.

STP was a big sponsor of King Richard I (Richard Petty - 43). When I was in high school in the early 1960s, there was hardly a red-blooded Georgia boy lucky enough to have a muscle car or hotrod (most of us did not) that didn't have it pasted with at least one STP sticker. Or at least, multiple STP stickers on notebooks and the such.

STP. Only in 'Merica.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

1. As kids, we used to hit gas stations asking for the stickers to put on our bikes.

When one actually had some, word got around the neighborhood fast.

[lagomorph777]

4. I remember that. Everybody had to have that sticker.

[Bo Zarts]

6. I remember doing that!

On Saturday mornings we'd ride our Schwinn Spitfires to the Amoco station, get a 6¢ RC Cola and a 10¢ Moonpie, and STP stickers (I pasted one on my dad's '53 Plymouth "work car" while he wasn't looking). Then we would cross the street to the Kroger store and get free lettuce scaps for our rabbits.

After lunch at home ('mater sammiches in the Summer), we'd ride our bikes back to town (we lived three blocks from city center) for the 25$ matinee at the Imperial Theater. We were safe, happy, and prosperous kids. And the city, state, and nation were being governed by Democrats.

On edit: And at the movie theater our bikes were left leaning against an outside wall, or just kick-standed on the sidewalk. And locks? We didn't need no stinking locks. Hell, we didn't even know what a bike lock was!

[LeftInTX]

27. Yep, no locks on bikes until college, but my bike was a coaster, single gear

I graduated in 1974 and the 10 speed began gaining popularity in 1971 or so. The speeds got stolen, but coasters didn't.

[Bo Zarts]

29. Yep. My brother had an expensive 10-speed stolen at the UofGa in 1973.

Problem was, it wasn't his. He had borrowed it.

[nuxvomica]

2. When I was a kid, we said it meant "Stop Teenage Pregnancies"

Nobody seemed to actually know what it really meant. Now I do.

[LeftInTX]

23. Yep! "Stop Teenage Pregnancies"...LOL

I knew it was an additive and my dad wouldn't buy it. Claimed it was "snake oil", so I never used it myself. My dad was a pilot.

All the guys at school had that sticker. I didn't think to ask if they were actually using the product. I just assumed they or their parents got a sticker whenever they bought STP. Did not know that gas stations would just give them away...

[pwb]

3. Wide ovals, thrush mufflers, Herst shifters,

and a loud 8 track was my 60s car. Ford Galaxy I did a lot of work on. I sold it to a friend before I went in the army. He wrecked it.

[Devil Child]

5. Thanks for this Bo Zarts! Such a beautiful machine

[Initech]

7. I always thought it was for the band Stone Temple Pilots.

[Prof. Toru Tanaka]

12. When I hear those letters today, I think the same thing.

But as a child of the 1960's and 70's, I am old enough to remember the commercials for STP- "The Racer's Edge" featuring CEO Andy Granatelli.

I also enjoyed watching the Professional Bowlers Tour on Saturday afternoons back then and STP was a regular sponsor. One of the tour events was the STP Classic which ran for a few years in the 1970's.

[AllaN01Bear]

8. i have one on my old gi joe foot locker still

[AllaN01Bear]

9. here ya go.

https://www.amazon.com/stp-stickers-decals/s?k=stp+stickers+and+decals
i wonder if kids put them on their bikes and i wonder if kids have bikes now?.

[Boxerfan]

10. Good stuff for early motors

It is a extreme pressure additive that has no synthetic equal. They removed zinc from oil but some early cars especially those geared towards high performance require the zinc to prevent valve wear.

I add a bottle at every oil change to a 1.7 L flat 4 type 4 engine. The engine is modified and has a high lift cam & swivel foot rockers, chromoly pushrods etc... It pushes a old VW bus around very nicely.

There are some products that shouldn't be messed with or improved. This is one of them.

[Shell_Seas]

11. I thought it was for the band "Stone Temple Pilots"

[MineralMan]

13. "Engine Overhaul in a Can"

STP was the most famous brand of automobile oil viscosity-increasers. In the old days, cars over 50,000 miles generally burned oil and had worn main and rod bearings. Dumping some STP or other "Motor Honey" into the crankcase made the oil less fluid, so it eased some of the symptoms for a while.

I've put STP in many of the cars I have owned during my life. That and StopLeak in the radiator, trying desperately to keep my old rattletrap on the road a little longer. It worked, but only for so long. Eventually, the engine got worn enough that nothing could stop it from blowing blue smoke out of the exhaust or having a rod bearing start knocking. At that point, a complete engine overhaul or a rebuilt engine was the only alternative to the junk yard. And either of those fixes cost more than the car was worth, so, STP was a last-gasp hope for survival.

These days, STP makes a long line of automotive additives and products, all designed to help you keep your car on the road while it wears out its last legs. From automatic transmission leak stoppers to fuel treatments that might, maybe, could possibly clean your fuel injectors. Sometimes, they work. Usually, though, they don't work for long.

However, hope springs eternal in the minds of guys, and STP stays in business based on that hope.

[lagomorph777]

14. You just wrote my biography.

[MineralMan]

16. Yeah, yours and everyone else's who grew up in the 60s.

We all drove old beaters. Keeping them going was always the challenge.

[Bo Zarts]

18. My new wife and I had an old, orange Simca.

I bought it for $500 from a flight student of mine. We bought used tires. We bought used batteries. We never changed the oil, because it changed itself!

After we had been married a few months, my parents were going to the beach. They wanted us to meet them there, but we were totally broke. A 95 year old lady side-swiped the Simca, down the right side. It was scraped up pretty badly, but the drivers side door worked and I could drive it. I went to her insurance agent, who said, "Oh no. Not Mrs. Matthews again." He cut me a check for $500 to cover the damage. We cashed it and went to the beach with my folks.

A year or so later, and many miles, the guy I bought it from contacted me. He wanted to buy the Simca back for parts. Gave me $500!

Simca .. the gift that kept on giving.

[MineralMan]

20. I never owned a Simca. Probably because

I never saw one for sale. I bought a lot of weird cars back in the 60s and 70s. It was fun! Being weird was a blast.

[spanone]

22. I bought a used simca in the late sixties. I had it it for months before I learned....

it had a gear lower than the one I was using for first....it would only go about 20 yards in that gear.

loved that little car.

[LeftInTX]

26. My dad told me STP was snake oil. He was a pilot..LOL

Our family cars of memory were 63, 68 and 76 Pontiac Safari wagons. (I was born in 1956) We drove those beasts across the county numerous times, hauling a travel trailer. My dad was in the AF from 1949-1969. We also had grandparents in a different part of the country.

The 63 overheated the first time we hauled the trailer up the Cascade mountain range. We were moving from Seattle to New Jersey. We had lots of hot mountains ahead of us. That car kept overheating and we spent lots of time on the road. Us kids were not prepared for the heat east of the Cascades and my parents had a long travel agenda for us ahead! There is a classic picture of us stranded on the road near Grand Coulee Dam. The car hood is open and draped with wet towels. My dad had removed and is holding a huge engine cooling fan in his hands. Hubby says, "Now that is Americana"....



My parents parked the 76 wagon at their cottage up in northern Wisconsin, near Minocqua some time in the 80's. It still runs..My brother uses it to haul brush...My parents are gone, but my brother has the cottage. He is also a pilot.

However, my dad never used STP.

We tried a few additives on our beaters in our poor days of early marriage....especially those leak stoppers..and something for our car ACs. They lasted a few weeks I think.....

[JHB]

15. "STP, racer's edge!"

First thing that comes to mind at those letter is that ad jingle.

[jmowreader]

17. Do you know how the car got that color?

When Petty Enterprises was in negotiation with STP, the whole thing almost broke down over the color of the car. Petty's color was always that blue shade. STP's corporate color was that orangey red. Both parties wanted the car painted their color. Finally, one of the minions from one side suggested, "Why don't we use both?" So, they worked on a design for a while and found a pattern everyone was happy with...and an icon was born.

[Mr.Bill]

19. I the 60s it refered to a drug.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2,5-Dimethoxy-4-methylamphetamine

I remember hippies in the Haight Ashbury with STP stickers on the backs of their army coats.

[LeftInTX]

24. Oh yeah! A kinda Speed....I remember that too....and Stop Teenage Pregnancies

It was kinda funny that the stickers had dual competing names....
I think the STP speed was supposed to be super strong. I don't think it was widely available in Central Wisconsin (Aka middle of nowhere)
Gotta look at the Wiki article, now that I'm commenting. I'm going by memory.

[StarfishSaver]

21. I think this was limited to red-blooded WHITE boys

Not many red-blooded Black boys drove around Georgia with STP stickers on their muscle cars.

[LeftInTX]

25. They were plastered on folders and lockers...

I did go to a rural all white school though. All the guys had them on their folders. However, the rich-jocks did not have them on their folders. They were a bit of low class status symbol on lockers and folders.

Apparently, the stickers were give ways at gas stations

[LeftInTX]

28. Another name: Stinky Toilet Paper

It was also known as Stop Teenage Pregnancy and STP a type of speed...