Americana
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AMERICANA was a promotional game issued by the Shell Oil Company starting in 1965, then released again in 1966 and 1967. This was a collect-and-win game with cash prizes. With each visit to a participating Shell gas station, customers received a game envelope (about 6.25" x 3.2"). The envelopes contain a game piece - a slip of paper (about 3" x 2.8") with the image of one-half of a dollar bill, either $1, $5, $50, $500, $1,000 or $2,500. The goal was to collect game pieces and try to match two halves of a dollar bill of the same denomination in which case the player won that amount. There are twelve different game pieces in this game; six are common and six are the key, prize-winning dollar bill halves. However, the dollar bill halves were printed in several different colors so there are color variations of the twelve game pieces. There were six cash prizes available, $1, $5, $50, $500, $1,000 and $2,500. The game pieces, in addition to having a dollar amount printed on them, also have an 'Americana' theme image. The images, respectively, are Davy Crockett, Liberty Bell, Paul Revere's Ride, Wright Brothers Plane, Old Ironsides, and Buffalo Bill. The game materials were printed by Glendinning Enterprises whom, I assume, worked with Shell Oil on the creation and execution of the game. The game was started, and re-started, at various times between 1965 and 1967. During this time there were variations of the game with different top prizes. In 1967 the game was revised and the prizes were expanded to include a $2,500 prize for collecting both halves of 'Buffalo Bill' game pieces. Also in 1967, Shell ran ads offering to double the value of the $500 winning game pieces. These incentives had marketing punch and were necessary to compete with other oil company promotions that were being released with higher and higher prize values. |
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Above: Front and back of an 'AMERICANA' game envelope which contains a game piece. |
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Above: Front of three different 'AMERICANA' game pieces. |
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Above: Back of three different 'AMERICANA' game pieces showing the various printing colors. |
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Above: Close-up of the rules printed on each 'AMERICANA' game piece. |
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Above: Newspaper ad in the The Valley News (Springwater, NY) on 6/16/1966. This release in New York had a top prize of only $500. |
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