Tony Sarg’s Bird’s-Eye Views of Conoco Land

A post-Depression-era coloring book by ‘America’s best known illustrator and designer’, Tony Sarg.

“After looking through this book, you’ll perhaps feel as I do – a salute to Conoco for using these “smiling” advertisements in 1934, the year in which America starts to smile again.” – Tony Sarg.

This fun promotional booklet was issued in 1934 by Conoco Oil. It features a series of 18 humorous illustrations designed by the talented animator and puppeteer, Tony Sarg. The black and white scenes, designed to be colored by the owner, depict the speed and chaos of the automobile age in both urban and rural settings, fueled by Conoco products and service stations. Several full-page ads and a brief biography of Sarg are also included. Sponsored by the Conoco Travel Bureau, which was excited to capitalize on the surge in motor tourism in the years following the Great Depression.

Anthony Frederick “Tony” Sarg (1880–1942) was a German-American illustrator, puppeteer, and designer celebrated as a pioneer of modern marionette theater in the United States. After immigrating to America in 1915, he gained fame for his witty illustrations, children’s books, and inventive theater performances that captivated audiences nationwide. Sarg is perhaps best remembered for designing Macy’s first Thanksgiving Day Parade balloons in the late 1920s, but he also created numerous pictorial maps, all of which are highly collectible.

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