You get the Very Best – at Supertest!

And more – we got official uniforms. Orange shirts sported the Supertest maple leaf, and were worn with Supertest green jackets, and Supertest green pencil skirts, which needed to be shortened by at least six inches to meet current fashion standards.

A jaunty cap set it all off, the same shape worn by WWII airmen, the kind you could snap flat with a flourish. We perched our caps at exactly the right angle, secured them with bobby pins, and snapped them shut at the end of the day.

If you had driven up to the pumps at 7:10 a.m. that first morning, all unsuspecting, you first of all would have seen festive flags fluttering across the pumps. A cart full of oil cans, hoses and fan belts was arranged in a decorative display. Patio tables were set up on the lot, with key-cutting machines at the ready and a tray full of blank keys, one for every make and model of car on the market.

Next you would notice a sprinting swarm of eager and determined uniformed attendants zeroing in on you. First there was the fellow to pump your gas. Then came the young woman asking for your ignition key. Then another young woman asking how you took your coffee, and a third offering a tray of donuts. Meanwhile, a second fellow had already started washing your windows – all of them, and also the mirror, headlights and taillights – and checked your oil, showing the dipstick for your approval. You might notice that both “gas jockeys” were especially alert and efficient, just in case any of the “Gold Key Girls” happened to be watching.

And all of this under the well-satisfied eyes of Mr. Hearl himself.

We could not have wished for a better introduction to the working world. Wherever we went that summer, we were treated with fatherly respect. In addition to our work experience, we learned all the joys of the catering truck, with its bacon sandwiches and chocolate milk. One of us was asked out on our first date. The other two were jealous. All of us were exhausted by the end of each Saturday night, and complained how much we needed Sundays through Wednesdays to recover. And we were rolling in the riches of over $50 a week. For me, the experience led to a series of part and full-time jobs that paid for my university education.

Oh yes, we got the very best at Supertest.

The writer as a “Gold Key Girl”, photo taken by her mother.
The gentleman in the photo is Mr. Ivan Boone, another Supertest employee, who passed away about 40 years ago.