30 Things You Didn’t Know About Dr. Seuss

Source: Standard Oil Company of New Jersey

16. He was subsequently hired to create ads by the makers of Flit, a DDT-laced bug spray produced by a subsidiary of Standard Oil of New Jersey.

Source: Standard Oil Company of New Jersey

17. He created a slogan for the bug spray — “Quick, Henry, the Flit!” — that became an oft-quoted slogan of the day ala “Where’s the Beef?” in later years.

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Source: Standard Oil Company of New Jersey

18. Some of his Flit ads featured more racist imagery, of both blacks and Middle Easterners.

Source: Dr. Seuss

19. He later rejected racism, drawing cartoons such as one featuring Uncle Sam wielding a Flit-like spray to blow the “Racial Prejudice Bug” out of the heads of white citizens.

Source: Esso

20. Working for another Standard Oil subsidiary, which produced Essomarine boat fuel, he became “Admiral-in-Chief” of the so-called Seuss Navy, an outfit made up for promotional purposes.