Robert Mullen
Pyroil is a familiar brand of automotive product that can be found in big box stores everywhere. It may be a surprise to many La Crosse residents that the Pyroil brand originated here.
Pyroil began as an idea in the mind of La Crosse resident William V. Kidder in the late 1920s. Kidder was a local newspaperman who also had a keen interest in gasoline engines. He knew that these engines were rapidly becoming better engineered and required quality fuel and lubrication. On this premise, Kidder experimented with graphite additives and developed two products that met this need.
This early Pyroil container once held sixteen ounces of Kidder’s patented “B” additive for the oil in the engine’s crank case. The other product Kidder developed was a gasoline additive, called Pyroil” A.” Both products promised better lubrication, improved efficiency, and protection against rust and corrosion.
Pyroil generated immediate attention in the automotive world. By the early 1930s it was being sold nationally and advertised in magazines like Popular Mechanics and Popular Science.
Hailed as a miracle product for your car, Pyroil’s ads featured well-known race car drivers promoting the virtues of the products. The company was so successful that it developed its own gasoline formula. It was marketed as Pyroil Lubricating Gasoline and pumped at select service stations around the country.
When Kidder died suddenly in 1934, a family crisis was created over ownership of the company. An ugly and very public court battle raged for three years before being resolved. Kidder’s widow Dean took over as president of the company until her death in 1946.
Pyroil continued to grow. After World War II it bought out competitors and added to its line with air filters and other automotive products. In 1965, when much of the old La Crosse riverfront was being demolished, the company moved from its original 122 Main St. location to the old Standard Oil Building at 20 Copeland Abe. (now Midwest Dental and other offices).
In 1970, Pyroil merged with the STP Corporation. Four years later, the company moved out of La Crosse to Albion, Illinois, the location of its Champion Laboratories subsidiary. Today, Pyroil is owned by Niteo Products.
This amber glass bottle with its green and black art deco label likely dates to the World War II era. Most early Pyroil containers were made of metal, but the need for various metals for the war effort probably forced the company to switch to glass containers for a few years. Today, of course, every Pyroil product comes in plastic.
This article was originally published in the La Crosse Tribune on October 29, 2020.
This object can be viewed in our online collections database by clicking here.
