"Stop the Car! There's a National Garage!"

If this phrase rings a nostalgic bell then you were most likely a child of the late 1970's, or the parent of one. PVC Smurf figurines were given away as part of a National Garage "petrol promotion" in the late 1970's and early 1980's, and this is how the smurfs first found their way into the hearts of many UK children. Sadly the petrol promotions weren't to last and smurfs seemed to disappear from UK soil. But those little blue men have been busy over the years, smurf merchandise has continually been produced in Germany, Hong Kong and other parts of the world!

National Benzole - a short history

The National Benzole Company was formed in England in 1919.  In 1957 National Benzole was acquired by Shell-Mex & BP Ltd but it was still known by the brand name of National Benzole.  In the late 1960s it became more commonly known as National, as opposed to National Benzole, and National petrol products were sold by over 4,500 garages. When Shell and BP split in the 1970s, around 40% of the National stations changed to Shell, but the brand was retained by BP in England only. Between 1981 and 1988 the name was slowly replaced by BP. However in 1992 the Scottish independent NEF reintroduced the brand under licence from BP and today it is used at over 100 small filling stations across the UK supplied by BP authorised distributors.

National Garage Smurf Trivia

Service with a Smurf!

It was in 1978 that National announced "You'll get service with a Smurf!"  The "free smurf with petrol" promotion continued until the 1980 Moscow Olympics with the release of special Super Smurfs such as Fencer and Discus in specially designed "Olympics" boxes.  It was Windsor Davies who took starring role in the National Garage tv adverts and promised "service with a Smurf!"

The Smurfs lead paint scare

Also in 1978, the Smurfs were involved in a lead paint scare.  Television news across the UK reported a possible problem with lead paint in smurf toys and children were told not to put those without paint dots into their mouths.  Some smurfs have paint dots on their feet and some don't, and some UK children have memories of being told the ones without the paint dot had the lead paint in, so basically don't eat those ones!  The Smurf invasion of Great Britain was halted for a short while, however, an article in The Times, dated 4 October 1978, gives smurfs the "all clear".  Some samples of the lead paint used to make the smurfs were found to be above the specified limit, however, the article also states that smurfs were given the all-clear when tests by the Department of Health showed there was no significant risk. National Benzole who supplied the smurfs through UK garages could then resume selling the smurfs.  We were told by the person who initially introduced the smurfs to the UK that some of the National Benzole employees had in fact decided to get some smurfs made elsewhere, and this new manufacturer did not adhere to the same quality standards, and this was where the problems arose.  How true this story is, we cannot say, but it does seem strange that only children of the UK remember a lead paint scare and it has never been mentioned to us by smurf collectors from other countries.

Smurfs peculiar to the UK

With the arrival of the internet and particularly eBay in the mid 1990s, smurf collectors from around the world began to notice variations of smurfs that seemed to originate from specific countries.  Until this time many collectors had been ignorant for example of the existence of many different rugby smurf variations, e.g. England, Scotland & Wales colours.  These different variations of the Rugby smurf and more, are more commonly found in old UK collections, indicating they were peculiar to the UK market, which would obviously make sense.  But there are also more common smurfs where yellow paint was used as opposed to normally red.  The following smurf colour variations are believed to originate from the UK: -

• Chimney Sweep Super Smurf with yellow scarf
• Brainy Smurf with yellow glasses
• Sled Super Smurf with yellow scarf
• Smurf with yellow lantern

Some people believe the use of the yellow, white and blue colours was deliberate in order to match the National Logo, it does seem a reasonable explanation.

Another obvious favourite smurf from the National Petrol promotions was the National Garage Smurf attendant with petrol pump.

Although the smurfs left UK shores in the early 1980s, they have still been widely available in other parts of the world and new smurfs are being released even today.  With the promise of a Smurf Movie which could be as early as 2008, there promises to be smurfy times ahead!