If we could time travel back to the 1930s, we would witness a time when putting gas in the car usually meant leaving behind scratches around the gas cap. Nozzles were clunky metal affairs, and on top of it all, someone had to stand around and hold the nozzle open as it dispensed gas. Drivers accepted it as the price to be paid for getting around.  After World War II, however, people began taking more pride in their cars, and getting the paint job gouged wasn’t appreciated.

Enter Eugene Sutcliffe.

Though he never graduated from college, Eugene was clever. As a gas station attendant during the 30s, the Missourian had seen his share of scratched up cars (and unhappy motorists), and saw a need for something better. He began to work out of the basement of his house and came up with the idea of a single rubber strap to act as a guard between the nozzle and the car.  Soon, gas station owners were asking Eugene if he could rebuild the nozzles to make them work better, so Eugene also came up with nozzles that were the earliest versions of vapor recovery nozzles. He also invented “hold-open” clips that would keep gas flowing without the need for someone to hold the nozzle while pressing the trigger open.  Remember Eugene the next time you fill up your and leave the pump to pay for the gas.

Eugene’s innovations gained wide-spread acceptance by gas station owners across the country, and earned more than 75 patents domestically and internationally. These days, Husky, continues to make petroleum dispensing products, but also swivels, safety brakes and accessories for service stations.

Eugene’s company, Sutcliffe Specialty Company, was renamed the Husky Corporation in the early 60s as a tribute to “Rip,” the family Samoyed who had more often than not accompanied Eugene on his sales trips. Erroneously, the breed was referred to then as the Samoyed Husky, but in an interview with The Missourian in 1997, Eugene’s grandson, G.G. Sutcliffe, mentioned that the breed has been in the family for generations. “It’s the perfect mascot,” he said. “They are clean, powerful and friendly, just like the company.” Today, an oil painting of “Rip,” the original dog who accompanied Eugene on his travels, hangs on a wall inside the company’s headquarters in Pacific, and of course, the company logo bears his image.