The Matchcover Storyteller

When I have a matchcover from a long-standing institution  —  a restaurant, a store, a business  —  one of the first things I wonder is “How many others are there?”

In the case of Slim Olson’s, this is the only one I can find.  It’s a striking but simple 30-strike, front strike from The Ohio Match Company.   There are other pieces of ephemera (postcards, menu) if you want to build a combo, and if you know of other covers, I’d love to know about them!

 

Slim was born Clarence Adolph Olson in Kansas in 1903.  Where the moniker “Slim” came from is not easily found.  He was an automobile dealer for a time, but then in 1938, he opened a gas station in Bountiful, Utah, just north of Salt Lake City.  It was once billed as the world’s largest station with 43 pumps and Slim eventually opened three more  — in Elko, Ely & Winnemucca Nevada.   They say “Slim Olson’s” became a watchword for motorists driving between Salt Lake City and Reno.  The stations were independent except for a decade from 1968 to ’78 when the sold branded Amoco and then Chevron gasoline.   As an otherwise independent operator, all Slim’s gas came from 2 nearby Utah refineries including one right there in West Bountiful!.

There are just two now, including the original, but smaller site in Bountiful.   Today, the stations are owned and operated by Slim Olson’s grandsons Doug and Keith.

Slim Olson retired in 1971 and died in 1973 and is buried in Bountiful..