The color of Co-op Early Co-op leaders ‘borrowed’ the hue “Canto Cream” from popular automobiles of the era

What does a 1950 Oldsmobile and an early Co-op fertilizer spreader truck have in common?

You guessed it! The distinctive hue of “Canto Cream.”

The color debuted in 1949 on the Oldsmobile lineup, which offered some of the era’s more popular cars. The following year, the company introduced their innovative “Rocket” V-8 engine, and when coupled with the sleek styling of the Oldsmobile 88 body style, the high-performance car became popular with racers and other automotive enthusiasts.

The flashy vehicle even inspired a popular song performed by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats. Some music historians credit it as the first rock and roll song, preceding Elvis by a few years. While it seems doubtful the Co-op management team would be enamored with the rollicking song, the classy Oldsmobile 88 was designed and marketed to appeal to the team’s demographic.

It was several years later, however, before the attractive paint color was selected for the growing fleet of Co-op trucks.

According to Charles Atkins retired Tennessee Farmers Cooperative Vice President of Sales and Marketing, that moment came when the hue was chosen by the dynamic TFC General Manager/Chief Executive Officer J. Franklin Nix, who in the mid 1950s recognized the need for a more unified Co-op identity. It was Nix who was responsible for working with TFC Advertising Manager Bill Pease to commission the development of the sleek Co-op logo that incorporated the stylized shape of Tennessee. The foundation for the Co-op logo was set with the now-traditional red, green, and cream colors. Whether that pastel yellow hue came from the Oldsmobile or it was simply the direction that Pease took the project, we will never know. But the similarity is striking.

Atkins says that Nix decreed that the growing TFC fleet would be painted “Canto Cream,” providing the unified look he was seeking. The iconic red Co-op cap appeared soon after, followed in late 1961 by the endearing Lil’ Man mascot that appeared on billboards, store displays, and in ads in the Tennessee Cooperator. Back then, the ads would have been black and white, so colors were not an issue for the print publication. But the Lil’ Man did sport a winter version of the red Co-op caps in the billboards.

The TFC trucks were the first in the system to be painted “Canto Cream,” but Atkins recalls that Monroe Farmers Cooperative Manager Bob Scott was squarely behind the movement as well and began ordering trucks in the same color.

Today, the custom “Canto Cream” color is rarely a choice for fleet trucks with many Co-ops instead frugally choosing basic white, green, red, or other paint choices from manufacturers’ standard offerings. But there’s no doubt from combing through the Co-op archives that “Canto Cream” will always be counted among the colors of Co-op along with the distinctive red caps and the green, red, and cream logo.

Story by Glen Liford,

Contact gliford@ourcoop.com