The Story Behind the Frogs on Ocean State Job Lot Delivery Trucks

I'd never heard of Ocean State Job Lot until 1989 when I moved to Pawtucket, Rhode Island. My future wife introduced me to Job Lot, as there were a couple nearby where we lived and worked. 

I moved to Rhode Island to accept a job offer. Before that, I'd lived in Burlington, Vermont. There were no Job Lot stores in Burlington then, and even though the company has stores in Bennington, Rutland and St. Johnsbury, there is still no Job Lot store in Burlington.

Ocean State Job Lot, a discount retail chain, was founded in 1977 by Marc Perlman, Alan Perlman and Ray Dubs in North Kingstown, Rhode Island, where its headquarters remain. 

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Ocean State Job Lot currently has 145 stores in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont that employ 5,600 associates.

There are Job Lot stores throughout the SouthCoast area, including New Bedford, Fairhaven, Fall River and Taunton.

Ocean State Job Lot acquired a fleet of trucks and trailers to ship merchandise to its stores. Advertising on the sides of the trailers includes cartoon frogs, but not just any frogs. They are Don Bosquet frogs.

Legendary Rhode Island cartoonist Don Bosquet was born in 1948 in Pawtucket. His work was featured regularly in the Providence Journal, Rhode Island Monthly, Yankee Magazine and other publications, including several books.

Bosquet's Rhode Island-themed prints hang in many Ocean State homes and businesses.

In the 1990s, Bosquet, who retired in 2014, created a newspaper cartoon with several frogs on lily pads croaking the words "Job Lot." 

The cartoon was a hit and was added to the company's advertising. The frogs continue to be included in advertising on the side of Ocean State Job Lot trailers.