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50" X 60" Fleece Dog Blankets - Spoil your pet this Christmas and help support the SPCA at the same time

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Wed, 27 Jan 2016 14:46:00 -0800

Christmas is on its way!
This is a promotional effort to help raise funds for the SPCA

We are donating $1.00 for every Blanket purchased.
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A Paleo cooking review and the 17 benefits of eating Paleo Foods

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Sat, 25 Jul 2015 22:53:00 -0700

Paleo Recipe Book Review

If you decided to lose weight or just want to change your diet with the Paleo diet, but you don’t know where to start, then a Paleo Recipe Book can be exactly what you are looking for. If it comes with other bonuses like a complete 8 week Paleo Meal Plan or a Herb & Spice guide, then you found a BEST DEAL that you shouldn’t miss it.

When I first discovered the Paleo Recipe Book I was already so tired of searching the Internet for the best e-book with great and diverse Paleo recipes, that I can access from my smartphone or tablet whenever I want. I was surprised to find out that the Paleo Recipe Book held so many deliciously looking recipes that it seemed to prepare me for a feast, not for a sober weight loss program.

You can lose weight and eat healthily without restraining yourself from delicious, tasty, full meals…

17 benefits of the Paleo diet

1. Balances Blood Glucose Levels

Because you’re avoiding refined sugar it’s easier to avoid spikes in your blood glucose levels, and also helps you avoid feelings of fatigue you get from sugar crashes. If you’re diabetic you will want to check with your doctor to see if they approve of this diet plan. If you’re simply trying to avoid getting diabetes this will be a better diet choice than typical American fare. Also, if you’re not concerned about diabetes and just want to feel better or lose weight, monitoring your blood sugar levels is a great way to do that.

2. Leaner Muscles

Because this diet plan relies heavily on meat you’ll be getting a fair amount of protein to feed your muscles. This helps to promote a leaner physique, and can even help with muscle growth if you engage in weightlifting while on it. When you consider the physique of Stone Age man they didn’t really have a lot of excess baggage in the form of a lot of fat and underdeveloped muscles. They were lean, mean, sabretooth tiger battling machines, and this sort of efficient physique still helps out in our modern world. With a leaner body structure you’ll be able to better handle life’s challenges, including the stresses that occur with a busy 21st century lifestyle.

3. Avoids Wheat and Gluten

You’re automatically cutting out wheat products, which gets rid of the gluten, so in essence you’re following a gluten-free diet at the same time. There is plenty of evidence that suggests that gluten is problematic for the digestive system and for weight gain, even for those that don’t have Celiac disease, or do not have a sensitivity to gluten. But cutting out these food items that have been shown to contribute to larger midsections and sluggish digestion, you immediately improve your body makeup and start to feel better all around.

4. Keeps You Feeling Fuller Longer

Most diets keep you in a constant state of hunger, but with a Paleo diet you’re focused on feeling full and feeling good, which means that it’s easier to follow, and has lower instances of diet crashes and cheating because you’re encouraged to eat when you feel hungry. It also contains a fair amount of healthy fats, helping you keep that full feeling and avoid food cravings. If you’re eating the right mix of proteins from meat, as well as vegetables that help you to feel full, and fruits that give just the right amount of fiber and carbohydrates, you’ll have no problem making it from meal to meal.

5. No Counting Required

Unlike a diet that has you watching points, or counting how many carbs you have in a day, the Paleo diet is intrinsically simple and easy to follow. The lack of rules and limitations on how much you can have each day makes it fun and easy to stick to the plan. By not having to limit yourself you don’t get your brain revolting against you or rejecting the plan resulting in self sabotage. You’re able to simply eat like a human should eat, and how we did eat before things got so complicated.

6. Could Prevent Diseases

By following a Paleo diet you are automatically eating more anti-inflammatory foods and cutting out a lot of foods that are known to cause inflammation. You are also eating more foods that contain antioxidants and phytonutrients which are always making the news because of scientific evidence that points to them helping to ward off or battle back cancer, as well as prevent heart disease. You’re also naturally avoiding a lot of the culprits responsible for disease and illness, like fast food and junk food, so you get a more natural version of yourself and open the doors for healing and well-being.

7. Helps You Sleep Better

By cutting out the chemicals and additives in typical food sources you’ll find that your body naturally gets tired at night. This is because the serotonin that your brain releases as a signal that it’s time to sleep is not overridden by other chemicals from food. When you start to feel sleep you should sleep. You might find that you’re getting tired earlier at night, and that you feel energized and ready to wake up earlier in the morning. This is your body getting in tune with the circadian rhythm, just like prehistoric man was.

8. Avoids Processed Foods

When you cut out processed foods you’re cutting out a lot of synthetic chemicals that have just come about in the last century and that the body just hasn’t adapted to yet. You may be startled by just how many foods get the no-go because of the processing involved, and how much you used to rely on these foods on a day to day basis. You may have a hard time giving up dairy products, or products that come out of boxes. There may be a period of both physical and psychological adjustment as you reach toward a more natural way of living, and you notice just how embedded you’ve become in modern conveniences.

9. Avoids Fast Food

The fast food industry is notorious at making headlines for how bad their food is. By going Paleo you instantly cut out all fast food because hey, cavemen didn’t have McDonald’s. The health benefits of not eating fast food have been cited in numerous journals and scholarly research, but for most of us it’s just common sense that these businesses do not have our best interests in mind. It can be liberating to give these places the kibosh and not give them a passing glance the next time you drive by them. Your heart and waistline will thank you.

10. Cuts Out Junk Food

No more maxin and relaxin in front of the TV with a bag of Ruffles. Out goes the junk food when you’re on Paleo, and this alone means that you’re improving your well-being, and only spending your money on food that helps you, not hinders you. This is fast food’s at-home cousin and one item that you will be glad you gave up, if not immediately but down the road when you start looking in the mirror and liking what you see. It’s also great for your food budget, as these items can be pricey to pay for the large ad budgets it takes to get people to buy them. Spend that savings on organic meats and vegetables and you’ll be doing yourself a big service.

11. Cuts Out Empty Carbs and Calories

Sodas and other sugary beverages are out when doing Paleo because there’s nothing prehistoric about them. All Stone Age man had was pure water and maybe some herbal teas so you’re going to have to cut out Pepsi, energy drinks, juices, and other beverages that are sugar laden and full of chemicals. For many just cutting out these empty carb sources results in losing weight, feeling better, and having more sustained energy levels through the day with no crashes. With Paleo every carb and calorie you take in serves a purpose, and serves your body in a positive way.

12. Gives You More Energy

When you combine Paleo-approved foods in the right way, you’re getting a well balanced meal with a protein, carb, and vegetable, and you’re getting it from all-natural sources. This is the way to feel more energized and at the top of your game without having to resort to energy drinks, caffeinated beverages, and other means to get you through the day. And unlike other diets that rely on a reduced amount of calories, the Paleo diet allows you to eat until you feel full, and also to eat whenever you feel hungry, so you don’t run the risk of running low on fuel when you really need it.

13. Provides Detoxing Effects

By stopping the intake of a lot of things that bring you down: trans fats, MSG, caffeine, refined sugar, gluten, and more, you’re giving your body a rest. By getting more antioxidants from the fruit you’ll be eating, and more phytonutrients and fiber from the vegetables you’ll be eating you’ll be purging your body of built-up waste and accumulation. Overall this provides a detoxifying effect to the body, and many Paleo followers report feeling lighter and more clear headed after several weeks. The nice thing about it is that it doesn’t involve going to extremes like fasting or drinking nothing but juice, You get to eat meals like normal so it’s a very lazy detox.

14. Keeps Things Simple

If you’re tired of always wondering what to eat, what to make for a meal, what is good for you and what is not, Paleo can keep things really simple and make it so your whole life doesn’t revolve around food anymore. You’ll be eating to live instead of living to eat, and that can free up a lot of mental effort on your part. You might be surprised by what a burden this takes off of you, and how much time it really frees up. Rather than having to constantly be thinking about your next meal you can have things set up so that you know exactly what you’ll be eating on a daily and weekly basis, and you can start to focus on more important matters.

15. Increases Your Intake of Fruits and Vegetables

If you’re like most Americans you struggle to meet your daily intake of fruits and veggies. This is not surprising since for most these are labeled as “health foods” and make it onto the dinner plate as an obligatory side dish to make a meal healthier. But with Paleo they are given more of a starring role along with meat so you’re going to be relying on them more than you were previously. You’ll be wiping out the bottom layer of the standard food pyramid and replacing it with meats and vegetables and healthy fats as your base layer, sprinkling in some fruits to keep your taste buds in the game.

16. Increases Your Intake of Healthy Fats

It’s hard to get your head around healthy fats actually helping to burn fat, but that’s just what they do, so it’s good to get your fair share of them each day. The Paleo plan makes them a big part of your day so that you don’t have to worry if you’re getting enough. These fats help you feel fuller for a longer time, which reduces food cravings and helps you stick to eating at meal time only. But remember if you feel hungry you can totally eat as long as you’re eating foods that are on the approved foods list.

17. Effortless Weight Loss

By doing nothing else but switching over to a Paleo way of eating many will notice that the weight just starts coming off. This is because in addition to eating a meal that is more natural, you’re cutting out a lot of foods that are unnatural. When you shift your energy from having to lose weight and feeling guilty about the foods you’re eating, you’ll notice that eating becomes fun again. An interesting phenomenon is that the more fun you have and the better you feel, the more you’ll want to stick to a program that makes you feel that way, and the easier it is to lose weight. If you’re constantly resenting your diet plan and craving things you can’t have, it’s a recipe for disaster.

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Does this ASS make my shirt look fat?

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Genuine Chevrolet Parts. Chevrolet Service Department. We Use Chevrolet Parts Porcelain Sign

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Fri, 31 May 2013 08:49:00 -0700

For information about this sign or buying the entire collection.
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US Royal Tires Porcelain Sign

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Tue, 28 May 2013 15:55:00 -0700

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We Give S&H Green Stamps Porcelain Sign

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Mon, 27 May 2013 18:17:00 -0700

A little about S&H Green Stamps

Green Stamps, believe it or not, are still around. But like everything else in the world they've gone virtual. You now have to lick your monitor. But more on that later.

Sperry & Hutchinson, distributor of S&H Green Stamps, was probably the most popular of quite a few competing stamp companies. Sperry & Hutchinson began offering stamps to retailers back in 1896. The retail organizations bought the stamps from S&H and gave them as bonuses with every purchase based on the amount you bought. The more you bought the more stamps you got. Eventually you saved up enough stamps to toddle down to the redemption center with a sore tongue and trade them in for merchandise. No kidding--when I was younger my mom got a toaster this way.

S&H made their money by selling the stamps to retailers. The trade-off to the retailers was in customer loyalty. Customers flocked to stores that gave stamps. It was an extremely successful program. According to a publicist for Sperry and Hutchinson, when the program reached its zenith in the mid 60's, they were printing three times as many stamps as the US Postal Service and its catalog was possibly the largest single publication in the country. It was estimated that 80 percent of US households collected stamps of one sort or another, creating an annual market for S&H alone of about $825 million.

Different colored stamps were created by different stamp companies. These included Orange, Yellow, K&S Red, Pinky, Blue Chip and Plaid, Top Value, Mor-Valu, Shur-Valu, Big Bonus and Double Thrift, Buckeye, Buccaneer, Two Guys, King Korn, Eagle and Regal. You could get just about anything with Green Stamps, from toasters to life insurance policies. Not everything was listed in the catalog, but you could negotiate with the company for pretty much whatever you wanted. One school in Erie, Pennsylvania even saved up 5.4 million Green Stamps to buy a pair of gorillas for a local zoo!

Stamps programs faded away during the recession of the 1970's. Sperry and Hutchinson was sold by the founders' successors in 1981, and was purchased from a holding firm by a member of the founding Sperry family in 1999. At that time, only about 100 stores were offering Green Stamps. Eventually, though, the company rebounded with the birth of the Internet and now offers "greenpoints" as rewards for online purchases. (http://www.greenpoints.com)

If you still have boxes of Green Stamps tucked away in your attic, here's good news. You can still trade them in for either cash or merchandise. Cash value of 1,200 stamps is $1.20 and you can still get a catalog by calling them at 1-800-435-5674.

For information about this sign or buying the entire collection contact Merle (661) 261 9322

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Goodyear Tire Shop Sign. Easy Budget Terms Porcelain Sign

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Mon, 27 May 2013 18:04:00 -0700

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Tune Up Your Engine In A Few Minutes Shaler Rislone Kar-B-Out Porcelain Tune Up Display And Assorted Cans Of Petroleum Tune Up Products

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Good Year Tires Porcelain SIgn

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Mon, 27 May 2013 16:01:00 -0700

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A History of Good Year Tires click here

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Firestone Porcelain Sign

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Sun, 26 May 2013 17:40:00 -0700

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Large Texaco Gas Station Porcelain Sign

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Sat, 25 May 2013 21:31:00 -0700

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Prarieville Goodyear Belts and Hoses, Good Year Service Station and Small Sinclair Aircraft Porcelain Signs

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Sat, 25 May 2013 21:14:00 -0700

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Tire Shop Tire Sale Porcelain Sign

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Sat, 25 May 2013 20:37:00 -0700

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Royal Gasoline Union76 Porcelain Sign

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Sat, 25 May 2013 20:29:00 -0700

There will be no additional charges ever for dust or dirt :=)

For more details about this sign or to ask about the entire collection contact Merle (661) 261 9322

See more porcelain Gas Station Signs. Click here.

A history of Royal Gasoline

The Royal Dutch/Shell Group began selling gasoline imported from Sumatra, Indonesia, in the United States in 1912 to capitalize on the growth of the country's automobile industry and to compete with the Standard Oil Company. Starting with the formation of the Seattle-based American Gasoline Company, Royal Dutch/Shell Group also founded Roxana Petroleum Company in 1912 in Oklahoma to locate and produce crude oil. This was followed by the opening of refineries in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1916 and in Wood River, Illinois in 1918.

It soon became clear to Royal Dutch/Shell Group that with so much gasoline already available in nearby California, it was impractical to continue importing the product for sale in the Pacific Northwest. It therefore acquired California Oilfields, Ltd. in 1913 which, when coupled with a new refinery built two years later in Martinez, California, gave the company the ability to fully integrate its operations. To reflect this new capability, the name of American Gasoline was changed to Shell Company of California in 1915. At this time, the company designed and built its first gasoline service station. Dubbed "the crackerbox," the station was originally constructed of wood. This structure was later replaced by a model made of prefabricated steel that required only a few days to erect.

The oil boom of the early 1920s, particularly at Shell's Signal Hill, California, site, provided the company with an opportunity to penetrate the Los Angeles area with sales of Shell gasoline and petroleum products manufactured in its new refineries nearby. In 1922 Shell Company of California and Roxana Petroleum merged with Union Oil Company of Delaware to form a holding company called Shell Union Oil Corporation. Approximately 65 percent of the holding company's shares were held by Royal Dutch/Shell Group.

By the late 1920s the company was actively laying pipeline across the country to transport oil from its Texas fields to the Wood River refinery. Shell Pipe Line Corporation, established in 1927 upon the acquisition of Ozark Pipe Line Corporation, also connected these fields to a new refinery built in Houston in 1929. This refinery was dedicated to manufacturing products destined for sale on the east coast of the United States and overseas. In 1929 Shell Petroleum Corporation, a forerunner of Shell Oil Company, purchased the New Orleans Refining Company, which later became one of Shell's largest manufacturing facilities.

Shell Development Company was formed in 1928 to conduct petrochemical research. The following year, after the discovery of chemicals that could be made from refinery by-products, the Shell Chemical Company began its manufacturing operation. By 1929 Shell gasoline was being sold throughout the United States. Although the economic problems of the early 1930s forced the company, along with the entire oil industry, to reassess and curtail its operations to some degree, Shell continued its chemical research. This resulted in the opening of two plants for manufacturing synthetic ammonia in 1931 and for making synthetic glycerine in 1937.

Upon developing the ability to synthesize 100-octane gasoline, Shell began supplying this fuel to the U.S. Air Corps in 1934 and gradually became one of the largest producers of aviation fuel. Due to the increased demands of the military during World War II, Shell shared this technology with the rest of the industry. It also helped the country overcome its wartime loss of natural rubber supplied by Java and Singapore by providing butadiene, a chemical required for the production of synthetic rubber products.

In 1939 Shell Oil Company of California merged with Shell Petroleum Corporation, whose name was subsequently changed to Shell Oil Company, Inc. Ten years later, the name was changed again to Shell Oil Company.

Until 1939, the company had offices in: San Francisco, California; St. Louis, Missouri; and New York City. The St. Louis office was closed in 1939, and San Francisco operations continued until 1949, when New York became the sole headquarters. Shell increased its oil exploration activities and expanded production to satisfy the growing fuel needs created by U.S. drivers' passion for big cars. New chemical plants were built that enabled Shell to become a leading producer of epoxy resins, ethylene, synthetic rubber, detergent alcohols, and other chemicals. Shell also pioneered the development of new fuel products during the 1950s, including jet fuel and high-octane, unleaded gasoline for automobiles.

In 1958, the company redesigned its service stations in an attempt to make them more compatible with surrounding areas. The ranch-style station was introduced at this time and continued as the company's primary retail outlet until the introduction of the self-service station in 1971. Shell provided additional retail support by launching several payment alternatives, including an offer to honor all other oil company credit cards and a travel-and-entertainment card bearing the Shell name. These developments helped Shell gain a significant share of the U.S. market for automobile gasoline.

By the 1960s growing environmental concerns led Shell to invest heavily in systems intended to reduce pollution and to conserve energy in its plants. In the following decade, the company began publishing a series of consumer-oriented booklets on such topics as car maintenance and energy conservation.

At the same time, the company turned its attention offshore and began drilling for oil and natural gas deposits in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. It soon became expert in using enhanced techniques to find and recover oil from U.S. fields. One of its biggest successes was the 1983 strike at the Bullwinkle prospect in the Gulf of Mexico. This recovery operation was expected to produce 100 million barrels of oil.

In 1970 Shell moved its headquarters to Houston. The company expanded into coal production in 1974 with the formation of Shell Mining Company. This business unit eventually operated mines in Wyoming, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia.

John F. Bookout assumed the presidency of the company in 1976 after the mandatory retirement of his predecessor, Harry Bridges. Bookout, a 25-year Shell veteran, had risen through the ranks of the company's oil and gas exploration and production division. Bookout took over during a period when high oil prices and flattening demand led other petroleum producers into ill-fated diversification attempts outside the oil industry. Rather than follow this path, Bookout elected to penetrate the oil industry more deeply and to emphasize increased efficiency in the company's ongoing operations. Beginning in 1978, for example, the company upgraded a number of its refineries and closed many of its less profitable service stations in order to concentrate on those in metropolitan areas with higher sales volume.

In 1979, Shell outbid several competitors to purchase California's Belridge Oil Company. The firm, which was subsequently renamed Kernridge Oil Company, gave Shell badly needed crude oil reserves at a time when opportunities for successful drilling ventures were declining. The company's technological expertise in steam-injected oil recovery enabled Shell to boost Kernridge's domestic production and reduce its reliance on more expensive foreign sources.

Beginning in January 1984, Royal Dutch/Shell Group launched a bid to acquire the remaining shares of Shell Oil Company. Attracted by Shell's U.S. oil reserves, the country's stable political situation, and a low corporate tax structure, cash-rich Royal Dutch/Shell viewed Shell as an increasingly worthy investment. The attempted buyout soon developed into a hostile battle over the amount that Royal Dutch/Shell had offered Shell shareholders. Its original offer of $55 a share was perceived as inadequate by Shell's directors and financial advisers, who placed the company's worth at closer to $75 a share, even though the offer represented a 25 percent premium over the stock's current selling price. By May, however, John Bookout and four other Shell executives agreed to tender their shares in exchange for Royal Dutch's sweetened offer of $60 a share. This agreement paved the way for the eventual completion of the takeover in June 1985.

In the following year, Shell came under the attack of an anti-apartheid coalition in the United States consisting of union representatives, activists, and members of various church groups that protested against Royal Dutch/Shell's involvement in South Africa. Through picketing in 13 cities, the coalition hoped to exert a negative impact on Shell's gasoline sales while also making the U.S. public aware of the parent company's coal, oil, and chemical operations in South Africa. A boycott launched by the AFL-CIO, United Mineworkers, and National Education Association in cooperation with the Free South Africa Movement was initiated to protest both alleged mistreatment of South African workers by Royal Dutch/Shell and the company's inaction against apartheid. Although Royal Dutch/Shell officials contended the company was a strong antiapartheid voice, by the end of 1988, Berkeley, California and Boston, Massachusetts had joined the fray trying to ban purchases of Shell products within city limits.

Shell encountered additional problems in 1989 over the cleanup of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal in Colorado. It was there that Shell had manufactured pesticides between the early 1950s and 1982, allegedly dumping carcinogens on the grounds. Also under scrutiny was the U.S. Army, which had used the Rocky Mountain plant to make nerve gas during World War II. Sued in 1983 by the state of Colorado under the federal superfund law, both the Army and Shell offered a plan to pay for cleaning up the site. The state subsequently deemed the proposal unsatisfactory. A California superior court ruled that insurance companies covering the company were not liable. Shell appealed that decision, but eventually reached an agreement with the U.S. government whereby Shell would pay 50 percent of the cleanup costs up to $500 million, 35 percent of costs between $500 million and $700 million, and 20 percent of costs in excess of $700 million. Through 1994, Shell had incurred $240 million in expenditures on the cleanup effort.

Led by President and Chief Executive Officer Frank H. Richardson, who succeeded John Bookout upon his retirement in 1988, Shell boasted strong cash flow and a decreasing level of long-term debt in the late 1980s. Underlying this rosy situation, however, were problems for Shell on the production side. In 1988, Shell was able to produce 531,000 barrels of oil a day, but by 1994 that figure had fallen to 398,000 a day. Shell had settled on the Gulf of Mexico as its prime area of exploration and development, an area that was disappointing during the period. The recession of the early 1990s compounded Shell's difficulties by causing a decline in demand for petroleum products and pushing prices down. Like other U.S. oil companies, Shell saw its revenues steadily decline throughout the early 1990s--from $24.79 billion in 1990 to $21.09 billion in 1993.

In 1991, Shell decided it had to cut operating costs in order to generate enough money to boost its production. The company announced it would cut 10 to 15 percent of its work force as part of a corporate restructuring. Over the next two years more than 7,000 jobs were eliminated, reducing Shell's work force from 29,437 in 1991 to 22,212 in 1993.

Meanwhile, Shell engineers and workers were hard at work designing and constructing a $1.2 billion Auger platform in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. With ten to 15 billion barrels of oil and gas lying under these waters, the question was not whether there was oil and gas to be found, but whether it could be extracted profitably. Located 135 miles offshore and in water of record depth of 2,860 feet, production began at the Auger platform in April 1994 and quickly reached 55,000 barrels a day, more than the anticipated peak of 46,000 barrels. Shell was the acknowledged leader in deep-sea drilling and its commitment to the Gulf had begun to pay off. Shell already had two more platforms in the works which were scheduled to begin production by 1997. The three projects were expected to generate 150,000 barrels a day, creating oil and gas worth $1 billion annually.

On the retail side, by 1994 Shell had 8,600 stations operating in 40 states and the District of Columbia and had strengthened its position as the top gasoline marketer in the United States. Shell's refinery activities in the early 1990s were highlighted by the beginning of construction of a $1 billion clean fuels project in Martinez, California, to be completed by 1997. Meanwhile, Richardson had retired in 1993 and was succeeded by Philip J. Carroll.

Shell's position in the mid-1990s was much healthier than earlier in the decade, due in large part to the success of its deep-water operations in the Gulf of Mexico.

POWERED BY THE GOOGLE COLLECTIVE

Fina Porcelain Gas Station Sign

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Sat, 25 May 2013 19:49:00 -0700

For more details about this sign or to ask about the entire collection contact Merle (661) 261 9322

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The History of FINA
FINA, Inc. is a medium-sized holding company whose chief operating subsidiary, FINA Oil and Chemical Co., Inc., produces, refines, markets, and transports petroleum products and natural gas, as well as engages in the manufacture and sale of petrochemicals. FINA is one of 166 companies in 34 countries affiliated with Belgium's largest corporation, Petrofina S.A. Established by the Belgian firm in the mid-1950s as American Petrofina, Inc., FINA quickly became an American success story. By 1990 the company achieved significant (10 to 14 percent) shares of the chemical products market with its sales of styrene monomer, polystyrene, and polypropylene, and was building the second-largest polystyrene plant in the world.

When Petrofina S.A. paid $10 million to establish American Petrofina, Inc. (APF) in 1956, it entered its first American business venture. The American company became one of many affiliates of this giant Belgian petroleum refining corporation, headquartered in Brussels. Several Belgians would always serve on APF's board of directors, and the Belgian firm would own the majority of stock. However, the president and CEO of APF would be American, and the company would operate independently. For many years Harry A. Jackson, Jr., would preside over the firm as president, and Walter C. Teagle, Jr., would serve as director of the company until his untimely death four years later. Together they would oversee the crucial early steps of APF that would transform it into a multi-billion dollar petroleum company.

When APF purchased the Panhandle Oil Company, incorporating it in April 1956, the company actually began to manufacture and market petroleum and natural gas. Panhandle had been a minor oil company based in Texas, but with diverse holdings in oil wells and natural gas reserves. Until oil was discovered in Alaska, the Southwest was the richest oil-producing region in the United States. The 1950s also were characterized by the discovery of vast natural gas deposits in Texas and Louisiana that would become an important energy source, as the gas was piped to all regions of the country. With ample cash flow, Jackson and Teagle negotiated the acquisition of the American Liberty Company of Dallas, which took place in January 1957. The American Liberty Company also was a small but diverse petroleum company which held significant natural gas reserves. After these purchases, APF's total assets stood at $88 million.

APF thereupon expanded continuously. Favoring the new company was its affiliation with an international conglomerate of oil companies, the Petrofina Group, which gave it advantages in terms of markets and raw materials. Throughout the 1950s, the company had an annual growth rate of 4 percent, with earnings in 1960 alone up 21 percent over the previous year. APF's profits derived not only from the manufacture and sale of petroleum from its 1,174 oil wells (by 1960, its refineries processed 36,207 barrels of crude oil daily), but increasingly from natural gas. The company's assets had grown in four years' time to nearly $94 million.

The 1970s would present challenges as well as enormous growth. Increasingly stringent and costly environmental-protection laws and regulations adversely affected the company--in particular those requiring the production of lead-free gasoline. The OPEC oil embargo of 1973 sent crude oil prices skyrocketing, cutting deeply into company profits. Nonetheless, APF's international connections enabled it to overcome the oil shortage quickly from other sources, as it would do in the equally trying months following Iraq's invasion of Kuwait seventeen years later. Meanwhile, its Cosdan Oil and Chemical Division was processing six percent of the crude oil into petrochemicals and plastics, offsetting somewhat the volatility of the oil market. With the completion of its modern new polystyrene plant at Calumet City, Illinois, in May 1970, Cosdan became the third-largest domestic manufacturer of the high-impact plastic. As to the growing environmental challenges in the 1970s, APF's management decided to install costly equipment in its refineries for the removal of lead alkyls in gasoline, and to promote the sale of the up-and-coming lead-free gasoline.

The constant fluctuations of the petroleum market--due to international crises, fires in oil refineries, or downturns in the economy--as well as continuous expansion and modernization of the company, were the chief themes in APF's history in the 1970s and 1980s. By 1980 APF's assets had climbed to $1.2 billion, and the company was still growing in diverse ways, particularly in the manufacture of chemicals and plastics. Despite the downturn in the economy during the recessionary 1970s, by 1980 APF had achieved the highest earnings in its history to date, thanks in part to the new Reagan administration's emphasis on free marketing and decentralization. Operating profits from APF's production of crude oil alone were 25 percent higher than in the previous year. In the new atmosphere of deregulation and elimination of price controls, so many exploratory wells were dug that an oil rig shortage resulted, while lands previously off-limits to oil drilling, especially in the Outer Continental Shelf, were leased to oil companies. The result was that by the end of 1980, the United States had reduced its dependency on foreign oil to 38 percent.

Previous investment in equipment to produce lead-free gasoline paid off handsomely, and APF in 1980 discontinued altogether its manufacture of high-octane leaded gas. Environmental regulations continued to increase in the 1980s, with the result that ever newer and costlier equipment was installed in APF's refineries to produce less-polluted air and water discharges. By 1990 APF was one of 23 oil companies whose assets totalled over $1 billion. The company's historic trends--expansion, modernization, and volatility with changes in the economic and political spheres--were never more apparent.

The first year of the new decade was the company's most prosperous to date. Benefitting from deregulation and other market incentives, the company proceeded with its modernization and streamlining of operations. At one of its two refineries (Port Arthur, Texas), a 770,000 pound catalytic cracking unit was assembled, controlled by state-of-the-art computers. With the capacity to refine up to 140,000 barrels of oil daily, the new facility was one of the most modern in the world. Exploration for oil in the new deregulated atmosphere proceeded at a rapid pace, especially in the Terrebonne Parish of Louisiana, which added nearly 21 million barrels of oil to company reserves. A new gasoline product called Genesis, which contained a chemical that would clean dirty engines, had been successfully introduced on the market. Meanwhile, company researchers were developing a method of making clean-burning compressed natural gas available for transportation. APF's new polystyrene plant was the largest in the United States, and the second-largest in the world; its polypropylene manufacturing facility was the third-largest in the world. Despite increasing environmental regulations, company profits that year were at a new peak: APF's petrochemical products, including styrene monomer, commanded 10 to 14 percent shares of the U.S. market, while revenues from oil exploration and production and natural gas marketing had increased 39 percent over the previous year.

However, expansion and modernization plans were abruptly upset by the other perennial theme in APF's history: volatility to major external crises. In August 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait and the supply of crude oil from the region suddenly was interrupted, sending crude oil prices skyrocketing and nearly wiping out the gains made by APF's refining and gas-marketing segment the preceding seven months. On August 2 the U.S. government put an embargo on all crude oil supplies emanating from Iraq and Kuwait. APF already had bought 9.5 million barrels of crude oil from both, only half of which became obtainable. Costs of obtaining crude oil from other sources rose precipitously. Sharp public criticism of a steep increase in gasoline prices forced APF and other oil producers to keep the price of gas artificially low. During such crises, APF's constant streamlining and product diversity paid off: chemical sales remained strong, and crude oil supplies were rapidly secured from other sources, especially Saudi Arabia, in part through APF's international connections as a member of the Petrofina Group.

While the challenge of the invasion and resulting Persian Gulf War was met successfully, profits and sales from oil and gas had barely recovered when a severe economic recession began. Net earnings fell from a peak of $126 million in 1990 to $42 million in 1991. Natural gas prices continued their plunge, mainly because of warmer winter temperatures. Oil exploration/production and natural gas earnings fell 56 percent, due to the downturn in crude oil and natural gas prices. The normally resilient chemicals sector of the company declined dramatically because of the recession, with earnings falling 35 percent from the previous year. Oil refining/production earnings in turn fell 83 percent from the previous year. On the positive side were the prospects for oil exploration, which promised good future results provided no new oil crisis erupted. Exploratory drilling, on the other hand, declined steeply. Intense competition among oil producers resulting from the public's pressure to lower gaso-line prices led to a downturn in revenues for purveyors of FINA gasoline.

Grim as the financial scenario looked during the recession, CEO Rod Haddock and Chairman of the Board Paul D. Meek initiated some important steps that would bode well for the future. In the spring of 1991, the company changed its name to FINA, Inc. In July 1992 FINA purchased the high-density polyethylene (HDPE) business of the German chemical firm Hoechst-Celanese, located in Bayport, Texas. In part because the international Petrofina Group already was Europe's second-largest manufacturer of HDPE, the acquisition left FINA poised to become a leader in the HDPE market in America. FINA also planned to license its polypropylene technology internationally. In another lucrative deal, a popular chain of gasoline stations, operating the Good Time stores in the greater El Paso area, contracted to market approximately 26 million gallons of FINA fuel per year.

Nonetheless, the future of the oil production and refinery business of FINA was still volatile and uncertain. Perhaps because of this fact, negotiations proceeded in 1992 for the sale of FINA's downstream business and hundreds of its service stations to a Saudi Arabian oil firm. The arrangement would form a joint venture between FINA and Arabian Petroleum Company in which the business would be owned by the Saudi Arabian firm but operated by FINA. The more solid and lucrative chemical business would not be included in the Saudi deal. Management predicted the transfer of ownership would radically alter the identity and possibly reduce the size of FINA, but also make it more profitable and competitive in the long run.

Small Firechief Texaco Gasoline Porcelain Sign

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Sat, 25 May 2013 19:30:00 -0700

For more details about this sign or to ask about the entire collection contact Merle (661) 261 9322

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Company History:

Texaco is one of the world's largest oil companies, with exploratory, manufacturing, and marketing operations across the globe. Its primary petroleum-based products include automotive gasoline and oils, as well as aviation and heating fuels. Texaco expanded with the growth of the U.S. automobile industry in the early 20th century and quickly developed international production and marketing interests. By the 1960s it had established the largest sales network of any U.S. oil company, with operations concentrated in refining and marketing. The oil crisis of the 1970s cut off many of its international sources of crude oil and left it with limited reserves. Texaco was poised for recovery in 1984 when it entered into a court battle with Pennzoil Company over the acquisition of Getty Oil. Since settling with Pennzoil in 1988, Texaco has pursued an almost constant restructuring effort in an attempt to recapture its former profitability and prominence in the oil industry.

Texaco was founded during the early boom years of the Texas oil industry. In 1901 a gusher at the Spindletop oil field sent hundreds of entrepreneurs into Beaumont, Texas. Among them was Joseph S. "Buckskin Joe" Cullinan, an oilman who had begun his career working for Standard Oil Company in Pennsylvania. The Spindletop wells led to the rapid establishment of over 200 oil companies, pumping out as much as 100,000 barrels a day. Cullinan saw an opportunity in purchasing that crude for resale to refineries. With the help of New York investment manager Arnold Schlaet, he formed The Texas Fuel Company with an initial stock of $50,000. Cullinan and Schlaet began soliciting additional investments in New York and Chicago. After raising $3 million, they reorganized their venture as The Texas Company.

Cullinan immediately began constructing a pipeline between Spindletop and the gulf coast of Texas. He built a refinery at the Texas coastal city of Port Arthur, and from there the company shipped its oil to Louisiana sugar planters, who used it to heat their boilers. In the fall of 1902, salt water leaked into the Spindletop wells and ruined many of the companies based there. The Texas Company survived with a timely discovery of oil at Sour Lake, 20 miles northwest of Spindletop. Other strikes soon followed in Oklahoma and Louisiana.

With Cullinan's oil expertise and the financing of his New York backers, The Texas Company soon became one of the nation's most prominent oil companies. Cullinan continued to drill wells in the southwest region, building more pipelines to connect them with Port Arthur. By 1908 the company was selling to all but five western states, and by 1913 its assets were worth $60 million. The nickname Texaco came from the cable address of the company's New York offices. Texaco gained popularity as a product name, and in 1906 the company registered it as a trademark. The well-known logo first appeared in 1909 as a red star with a green "T" in the center. The company formally changed its name to Texaco Inc. in 1959.

At the time of Texaco's founding, oil was used primarily for lighting and as fuel for factories and locomotives. Texaco met this demand with its first consumer product, Familylite Illuminating Oil, introduced in 1907. After 1910, however, the automobile revolutionized the oil industry. Demand for gasoline, formerly considered a waste by-product of kerosene, expanded rapidly. Texaco followed this trend, and by 1914 its gasoline production surpassed that of kerosene. The company went from distributing gasoline in barrels to underground tanks to curbside pumps, and in 1911 it opened its first filling station in Brooklyn, New York. By 1916, 57 such stations were in operation across the country. Powered by the growth of the automobile industry and the high demand for petroleum created by WWI, Texaco quadrupled its assets between 1914 and 1920.

After WWI, Texaco continued to concentrate on its automotive gasoline and oil production, introducing new products and expanding its national sales network. In 1920 two researchers at its Port Arthur refinery developed the oil industry's first continuous thermal cracking process for making gasoline. Named after its founders, the Holmes-Manley process greatly increased the speed of the refining process as well as the amount of gasoline that could be refined from a barrel of crude. Texaco marketed this gasoline through its retail network, pushing into the Rocky Mountain region between 1920 and 1926, and into West Coast markets with the acquisition of California Petroleum Company in 1928.

Products introduced during the 1920's included the company's first premium gasoline, as well as Texaco Aviation Gasoline and automobile motor oils. To market the lighter oils it refined from Texas crude, Texaco launched its first nationwide advertising campaign. The slogan "Clean, Clear, Golden" appeared at Texaco's filling stations, which displayed its motor oils in glass bottles. By 1928 Texaco owned or leased more than 4,000 stations in all 48 states.

The company's growth was also reflected in its corporate structure. Finding Texas's corporation laws too restrictive for doing business on such a large scale, Texaco decided to move its legal home. In 1926 it formed The Texas Corporation in Delaware, which then bought out the stock of The Texas Company and reorganized it as a subsidiary called The Texas Company of Delaware. The company also moved its headquarters from Houston to New York. The Texas Corporation acted as a holding company for The Texas Company of Delaware and The Texas Company of California--formerly The California Petroleum Company--until 1941, when it merged with both and formed a single company known as The Texas Company.

The Texas Corporation's earnings reached an all-time high in 1929, but then dropped precipitously after the stock market crash. Overproduction, economic recession, and low prices plagued the oil industry in the early 1930s. The company embarked on a strategy of introducing new products to stimulate demand. Texaco Fire Chief Gasoline was launched in 1932, and the company advertised it by sponsoring a nationwide Ed Wynn radio program. Havoline Wax Free Motor Oil, developed after the acquisition of the Indiana Refining Company in 1931, followed two years later, halting its losses by 1934. In 1938 The Texas Corporation, still nicknamed Texaco, introduced Texaco Sky Chief premium gasoline and also began promoting its Registered Rest Rooms program, assuring motorists that their service stations were "Clean across the Country." In 1940 Texaco began its landmark sponsorship of the New York Metropolitan Opera's Saturday afternoon radio broadcasts. This program, which is still running, is the oldest association between a U.S. company and an arts program.

While The Texas Corporation promoted its products and services at home, it undertook vigorous expansion abroad. During the 1930s it began exploration and production in Colombia and Venezuela. In 1936 it joined with the Standard Oil Company of California to create the Caltex group of companies, a 50--50 venture in the Middle East. The Caltex group consolidated the operations of both of these companies east of the Suez Canal. Texaco also purchased a 50 percent interest from Standard Oil of California in the California Arabian Standard Oil Company, later renamed the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco). The Caltex and Aramco ventures vastly expanded Texaco's sources of crude, and also enabled it to integrate its operations in the Eastern Hemisphere.

The entry of the United States into WWII brought dramatic changes for The Texas Corporation. About 30 percent of its wartime production went to the war effort, primarily in the form of aviation fuels, gasoline, and petrochemicals. The company worked closely with Harold L. Ickes, federal petroleum administrator for the war effort, who organized the nation's oil companies into several nonprofit operations. The Texas Pipe Line Company, a subsidiary, oversaw the completion of two federally sponsored pipelines from Texas to the East Coast.

Texaco also joined War Emergency Tankers Inc., which operated a collective tanker fleet for the War Shipping Administration. Another such venture was The Neches Butane Products Company, which manufactured butadiene, an essential ingredient in synthetic rubber. This enterprise gave Texaco its start in the infant petrochemicals industry, and after the war it purchased a 25 percent interest from the Federal Government in the Neches Butane plant. Texaco acquired full ownership of this operation in 1980. The company furthered its interests in petrochemicals in 1944 when it formed the Jefferson Chemical Company with the American Cyanamid Company. Texaco later bought out American Cyanamid's interest in this venture and then merged it with its newly formed Texaco Chemical Company in 1980.

With the end of WWII, Texaco faced renewed customer demand at home. U.S. consumption of oil exceeded its production for the first time in 1947, and Texaco reacted by tapping new foreign sources for its crude oil. In 1945 Texaco's jointly owned Caltex companies increased their refining capacity on Bahrain, reaching 180,000 barrels per day by 1951. Texaco also formed the Trans-Arabian Pipe Line Company with three other oil companies to build a pipeline connecting Saudi Arabia's oil fields with the eastern Mediterranean. At home, Texaco increased its refining capacity with the Eagle Point Works near Camden, New Jersey. It also introduced several new automotive products, including Texaco Anti-Freeze and Texamatic Fluid for automatic transmissions.

During the 1950s and 1960s Texaco concentrated on expanding its global refining and marketing operations. The acquisition of the Trinidad Oil Company in 1956 and the Seaboard Oil Company in 1958, both of which held proven reserves in South America, expanded its interests in the Western Hemisphere. To increase its production in the Amazon Basin, the company built a jointly owned trans-Andean pipeline in 1969 and a trans-Ecuadorian pipeline in 1972. To increase its production in Europe, moreover, Texaco purchased the majority interest in the West German oil company Deutsch Erdol A.G. in 1966. It also reorganized the Caltex group in 1967, taking over one-half of the group's interest in 12 European countries that it had been serving from Saudi Arabia. This move allowed the company to expand its marketing operations in Europe, while leaving the Caltex companies free to concentrate east of the Suez Canal, where they enjoyed their greatest market penetration. Texaco brought its petrochemical business to Europe in 1966 with a plant in Ghent, Belgium, and to Japan three years later.

In the United States, Texaco expanded its interests by acquiring regional companies and increasing its refining capacity. The company strengthened its position on the East Coast by buying the Paragon group of companies in 1959 and the White Fuel Corporation in 1962. In 1962 it also acquired mineral rights to two million undeveloped acres in west Texas from the TXL Oil Corporation. The company's petrochemical production grew rapidly during this period, with the addition of a new unit at the Eagle Point works in 1960 and one of the world's largest benzene plants in Port Arthur in 1961. Texaco's operating volumes doubled between 1960 and 1970, with gross production surpassing three billion barrels per day in 1970.

Texaco's tremendous growth came to an abrupt halt in the 1970s. The Arab-Israeli War, the OPEC embargo, and the nationalization of foreign oil assets in many overseas nations cut Texaco's profit margins and endangered its sources of crude. Furthermore, federal price controls and mandatory allocation regulations restricted Texaco's ability to raise prices or withdraw from unprofitable markets. Its net income dropped from $1.6 billion in 1974 to $830.6 million a year later and remained at that level for the rest of the decade.

Tensions in the Middle East prompted a wave of nationalizations in the oil industry. In 1972 Saudi Arabia began to nationalize the assets of Aramco, in which Texaco owned a 50 percent interest, and took over all of its operations in 1980. Between 1973 and 1974 Libya nationalized the Texas Overseas Petroleum Company, a Texaco subsidiary. The decade ended with the Iranian revolution displacing Texaco's interests there and the Caltex group selling off part of its operations to the Bahrain government.

Texaco increased its exploration efforts and reorganized its marketing operations at home. Drilling activities increased both onshore and offshore in the southwest, as well as in new areas such as the North Sea and eastern Atlantic. The company also modernized its refineries in order to maximize the yield from each barrel of crude. Texaco made its most dramatic alterations in its retail network, abandoning the 50-state plan that had made it the United States's largest seller of oil. It began to withdraw from unprofitable markets, cutting operations in all or parts of 19 states in the Rocky Mountain, Midwest, and Great Lakes regions. It also reduced its number of service stations and opened more modern outlets in high-volume areas.

The 1980s began with the U.S. economy still suffering from recession, but the deregulation of the oil industry offered Texaco new flexibility in trying to recoup its fortunes. Under the direction of its new chairman, John K. McKinley, Texaco undertook a major restructuring plan in 1980. It decentralized its operations into three major geographic oil and gas divisions representing the United States, Europe and Latin America, and West Africa, as well as one worldwide chemical organization called the Texaco Chemical Company. The company expanded its exploration program and it also committed more resources to projects for developing alternative fuels, such as coal gasification and shale oil.

Retrenchment in its refining and marketing operations continued with the closing of six inefficient refineries by 1982 and the reduction of its retail outlets from 35,500 in 1974 to 27,000 in 1980. Texaco introduced a new logo in 1981, a red "T" inside a white star and red circle, to promote its high-volume System 2000 stations. These stations were a quick success, with more than 1,200 in the United States by 1987. The company also added a new operating division in 1982, Texaco Middle East/Far East, and made several important acquisitions to bolster its reserve base. By 1985 Texaco's net income was once again above $1 billion.

In the middle of this comeback, Texaco became involved in a legal battle. The 1984 purchase of the Getty Oil Company had promised to speed Texaco's recovery by adding an estimated 1.9 billion barrels of proven reserves to its assets. Pennzoil Company filed suit, however, claiming that Texaco had interfered with its plans to acquire three-sevenths of Getty's shares. In the resulting court case, a Texas State District Court in Houston ordered Texaco to pay Pennzoil $10.5 billion in damages. Arguing that important New York and Delaware state laws had been ignored in the case, Texaco obtained an injunction from a federal court in New York that temporarily halted the payment of damages while it appealed the decision.

In February 1987 the Texas Court of Appeals upheld the decision. In order to protect its assets while continuing its appeals, the company filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. Texaco spent most of 1987 in Chapter 11 while continuing its litigation. As a result, it incurred its first operating losses since the Great Depression, finishing the year $4.4 billion in the red. After the Texas Supreme Court refused to hear an appeal, New York financier Carl Icahn began buying Texaco's rapidly depreciating stock in an attempt to force it to settle with Pennzoil. A few weeks later Texaco agreed to pay Pennzoil $3 billion rather than appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, allowing it to begin planning for its emergence from Chapter 11.

However, Icahn continued to buy the company's stock, and in early 1988 he began a takeover bid. Texaco's board of directors had submitted a restructuring plan to the shareholders for meeting the company's debt obligations. Icahn favored, instead, the sale of the company. He launched the biggest proxy battle in business history when he tried to gain control of five seats on the board of directors, but he was ultimately defeated in a June 1988 shareholders' election. The board of directors then agreed to buy out Icahn's interest in Texaco.

With the Pennzoil case and the takeover attempt behind it, Texaco rebuilt its market position under the leadership of chairman and CEO James Kinnear by selling off assets and undertaking new joint ventures. From 1987 to 1989 it sold its operations in Germany and Canada, as well as fixed assets in the United States (including 2,500 gas stations) and the Middle East, raising $7 billion in the process. It also expanded drilling operations in the North Sea and offshore California, while continuing its exploration efforts in Asia, Africa, and South America.

In 1988 Texaco U.S.A. transferred approximately two-thirds of its refining and marketing operations to Star Enterprise, a joint venture established with Saudi Arabia's Aramco. Other moves have included the acquisition of Chevron's marketing operations in six European countries and the company's first commercial application of its coal gasification technology in an electric plant in the Los Angeles basin.

The recession of 1991--92 depressed demand for petroleum products and forced prices lower. As a result, Texaco's revenue dropped from $40.51 billion in 1990 to $37.16 billion in 1991 to $36.53 billion in 1992, while net income fell from $1.41 billion in 1990 to $1.29 billion in 1991 to $1.04 billion in 1992. By 1993, net income had improved to $1.07 billion, but revenue continued to fall, dropping to $34.07 billion. That same year Kinnear retired and was succeeded by Alfred C. DeCrane Jr.

Starting in 1993, DeCrane guided Texaco through yet another restructuring intended to improve its competitiveness. Like almost every other U.S. oil company going through restructuring at the time, Texaco reduced its work force. A cut of 2,500 workers, or eight percent, over a one-year period contributed to a $200 million reduction in overhead in 1994. DeCrane also wanted Texaco to focus on its core oil and gas operations, so he divested the company of its chemical business. In 1994 Texaco sold the Texaco Chemical Company to the Huntsman Corporation for $850 million. That year the company also sold more than 300 scattered, unprofitable oil- and gas-producing properties to Apache Corporation for $600 million.

With the funds generated through these moves, Texaco could now increase its budget for overseas exploration and production. Seeking to increase production by 125,000 barrels a day by the end of the decade, Texaco began to pursue opportunities in Russia, China, and Colombia. In order to minimize its exposure in such risky areas of operation as Russia, Texaco, like other oil companies, turned to joint ventures with its competitors. For instance, Texaco formed the Timan Pechora Company L.L.C. with Exxon, Amoco, and Norsk Hydro to negotiate a production-sharing agreement with Russia for the Timan Pechora Basin, which may hold more than two billion barrels of oil.

The much leaner Texaco of the mid-1990s had yet to return to its former prominence, but was in better shape than in many years. One positive sign was Texaco's reentry into the Canadian market in 1995 with its $30 million reacquisition of Texaco Canada Petroleum Inc. With the company committed to increasing its capital spending overseas from 45 percent of total capital spending to 55 percent by 1998, Texaco seemed determined to get its share of the oil available outside the United States. Whether that would be enough for Texaco to recapture its past glory in a decade of heated competition remained to be seen.

Conoco Porcelain Sign

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Sat, 25 May 2013 19:11:00 -0700

For more details about this sign or to ask about the entire collection contact Merle (661) 261 9322

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The Early Years

In 1875, the Continental Oil Company was founded in Utah. Based in Ogden, Utah, the company was a coal, oil, kerosene, grease and candles distributor in the West.The main office was later moved to Ponca City, Oklahoma, when in 1929, Marland Oil Company (founded by exploration pioneer E. W. Marland) acquired the Continental Oil Company. Marland Oil acquired the assets (subject to liabilities) of Continental Oil Company for a consideration of 2,317,266 shares of stock. At that time, Marland Oil changed its name to Continental Oil Company. The acquisition gave Conoco the red triangle symbol previously used by Marland and would become Conoco's logo from 1930 to 1970, when the now-familiar capsule logo was adopted.

The company ran into early trouble when, shortly after acquisition, it was hit by the Great Crash of October 1929. Conoco became a key supplier to the United States government during World War II.
Post WW2 to 2002.

Conoco offshore oil well drilling platform, Gulf of Mexico, 1955.

Under the leadership of Leonard F. McCollum, Conoco grew from a regional company to a global corporation in the years after World War II. Another rough patch for the company came during the 1970s oil crisis, from which it did not recover until 1981, when Conoco became a subsidiary of former rival DuPont.

In 1981, cash rich and wanting to diversify, Seagram Company Ltd. engineered a takeover of Conoco. Although Seagram acquired a 32.2% stake in Conoco, DuPont was brought in as a white knight by the oil company and entered the bidding war. In the end, Seagram lost out in the Conoco bidding war. In exchange for its stake in Conoco Inc, it became a 24.3% owner of DuPont. By 1995, Seagram was DuPont's largest single shareholder with four seats on the board of directors.

In 1998, DuPont and Conoco parted ways. When the independent Conoco went public in October 1998, under a retooled name, Continental Oil Company, it resulted in the largest IPO in history. Conoco bought what was left of Gulf Oil's Canadian operations in 2002. Conoco merged with Phillips Petroleum Company in 2002. The merged company was announced as the now well-known ConocoPhillips.

Phillips 66 Porcelain Gas Station Sign

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Sun, 19 May 2013 01:08:00 -0700

More signs will be posted shortly For Information about buying a sign or the entire collection please contact Merle (661) 261 9322

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The history of Phillips 66

In May 2012, Phillips 66 debuted as an independent downstream energy company with refining, marketing, midstream and chemicals businesses operating across the globe.

The name Phillips 66 reflects the company’s rich history and has strong brand recognition and value as it has been one of the leading fuel brand names in the United States for decades.

Phillips 66 enjoys a rich and complex history through its many predecessor companies, most notably Conoco and Phillips Petroleum Company. These two companies had long and successful businesses before merging in 2002 to form ConocoPhillips. In 2012, ConocoPhillips repositioned into two stand-alone publicly traded companies, one of which is the Phillips 66 of today.

Phillips 66’s history dates back to 1875. In its long history, Phillips 66 has had great moments that demonstrate its vision and values. A timeline tracking Phillips 66’s growth and evolution as a leader in the refining, marketing, midstream and chemicals businesses can be found below. The timeline specifically tracks the development of Phillips 66’s current asset base, which includes interest in 15 refineries, more than 10,000 branded marketers, 86,000 miles of pipeline and more than 40 billion pounds of chemicals processing capacity.

1875

Conoco began as the Continental Oil and Transportation Co., one of the first petroleum marketers in the West. Conoco’s founder Isaac E. Blake was looking for a way to sell kerosene in San Francisco, so he directed the construction of the first pipeline in California.

1885

Standard Oil took control of Continental, but would later relinquish it upon order by the U.S. Supreme Court. By then, Continental was the top marketer of petroleum products in the Rocky Mountain region, with much of its output refined into gasoline as automobiles took to the road in greater number.

1909

Continental built the West’s first filling station and invested in a fleet of delivery trucks, each with three tanks to deliver different types of fuel. Over the next 20 years, the company built more than 1,000 service stations in 15 states, each emblazoned with the trademark Continental soldier. It eased its way into the production and refining of crude oil, merging with several other producers, but always retaining the name Continental Oil.

1911

Pennsylvania oil man E.W. Marland headed west to Oklahoma in search of oil. He secured a lease from the Ponca Indian tribe and first struck oil in 1911. He quickly built a small refinery to process the crude, and incorporated the Marland Oil Company to market the refined output and built hundreds of service stations. The company became headquartered in Ponca City, Okla.

1917

Brothers Frank and L.E. Phillips founded Phillips Petroleum Company, headquartered in Bartlesville, Okla.

1926

Phillips formed its Aviation department. The company designed the first aviation refueling trucks and developed a new, lighter, more efficient Phillips aviation fuel that powered the first flight between the U.S. and Hawaii.

1927

Phillips first began marketing gasoline in Wichita, Kan., through the first of more than 10,000 service stations across the country. In this same year, Phillips decided to enter the refining business and acquired its first refinery near Borger, Texas.

1929

Marland Oil Co. merged with Continental Oil and Transportation Co. The new corporation was based in Ponca City and named Continental Oil Co (Conoco). It owned thousands of retail outlets in 30 states.

1930

Phillips began to increase its refining and retailing capacities when it acquired the Independent Oil and Gas Company.

1932

The 76 brand, long familiar in the western U.S., was created by Union Oil Company of California (later Unocal).

1933

Conoco built the Great Lakes pipeline connecting Ponca City with Chicago and funded many new products, among them the first lubricant to reduce engine friction. Conoco’s Germ-Processed Motor Oil was a hit, tested successfully against other brands in contests across Death Valley and in the Indianapolis 500.

1941

World War II Phillips invented the HF Alkylation process, which made high-octane aviation fuel possible, boosting the power of Allied airplanes and helping to win the war. Conoco operated a separate refinery to manufacture high-octane aviation fuel for the U.S. government. To fill jobs previously performed by men, more than 1,000 women were hired, many wearing blue denim overalls adorned with the trademark Conoco red triangle.

POST WORLD WAR II – 1960S

Conoco funded a new $2 million research facility in Ponca City; expanded refineries in Ponca City, Baltimore, Denver and Lake Charles; and erected a new refinery in Billings, Mont. In 1948, Phillips formed a new subsidiary, Phillips Chemical Company, and became one of the first oil companies to install electrostatic precipitators at refineries to reduce air emissions. Later, in 1951, Phillips invented polyethylene plastics and discovered and developed a new process to produce high-density polyethylene resins, launching Phillips’ entry into the plastics business. It also began producing a polyolefin plastic trademarked as Marlex. Wham-O Manufacturing used Marlex in the production of the hula hoop, which became popular in that decade. In the early 1950s, Phillips began expanding the company’s marketing beyond the Midwest by opening Phillips 66 stations in Texas and Louisiana.

1970S

Conoco expanded overseas by engineering acquisitions throughout Europe, creating a network of service stations in West Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom, each marketing different Conoco gasoline brands. By 1972, Conoco had diversified into coal, chemicals, plastics, fertilizers and minerals.

1981

DuPont acquired Conoco after a heated takeover battle, and Conoco became a wholly owned DuPont subsidiary. It was the largest merger in U.S. history at that time.

1995

Conoco entered a joint venture with Pennzoil to produce specialty lubricants at the Lake Charles refinery.

1998

DuPont announced the Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Conoco, setting the stage for Conoco to become its own company again.

2000

Phillips combined its midstream business with that of Duke Energy Field Services, creating what is today DCP Midstream. Phillips and Chevron combined their chemicals and plastics operations, creating Chevron Phillips Chemical Company.

2001

Phillips acquired Tosco Corporation, one of the largest refiners and marketers in the U.S.

2002

Conoco and Phillips officially merged, creating the sixth-largest publicly traded oil company in the world and the third-largest in the U.S. The new company became headquartered in Houston, Texas.

2003

ConocoPhillips added E-Gas Technology for Gasification to its downstream technology portfolio. E-Gas has the potential to make use of our most abundant energy resource – coal – in such a way as to dramatically reduce its environmental impact. This proven technology is the cleanest, most efficient commercial process for converting coal or petroleum coke into a hydrogen rich synthesis gas, ideally suited for refining, power and chemicals application.

2005

ConocoPhillips increased its ownership in Duke Energy Field Services (DEFS) from 30.3 percent to 50 percent, essentially completing the consolidation of the company’s North American midstream businesses into DEFS (today known as DCP Midstream). The company also expanded into the Rockies by converting 50 former BP-branded stations to the Conoco brand in the Denver metro area.

2006

ConocoPhillips completed the purchase of the Wilhelmshaven refinery in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, from Louis Dreyfus Energy Holdings Limited. ConocoPhillips began commercial production of renewable diesel fuel at the company’s Whitegate Refinery in Cork, Ireland. The production process was developed by ConocoPhillips and uses soybean and other vegetable oils to produce renewable diesel fuel that meets European Union standards for diesel fuels. In addition, the company announced its intention to expand the capacity of the Immingham Combined Heat and Power plant in the United Kingdom by 450 megawatts. Also in 2006, ConocoPhillips completed the acquisition of a partial interest in the planned 1,663-mile Rockies Express Pipeline (REX) project. The over-$4 billion pipeline, a joint venture of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, Sempra Pipelines and Storage and ConocoPhillips will be one of the largest natural gas pipelines ever constructed in North America.

2007

ConocoPhillips and Archer Daniels Midland Company agreed to collaborate on the development of renewable transportation fuels from biomass. The company successfully initiated the upstream and downstream business ventures with EnCana and began upgrading the Borger and Wood River refineries to increase their heavy-oil processing capacity.

2010

ConocoPhillips and Pilot Travel Centers completed the sale of ConocoPhillips’ 50 percent partnership interest in the CFJ Properties -Flying J truck stops to Pilot Travel Centers. The transactions also include long-term product supply agreements with Pilot. The sale is consistent with ConocoPhillips’ overall U.S. marketing strategy, which is to minimize company ownership of motor fuel stations while securing long-term markets for refined products from ConocoPhillips refineries. Gulf Coast Fractionators, a partnership between ConocoPhillips, Devon Energy Corporation and Targa Resources Partners LP, announced plans to expand the capacity of its natural gas liquids fractionation facility located in Mont Belvieu, Texas. The maximum gross fractionation capacity of the facility will be expanded by approximately 42 percent (43,000 barrels per day) to 145,000 barrels per day.

2011

Consistent with ConocoPhillips’ previously stated strategies and focus on value creation for its shareholders, ConocoPhillips’ board of directors approved pursuing the separation of the company’s Refining & Marketing and Exploration & Production businesses into two stand-alone, publicly traded corporations via a tax-free spin of the refining and marketing business to ConocoPhillips shareholders. Greg Garland was announced as CEO designate of Phillips 66 on Oct. 7, 2011. The company headquarters would stay in Houston, Texas. The Wood River coker and refinery expansion project was completed, raising heavy crude oil processing capacity while increasing clean product yield by 5 percent at the refinery.

2012

The repositioning of ConocoPhillips became complete, and Phillips 66 began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on May 1, 2012 under the ticker PSX.

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Castrol Oil Porcelain Sign

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Tue, 14 May 2013 20:00:00 -0700

More signs will be posted shortly For Information about buying a sign or the entire collection please contact Merle (661) 261 9322

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Learn a little history about Castrol Oil

On March 19, 1899, Charles “Cheers” Wakefield set up an oil company in England. Ten years later, he produced a new lubricant that would revolutionize transport in the first half of the 20th century. He called the new oil Castrol. To this day, the name Castrol is synonymous with premium quality, high performance and leading-edge technology in lubrication.

Working hand in hand with pioneering aviators and motorists of the day, Wakefield aimed to create the highest-quality engine oils—and then make them even better. It was only natural that Castrol was the oil chosen to help break world speed and endurance records on land, sea and in the air. The land-speed record alone has been broken an amazing 21 times by cars using Castrol lubricants.

Castrol products were tested and proven at the very limits of endurance—a technique we maintain to this day. Many of our lubricants that started out as competition grades have become available to the everyday motorist, allowing millions of people worldwide to share in the benefits of race-proven technology.

With more than 100 years of experience in satisfying our customers' needs, we remain as committed today to providing the most technically advanced lubricants and services as when Charles “Cheers” Wakefield founded our company.

Sinclair H-C Gasoline Porcelain SIgn

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Tue, 14 May 2013 19:39:00 -0700

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A Little history about Sinclair Gasoline:

First Super Fuel Spurs Sales

In 1926 Sinclair leaped ahead of most of its competitors with H-C, the industry's original high octane premium gasoline for motor cars. The octane race exploded on the industry in 1924 with general distribution of ethyl, an anti-knock additive. Unable to secure the ethyl franchise, Sinclair produced a 72-octane auto fuel, better than anything then marketed. Lindbergh's flight to Paris the following year was on 73-octane gasoline. H-C sold at a premium of only two cents, while ethyl added to regular gasoline cost from four to seven cents extra per gallon.

With H-C, Sinclair's sales crossed the billion gallon mark in 1926. Gasoline alone totaled 683 million gallons sold, up 10 percent in one year. This was the third largest gallonage among American companies, six percent of the total market. Of this, three-fifths were sold by Sinclair's own service stations or its dealers.

Two Quaker State Motor Oil Porcelain SIgns

garylemke@gmail.com (Advanced Marketing Solutions) — Tue, 14 May 2013 18:54:00 -0700

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See more Porcelain Signs. Click here.

A brief history of Quaker State:

19th-century Origins

Quaker State’s origins may be traced to the founding of Oil City, Pennsylvania, in the 19th century. Oil was first discovered there in 1859 by “Colonel” Edwin Drake, bringing instant prosperity to the region. As evidence of this growth, the census for Oil City registered 12 families in 1860; five years later, the town had a population of 6,000. Derricks were set up within a few feet of each other, and barges loaded with newly drilled oil rushed en masse from the oil fields down the Pioneer Run Creek, creating a traffic jam at Oil City on their way to the mouth of the Allegheny River. Such expansion and competition continued into the 20th century.

The name “Quaker State” was coined in 1912 when T. G. Phinny of Phinny Brothers Oil Company of Oil City used the name to distinguish his product from that of rival marketers. The following year Phinny answered a call from the Franklin Automobile Company of Syracuse, New York, for a quality motor oil that would meet its vehicles’ particular lubricating needs; until Quaker State, no oil product could successfully lubricate the Franklin cars.

In 1914 Franklin signed a contract with Phinny and Eastern Refining, securing an exclusive supply of Pennsylvania grade crude oil for its vehicles. Soon thereafter, through a 1915 advertisement in the Saturday Evening Post, Quaker State became a nationally known brand. The advertisement read: “The Franklin requirements were severe. Many oils were tested, but Quaker State alone met these requirements.” The notice then went on to explain Quaker State’s unique attributes, and asked Franklin owners to ask their nearest dealer for the product. It concluded: “Quaker State is certified and guaranteed to be the highest known quality oil suitable for every engine purpose. It prolongs the life of the motor. Will not burn before lubricating. Gives practically double mileage. Prevents engine overheating. Cuts oil bills.”

Company Formation in the 1920s

In 1924 the Eastern Refining Company purchased the Quaker State brand name and renamed itself the Quaker State Oil Refining Company. The Quaker State Corporation was formed seven years later on July 1, 1931, when Chicago stockbroker Charles Pape brought together 19 regional oil drillers, offering each company 55,000 shares in the new corporation they could form by merging their refining or marketing facilities to create a well-balanced company. The firms participating in the founding of Quaker State Corporation included the Eastern Refining Company, Sterling Oil Company of West Virginia, Ohio Valley Refining Company, Enterprise Oil Company Inc., Independent Refining Company, Lake Erie Lubricants Inc., Iron City Oil Company, Gallagher Bros. Inc., and Appaline Oil Company.

Quaker State’s first president was Harry Crawford, part owner of President Oil Company, and in his first year in this capacity, Quaker State ran up $6.8 million in sales. Its profit line represented a fine rate of return, and bode well for the company’s future.

In 1936 Quaker State signed an agreement with the Standard Oil Company to act as the company’s exclusive sales agents for the its oil products in 13 Midwestern states. The new partner would later put all Quaker State products in its gas stations throughout the United States. Also that year the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Quaker State’s original charter said nothing about drilling and production of oil products, and until 1944, Quaker State bought its supply of oil from independent producers. But in that year, increased wartime demand for energy use led the company to buy the Forest Oil Company’s crude oil drilling facilities situated around Bradford, Pennsylvania. Since that time, the company has drilled and produced around 20 percent of its oil supply.

Wartime demand also led to the increased use of additives in Quaker State oil products. In 1940 the company introduced a motor oil with greater chemical stability, which it called Stabilized Quaker State Motor Oil. A year later, the company brought to the market Quaker State HD High Detergency Oil. After 1945 the growth of the U.S. car industry and the size of car engines themselves prompted innovations in oil products production. In 1954 Quaker State introduced an oil product with anti-wear, anti-rust, anti-corrosive, and high detergency ingredients.

By 1960, sales for Quaker State were on average surpassing the $50 million mark, representing an eightfold increase in the 30 years since the company was first established. Innovations during the 1960s included the introduction of Quaker State DeLuxe Motor Oil and Quaker Koat, an undercoating for cars. In 1964 Quaker State decided to diversify its business, and it purchased Truck-Lite Company, based in Falconer, New York, which made fancy lights fitted onto trucks, trailers, and tractors.

Expansion in the 1970s-80s

In 1970 sales for the company topped $120 million, with profits of $10.7 million. At this time, Quaker State expanded its production capacity to meet growing demand for its products. In 1972 it opened the Congo Refinery at Newell, West Virginia, which represented at the time the most modern, specialized lubricant refinery on the continent. Providing a company-wide increase of 75 percent in refining capacity, the Congo refinery allowed sales for Quaker State to reach $300 million in 1975.

Increasing government regulation of the company’s core motor oil and auto supply businesses prompted diversification yet again. In May 1976 the Valley Camp Coal Company, based in Cleveland, Ohio, was purchased for around $50 million, offering vast coal reserves in the eastern and western United States. Also during this time, Quaker State built its current headquarters on Elm Street in Oil City and bought three additional car parts suppliers: Corn Brothers of Smyrna, Georgia; National Oil Company of Newark, New Jersey; and Texstar Automotive Corporation, based in St. Louis, Missouri.

By the early 1980s, Quaker State had taken the big step of marketing its motor oil products across North America in such mass merchandise and discount outlets as Woolco and Kmart. Its products included air, gasoline, and oil filters as well as antifreeze, specialty oils for high-performance cars, fuel additives, exterior and interior coatings, hand cleaners, and cooling system and air conditioning products. Moving into mass merchandising caused much debate within the Quaker State boardroom. As Quentin Wood, chair of the oil products company, recalled in 1986: “finally everyone recognized that the ultimate choice was not to forsake the garage mechanics and auto dealers and service stations who had sold our products from the beginning, but to stay with them and move also into mass merchandising.” The move allowed Quaker State to double its market share of the North American motor oil market from ten percent in 1980 to 20 percent by mid-decade.

Quaker State also diversified its business by purchasing the Heritage Insurance Group in 1984 in return for 2.4 million shares of the motor oil company’s stock. Headquartered in Agoura Hills, California, Heritage sold life, health, and accident insurance to car owners.

In 1985 Quaker State purchased The Helen Mining Company, a coal producer headquartered in Homer City, Pennsylvania, and gained a 17-year contract to supply coal to a nearby utility plant. That year Quaker State also responded to the emerging environmental movement by replacing the traditional metal packaging of its retail motor oil products with resealable “Easy Flow” plastic containers which did not drip or leak, adding to consumer convenience. The container’s clear side stripe along the edge functioned as a measurement gauge.
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