While researching the history of the Texas Company, my attention was drawn to the Texaco publications, brands and promotions in the 1930s. This led me to compare three Texaco brands of gasoline during that era from different sides of the world. Two were launched in the USA and the third in New Zealand – the brand themes were poles apart but all involved a ‘chief’.
The Texas Company or Texaco?
The history of The Texas Company began in 1901 at the Spindletop oil field in Beaumont, Texas. A new drilling saw a gusher at this field flow an estimated 100,000 barrels of oil a day until it was capped nine days later. This mammoth discovery attracted hundreds of speculators and entrepeneurs to the Beaumont area and quickly led to the formation of over 200 oil companies. One of these companies was the Texas Fuel Company. The following year, its founders decided to restructure the business and consequently transferred the assets to a new entity. On 1st May 1902, the Texas Company was incorporated in Beaumont, Texas and the iconic 20th century oil company was born.
The Spindletop oil field in 1902. During this year, the Spindletop wells produced a staggering 17,500,000 barrels of oil.
The term ‘Texaco’ began as a nickname shortly after the company was formed as this was the cable address of the Texas Company’s New York offices. The nickname gained popularity as a product name and in 1906 the company registered Texaco as a trademark. The well-known logo first appeared in 1909 as a red star with a green “T” in the centre.
The website ‘Texaco.com’ mentions that a ‘19 year old Italian refinery worker‘ suggested the company ‘embrace the five-pointed symbol of Texas’. The symbol he was referring to was the five-pointed star that has been on the Texas Lone Star Flag since 1839 and the Texas state seal since 1846.
After researching further, I came across a 1975 obituary and discovered that the young Texas Company employee and logo designer’s name was John Romeo Miglietta.
“Mr. Miglietta, who was married to Ethel Barrymore Colt,, the actress and daughter of Ethel Barrymore, was the designer of the familiar Texaco logo, a green “T” set on a red star. The colors were those of his native Italy.”
The evolving Texaco logo from conception to the 1930s
The brand identifying logo was referred to as the ‘Texaco Star’. So it is understandable that the Texas Company chose to use this name for their first periodical.
The corporate name ‘The Texas Company’ was retained for 57 years until it was decided that the name should be changed to better reflect the Texaco brand. So in 1959, the name simply changed to Texaco Inc.
Following a merger in 2001, Texaco Inc. became (and still is) a subsidiary of the Chevron Corporation.
In the 1930s, Texaco had 45,000 dealers across the United States. Today the number of Texaco gas stations has diminished substantially and can only be found in 16 states. The following map indicates the west and south band of states that promote and sell the Texaco brand today.
The sixteen ‘Texaco’ states.
Publication – The Texaco Star – USA
The Texas Company began publishing a periodical in 1913 titled The Texaco Star. The publication was ‘printed monthly for distribution to employees and stockholders’.
I have gathered up a few issues of this magazine from the 1930s. They are fascinating to read and are filled with a variety of content including staff announcements, industry news, stories of interest and international articles and photographs.
The 1935 article above featured the mail enquiries received at the office of Texaco National Road Reports. One letter was selected for the article and each step of the process was explained. The caption under the stack of mail reads:- ‘One of the letters, signed “Robert A.Jenkins” asks for “a comfortable routing to the San Diego Fair,” and adds “you will recall we are a middle-aged couple and do not like to drive very fast.” These facts will be kept in mind.’
The employee tasked with replying to these enquiries had a job title of ‘Route Counsellor’. His job was literally to check the highway conditions, select a tentative route, trace the route on a Texaco Trip Map and then post the map back to the customer! Now that is without doubt excellent customer service. These were definitely the good old days before internet searches, apps and Google maps!
March – April 1935 issue
May 1931 issue
May 1931 issue
June – July 1935 issue
The last reference I can find of this magazine is in the late seventies. Today, past employees can connect through a number of Texaco Retirees Clubs across America and the Chevron Retirees Association.
Publication – Texaco Topics – USA
Around the same time that Bob Ballantyne formed new windshield frames for us, he kindly offered me some old Texaco material from his collection.
https://texacotankerproject.com/texaco-tanker-creations-rebuilds-update-25/
Amongst the paper treasures, I came across one copy of Texaco Topics.
The 1935 issue was in a newspaper format and specifically covered employee news. The 20 page paper contained every piece of news imaginable – births, deaths, new appointments, retirements, resignations, company sports teams, staff photos, etc.
A page of employee introductions covering a wide range of roles from various departments across the USA.
The company news was organised into sections of export, pipe line, refining and producing. A ‘Continuous Service Honor Roll’ took up almost 2 pages to acknowledge the dedicated employees of the Texas Company. The longest serving employee noted in this issue was Guy Carroll who had completed 33 years of service and was based in the Treasury Department in Houston, Texas. The relevance of this long service recognition was that he would have been a founding staff member back in 1902 when the Texas Co was incorporated.
Publication – The Texaco Order Book – USA
Another Texas Company publication that I found in Bob’s collection was a 1933 issue of The Texaco Order Book. This magazine was ‘published bi-monthly for all “Texaco” sales personnel throughout the world’.
June 1933 issue
The centre spread was a collection of different topics.
One photo that caught my eye was the race car stuck in the snow. It was taken during the Winter Grand Prix automobile race in Sweden in 1933. Only 13 of the 31 cars entered were able to finish the race. It was noted that although the winner was using a ‘competitive lubricating oil’, the next five cars to cross the line were all exclusively using Texaco oils and gasoline!
And possibly one of the earliest lessons on how to succeed in sales was featured in the magazine.
With the heading “Why didn’t you make the sale?”, the article explained that “there seems to be six fundamental reasons for a salesman’s failure to induce a retailer to give him an order”. The feature was a reprint from a letter written by the editor of Printers’ Ink, a Chicago advertising agency. The reasons began:
- Your price was too high
- There was no demand for your product
- Not sufficient discount or profit
I was happily reading the article filled with wisdom and advice when it abruptly stopped and stated ‘The other three reasons will appear in the next issue of The Order Book’. I can only imagine the anticipation felt by the retailers and their hope of receiving the next issue!
Publication – Texaco Times – NZ
Texaco established its presence in the South Pacific in 1918 with the incorporation of the Texas Company (Australasia) Limited in New South Wales, Australia. Two years later, the oil company arrived on New Zealand shores.
Bob Ballantyne gave me some New Zealand material in addition to the various Texaco bulletins from the USA. The NZ version of The Texaco Star was Texaco Times, “published monthly for the New Zealand employees of the Texas Company (Australasia) Ltd”.
In a stark contrast to the typeset publications of The Texaco Star, the New Zealand employee magazine was put together for a vastly smaller readership than its USA counterpart.
Each month, the Texaco Times magazine was produced in a hand typed, carbon copy format with no photographs whatsoever. Its cover however was produced in full colour.
The front cover showcased traditional Maori patterns called kowhaiwhai and featured a portrait of a Maori chief.
The back cover was of another famous Texaco promotion which featured two Scottie dogs leaning to one side and appearing to listen intently.
Bob kindly gave me over 20 issues of the Texaco Times magazine dating between 1934 and 1936. The covers were all exactly the same with the exception that the publishers began printing the date on the front covers from January 1935.
Brand – Fire-Chief Gasoline – USA
Following the stock market crash in 1929, the economic recession and other factors impacted the oil industry in the early 1930s. To stimulate demand, the Texas Co devised a strategy to introduce new products.
In 1932, Texaco launched a new ‘super-octane’ gasoline brand in the United States called Fire-Chief. It was promoted as being “the same type of gasoline which the U.S. Government uses in its own emergency vehicles!” The promotional artwork, as the brand name suggested, was a fireman’s helmet.
The 1932 Texaco Fire-Chief artwork.
The marketing message was that everyday drivers now had the ability to use a superior gasoline with “quicker starting, greater mileage and anti-knock smoothness”.
The ‘Fire-Chief’ text was drawn with horizontal lines to the left to symbolise speed. I have found reference to this style of design today as a ‘speed lines type effect’.
Texaco advertisement published in 1932.
Texaco advertisement published in 1933.
Texaco advertisement published in 1933.
Texaco advertisement published in 1933.
A two page Texaco advertisement in 1933 promoted Gar Wood’s use of Texaco products. The Fire-Chief artwork was an illustration of Gar Wood’s famous Miss America X speed boat.
“Miss America X was almost 39-feet-long and 10-feet-wide and weighed a portly 8 tons! The boat was designed and built around the four giant Packard V12 engines, each capable of producing 1,600 hp.”
Later that decade, one of his companies would go on to manufacture streamlined tankers in competition to Heil, Standard Steel Works and others. It is the Gar Wood tanks that sit on the three restored Dodge Airflows today.
Texaco advertisement published in 1934.
The rear cover of the March – April 1935 issue of The Texaco Star.
The early marketing of the Fire-Chief brand also coincided with the introduction of the Doodlebug in the mid thirties. To promote the new brand, the logo artwork was painted on each side of the tanker at the rear.
https://texacotankerproject.com/the-origin-of-the-streamlined-tankers-the-texaco-doodlebug/
The artwork displayed at the rear of the Doodlebug.
Although I have only covered some of the promotional material used during the 1930s, the strength of the Fire-Chief brand cannot be underestimated. It stood the test of time and survived for 50 years until 1982 when the brand name changed to Texaco Regular.
A Radio Sponsored Advertising Campaign – 1930s Style
To promote the new Fire Chief brand, Texaco took an innovative approach and sponsored a radio show aptly called “The Fire Chief”. The first episode premiered on NBC on 27th April 1932. The half hour show was broadcast every Tuesday night across North America and featured Ed Wynn, the “Perfect Fool”.
Ed Wynn who played the title role of The Fire Chief was an American actor, vaudeville performer and comedian who began his career in 1903.
Ed Wynn
While hosting the Texaco sponsored radio broadcast, Ed Wynn would play his role as The Fire Chief wearing a red fireman’s helmet.
To help him transition from the stage to the radio, Ed Wynn insisted on performing in front of a live studio audience. He is pictured on stage recording an episode wearing his trademark fireman’s helmet (second from the left).
A 1934 advertisement shows a full stage view of the Fire-Chief radio show being recorded. The enlarged fire helmet artwork is displayed behind the orchestra and a Texaco gas pump is placed each side of the musicians.
A more comical 1930s Texaco advertisement featuring the Texaco Fire Chief.
While searching for more information on the Texaco radio show, I came across a YouTube account that has audio from one of the Fire Chief radio broadcasts in 1935. It is well worth listening to the following audio to get an appreciation of Ed Wynn’s style and humour.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgN_Jd7Zspg&list=RDSgN_Jd7Zspg&start_radio=1&t=39s
The Fire Chief show was relatively short-lived and was cancelled in June 1935 after Ed Wynn’s popularity dwindled and the show’s ratings dropped.
Brand – Sky Chief Gasoline – USA
Six years after launching the Fire-Chief brand, Texaco introduced a premium high-octane fuel called Sky Chief. The marketing team included an aviation theme for their early advertising campaigns.
Texaco Sky Chief advertisement 1938
Texaco Sky Chief advertisement 1939
Texaco Sky Chief advertisement 1939
At the end of the 1930s, Texaco engaged Gluyas Williams to create artwork for its Sky Chief advertisements. The American cartoonist drew a series of cartoon style illustrations for the campaign that were used for several years. The following four images represent the style and creativity of Gluyas Williams (1888 – 1982).
Texaco Sky Chief advertisement 1940
Texaco Sky Chief advertisement 1940
Texaco Sky Chief advertisement 1940
Texaco Sky Chief advertisement 1940
Sky Chief proved to be another strong brand that ran alongside Fire-Chief. It survived four more decades until 1982 when it too was renamed, and the brand became Texaco Super Unleaded.
1930s Rest Rooms – USA
Another point of interest when researching Texaco’s history was that it was one of the first oil companies to introduce a ‘Registered Rest Room’ programme.
In the late 1930s, to ensure the rest rooms were up to the expected standard, Texaco sent ‘trained inspectors’ to monitor those gas stations across the country that were participating in the ‘White Patrol’ programme.
1938 Texaco Rest Room Advertisement
1938 Texaco Rest Room Advertisement
1939 Texaco Rest Room Advertisement
1939 Texaco Rest Room Advertisement
Brand – Power Chief Motor Spirit – NZ
The terminology of fuel products differed between the USA and NZ in the 1930s. Whereas American oil companies and consumers used the term gasoline, New Zealanders referred to fuel as either a motor spirit or petrol / petroleum. Even today, filling stations are commonly known as gas stations in the USA and petrol stations here in NZ.
Amongst the material I received from Bob Ballantyne was a booklet issued by Texaco that profiled “six of the great Maori Chiefs’.
Book of the Maori Chiefs written by James Cowan.
An illustration of one of the Maori Chiefs, Hone Heke
The inside rear cover.
Although the Texaco logo appeared on each page, the only reference to any products appeared inside the rear cover so I wasn’t quite sure how the booklet was used by Texaco in their marketing campaigns.
After searching through the Papers Past division of the National Library of New Zealand, I came across an advertisement that answered the question.
Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 86, 12th April 1933, Page 6 – Copyright – Fairfax Media – Source – National Library of New Zealand
At the left of the advertisement was an invitation to claim a free copy of the “Book of the Maori Chiefs” by completing the coupon at the bottom.
The following advertisements were also sourced from the National Library of New Zealand. All were published in the Evening Post, Copyright – Fairfax Media, and all used the same slogan “Chief of all motor spirit”
Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 96, 20th October 1933, Page 6
Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 110, 12th May 1933, Page 12
Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 108, 3rd November 1933, Page 13
I knew that a new brand was introduced in NZ in the early thirties but I couldn’t find any reference as to when it arrived on the NZ market. I researched further in the Past Papers area of the National Library and discovered an article announcing the launch of the Power Chief brand. The date I had been searching for was February 1934.
Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 36, 12th February 1934, Page 11 – Copyright – Fairfax Media
Steve is an avid collector of all types of gas memorabilia so when I mentioned that I was researching Power Chief, it didn’t surprise me when he quietly placed a booklet on my desk.
The 16 page introductory booklet contained a question and answer format section and promoted the new ‘Power Chief’ brand containing ‘Tetra-ethyl Lead’.
The cover illustration.
The logo pictured on the inside front cover was used in varying forms in advertising and signage.
The same artwork from the brochure was used in a newspaper advertisement announcing the arrival of the new brand.
Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 38, 14th February 1934, Page 15 – Copyright – Fairfax Media – Source – National Library of New Zealand
I have added further Power Chief advertisements of different designs that I found on Papers Past. Once again, they were all published in the Evening Post (copyright Fairfax Media) and sourced from the National Library of New Zealand.
Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 150, 22nd December 1934, Page 21
Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 89, 16th April 1934, Page 14
Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 20, 24th July 1934, Page 6
Evening Post, Issue 26, 30th July 1935, Page 4
Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 27, 1st August 1934, Page 13
Pictured is a Texaco map of the North Island of New Zealand. The mountain scene behind the Texaco Service Station would either have been an illustration of Mount Ruapehu or Mount Egmont.
Once again, the Power Chief advertisement portrayed a Maori figure and the famous two Scottie dogs.
In 1936, the Texas Co and the Standard Oil Company of California (SoCal) merged to form operations in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The merger resulted in the new name of Caltex although the Texas Company (Australasia) Limited didn’t change its corporate name until 2nd January 1941. Announcements were made throughout NZ later that month.
Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20459, 21st January 1941, Page 5 – Copyright – The Gisborne Herald Company, Source – National Library of New Zealand
Manawatu Standard, Volume LXI, Issue 43, 20th January 1941, Page 4 – Copyright – Stuff Ltd, Source – National Library of New Zealand
The NZ specific brand became Caltex Power Chief and was still being advertised in 1950. I have been unable to find a definitive date when Caltex stopped using the brand although I suspect it would have been around the early ’50s.
A 1930s Diamond T Texaco Tanker – USA
The photo of the Diamond T Texaco tanker from this era that we shared came from the Rich Harner collection and was first published in Update # 30 .
https://texacotankerproject.com/steering-box-pedestal-design/
The 1938 promotional photograph was taken for Heil but the location was not recorded.
A 1930s Diamond T Texaco Tanker – New Zealand
Around the same time that the images of the ’38 tanker above were taken, a 1935 Diamond T Texaco tanker was photographed here in NZ. I discovered several images of that photo shoot are held in the Alexander Turnbull Library.
The private library of Alexander Turnbull was bequeathed to New Zealand and is now a division of the National Library of New Zealand. The 1938 photos, by chance, were taken at Oriental Parade in my home town of Wellington.
Diamond T petrol tanker owned by The Texas Company, Wellington, 1938,1/1-025206-G.
PAColl-5448. Wellington City Council :Negatives of Wellington taken for the Wellington City Council, chiefly by Frank Giles Barker. ca 1928-1955. [Collection]
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand
Diamond T petrol tanker owned by The Texas Company, Wellington, 1938,1/1-025205-G.
PAColl-5448. Wellington City Council :Negatives of Wellington taken for the Wellington City Council, chiefly by Frank Giles Barker. ca 1928-1955. [Collection]
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand
The 1935 Diamond T had a tandem axle tanker with eye-catching double fender skirts / spats. The Power Chief and Texaco lettering, as well as the Texas Co door signs and Texaco Star logos, were all hand painted across the tanker.
What a magnificent restoration project this truck would have made if only it had survived!
An unexpected piece of Wellington history:
The thing I love about old photography is the preservation of history that extends beyond the subject matter. Being a former Wellingtonian, I was interested in finding the exact location where these photos were taken. In the second image, there were two clues – an ornate fountain at the left of the photo and an apartment block directly above. After identifying the fountain, I was able to locate the building situated behind.
The art deco apartment block was built in 1937 and named after ‘Edmund Anscombe (1873-1948) who was one of New Zealand’s most distinguished 20th century architects’. The Anscome Flats building still stands today at 212 Oriental Parade and faces out to Oriental Bay.
And the ornate fountain? By enlarging the photo I could read the inscription on the structure which stated it was donated by John Martin in 1876. After searching further I found that it originally sat on Lambton Quay in the central city.
The Martin Fountain, Lambton Quay, Wellington, NZ c.1880
The fountain was eventually moved to Oriental Bay just before World War One but succumbed to corrosion from the salt spray and was sold for scrap in 1938 – the very year these photos were taken.
I felt compelled to acknowledge the fountain in the 1938 tanker photo, as the photographer unwittingly captured an additional piece of Wellington’s early history that day that was about to be destroyed. And I firmly believe that all pieces of history deserve to be, and should be, remembered – fountains included!
Legal Documents – USA & NZ
As I tried to discover the origins of the 1938 Diamond T tanker in South Carolina, I engaged a local title abstractor to check on a parcel of land that was of interest.
The 1930 Newberry County, SC transfer of ownership to the Texas Co.
The land parcel in question was situated next to a railway line and I was able to identify a railway siding on aerial maps. A pipeline that ran from the siding to the bulk storage tanks was noted on the title.
https://texacotankerproject.com/discovering-the-1938-texaco-tankers-history/
After publishing that post, we received an unexpected package from a friend of ours, Tony Devereux. Tony shares a love of cars and has spent his life practising law in Dunedin.
We opened the envelope not knowing what to expect and discovered some old legal letters and a copy of a deed. As I started to read the letters, I was excited to learn that the correspondence was between the City of Dunedin and the Texas Company (Australasia) Ltd!
Furthermore, the matter at hand was a railway siding that had been constructed by the Vacuum Oil Co. Pty. Ltd.
The letters explained that the Texas Co had been in discussions with the Vacuum Oil Co and an agreement had been reached. This would allow the Texas Co to jointly use the railway siding situated in Wickliffe Street and Fryatt Street with the Vaccum Oil Co.
In return for the use of the railway siding, the Texas Co was to pay the Vaccum Oil Co half of the construction costs incurred when the siding was laid down. The 50% cost equated to £746.10 and was received by the Vacuum Oil Co on 28th May 1929.
The ‘Deed granting right to use railway siding’ involved the two oil companies and the Mayor, Councillors and Citizens of the City of Dunedin.
A further ‘Deed of License’ was drawn up with regards to the pipe lines that were to be laid from the railway siding to the Texas Co terminal in Fryatt Street.
These legal documents are a real treasure and a fabulous record of both Texaco and Dunedin in the 1930s.
We are extremely grateful to Bob Ballantyne and Tony Devereux for their thoughtfulness and generosity in gifting these Texaco items to us. The history and information contained in the magazines, bulletins and letters have been fascinating to read and form yet more parts of the Texaco tanker’s story. Thank you Bob and Tony.
Preserving Texaco’s History – The Chevron Corporate Archive
It is only fitting to end this post by looking ahead into the future and learning how all of the pieces of Texaco’s history can be preserved for centuries to come.
A lot of companies failed to archive their history and in doing so, lost details and information pertaining to their business forever. Texaco was not one of these companies.
At the time of the merger with the Chevron Corporation in 2001, Texaco had an archive at their headquarters in New York. The Chevron Corporation executives were so impressed with what they saw, they decided that the historic items from all of the legacy companies and subsidiaries should be combined and held collectively in one place.
So purpose built premises were constructed in Concord, California and named The Chevron Corporate Archive. John Harper was Texaco’s historian in New York and when the contents of the Texaco archive were transported across to California, John made the move also.
He is now the Chevron corporate historian overseeing the thousands of historic pieces held in the climate controlled and secure premises.
A four part ‘live tour’ video series was created by John Harper and the team at the Chevron archive. The following episodes explain the purpose built building, the legacy companies that all make up Chevron today, the material donated, the staggering volume of historic pieces preserved, etc and is simply a must watch.
Chevron Live Tour of the Archive with John Harper
Episode 1
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhg379KXTu8
Episode 2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1H5jdO3gnU
Episode 3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8v4h8OEDLJ4
Episode 4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5BLukkz-Sc
Researching the Chevron Corporate Archive in California has resulted in me being able to make one more final mention of New Zealand.
In 2008, Chevron New Zealand was moving into its new Auckland headquarters. A ‘heritage space’ was created in the new building to showcase some of the historic photographs, advertising materials and publications from the ‘Caltex’ years in New Zealand. John Harper travelled to Auckland that year and identified the ‘important and extraordinary’ items that needed to be preserved to ‘safeguard Chevron’s history in New Zealand’.
I have really enjoyed learning about Texaco’s early history and comparing the brands and publications between the two countries. I must say that the 1930s has become my favourite ‘Texaco decade’, not only for the stunning streamlined tankers but also the style, design, creativity and grit shown by Texaco despite the challenging decade that it was. I now have a new appreciation of the enormous impact and contribution that Texaco and the other oil companies made towards motoring in the early 20th century.
References:
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5077178
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2009/01/01/chevron-corporate-archive-a-treasure-trove/
https://www.oldradio.org/2012/04/april-27-1932-first-performance-of-ed.html
https://www.flickr.com/photos/96077146@N00/493626918
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_Wynn
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texaco
https://www.texaco.com/history
https://www.thestoryoftexas.com/education/texas-symbols
https://logoorange.com/logodesign-t/
https://wellingtoncityheritage.org.nz/buildings/151-300/241-anscombe-flats
https://mwyplummer.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-lost-and-forgotten-fountains-of.html
https://www.lamar.edu/spindletop-gladys-city/spindletop-history.html
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/texaco
https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/texas-company
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19330306.2.9.1
https://caltex.co.nz/about-caltex/who-is-caltex/
https://www.enginebuildermag.com/2016/08/from-a-dump-truck-dynasty-came-a-speedboat-king/
https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2009/01/01/chevron-corporate-archive-a-treasure-trove/
Bradley W. Brown
Thank you for the wonderfully detailed history lesson and for all the marvellous links in the piece.
Sue Keys
Thanks so much Bradley.
Steve Medley
Great stuff here. The job of checking out traveling routes, the “route Counsellor”
sounds like a great. Thanks again for sharing.
Sue Keys
That job description sure sounded like a lot of fun. Thanks Steve.
larry ingwersen
just a note on the segment that dealt with clean rest rooms. today, we take clean, well lit restroomsforgranted. before Texaco upped the standard, public rest rooms were just barely better than an outhouse! not particularly clean, nor well lighted. you only used them if absolutely necessary! Texaco changed all that and advertised it. the inspectors mentioned were nurses hired specifically to inspect texaco’s rest rooms. seeing a business that said they had clean rest rooms would then induce the driver to stop there, increasing business for them.I
Sue Keys
Larry, thanks for explaining further about the rest rooms. I can understand now that the ‘registered rest room’ signs would have been a huge draw card for the Texaco gas stations!
Steve Brettell
Excellent research,makes the tanker than more interesting, if thats possible.
Sue Keys
Thanks very much Steve. Learning about Texaco, Heil and Diamond T in that era is just fascinating. One down and two to go!
Michel Heijligers
Very interesting!!!Great research…wonderfull story!!!
Do you have the complete picture of the doodlebug with the fire chief logo ?
Kind regards
Michel
Sue Keys
Thanks Michel! I’ll message you about the photo.
Michel Heijligers
Thank you !!
Brad
Very Interesting, keep up the good work…
Texaco reference:
https://theoldmotor.com/?p=143611
Sue Keys
Thanks Brad. The article in your link is certainly a great read.
Ern Levens..
Hi Sue &Steve I haven’t been able to catch up on latest blogs for some time due to many reasons. Now that lock down has hit again g spare time. Absolutely fantastic research. Riveting reading. Thanks again regards ERN. Take care.
Sue Keys
Great to hear from you Ern. You take care as well. Thanks, Steve & Sue.
Elizabeth Rowe Rawlinson
Sue,
Today while continuing the digitization of items and photos of my family of origin, I came across a Texaco National Travel Order booklet my dad used in the 1930s to “charge” gasoline. Do you have any information about this ‘paper credit card’ ?
Sue Keys
I’m sorry, we don’t have any information on this. You could perhaps contact the Chevron Corporate Archives? Thanks Elizabeth.