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I have been asked to do this month’s petroleum company of the month. I hope that I can do as well, as the previous month’s authors.

First I would like to explain a little bit about why I collect Flying “A”. My history in the company started as a boy when my father bought a small Flying “A” heating oil company. I spent most of my young life riding around in trucks as the copilot. Later at the age of 15, I actually learned to drive an 1800 gallon oil truck with my learners permit. My passion for collecting has gone through the following stages. My first reason was to create a neat setting for my old cars in the garage. Secondly I became obsessed with getting my hands on every Flying “A” or related piece I could. And thirdly I began to see the historical value and the look of all the colors and shapes coming together to become a form of art. I now consider myself to be an art collector.


History of the Tidewater Oil Company (part one)

The Tidewater Oil Company is one of the oldest oil companies in the US. Back in 1859 Sir Edwin Drake struck oil in the hills of Pennsylvania. Within a 10 year period over 5500 wells had been drilled and nearly 1200 of them were producing oil. In 1861 Robert Hopkins and Byron Benson formed a company called the Enterprise Oil and Lumber Company. The name Enterprise was not the type of operation, but used because of its location in Enterprise, Pa. Because the demand for oil was not great at this time, they planned to also capitalize on the, many, old growth forest in Eastern Pennsylvania. Therefore they became an oil and lumber company. The two partners got involved in the civil war and did not really get the oil portion going until they returned in 1866. However, when they did get it going, they were so successful that by 1875 they were producing so much oil that a new problem had taken front stage. That was the transportation of the oil. The way it worked, was that the oil was carried by horse drawn wagons from the wells back in the hills, to the railroad yards. Here the oil was loaded into large vats located on flatbed rail cars. The trains then carried the oil to the refineries on the eastern coast. The sheer volume of oil caused Hopkins and Benson to think hard about a better and less costly way to move the oil. The idea they came up with was to build a pipeline from eastern PA. to a refinery on the Atlantic seaboard. With the idea to build a pipeline but not knowing exactly were it would end they renamed the Enterprise oil and lumber company. The new name would be the Tidewater Pipe Company. The thought at the time was that they would end up in or near the Tidewater seaboard. The new company would come up with all of the special equipment needed to make the pipe and pipe joints for such a pipeline. This was no small task in its self, but was only made harder by the railroad companies. They did not want to lose business to a pipe line ,after all this was fast becoming there bread and butter business. To build a pipe line, the company needed to acquire right of ways from land owners in Pennsylvania and all along the way to where the line ended. The railroad properties that the tracks were on, posed the problem. Tidewater needed the right of way to cross the tracks and the railroads would not give it to them. For many years Tidewater would pipe the oil to one side of a train track and then unload the oil into tanker trucks, which would cross the tracks to pumping stations where the oil was put back into the pipeline. By 1876 the pipeline was completed to Williamsport and by 1880 the line ended in Bayonne, NJ. The 6 inch line was 450 miles long. The company had acquired a refinery here from one of its customers and now was prepared to market its own products. The company was renamed again. It became the Tidewater Oil Company. The two main products were branded under the names Tydol and Veedol. A side note to these two great trademarks, was how they came up Veedol. A group of company exec’s were sitting in a meeting and came up with the names. Tydol was short for Tidewater oil. The letter V in the alphabet was always considered the strongest letter,(don’t ask me why) therefore V oil would work well so they thought. To tie them a little more together, they changed the V oil to Veedol. To this day, Tydol and Veedol are almost always associated with the products of Tidewater Oil Company. A company today would be willing to pay millions for a trademark like these. Tidewater Oil grew in all area’s of the oil business. By the early 1880’s The now great Standard Oil company, without success had even tried to buy them out. Tidwater marketed in the Northeast in Tydol stations and sold the Veedol product lines all over the USA and in Europe and South America. It branched out west and southwest. Oil produced in Illinois caused a pipeline to be built from Stoy,Ill to the Bayonne, NJ refinery. They also started producing products in Oklahoma and built a refinery in Drumright. The Oklahoma area is where J. Paul Getty crosses paths with Tidewater Oil Company. J Paul Getty had been working with his fathers insurance company in the Oklahoma area and been impressed by the Tidewater operation there. The main reason was because they were making so much money, and running the company so badly. The common practice of the time , was when a well hit oil, the company would keep it quite until they could buy up the rights to all of the surrounding land. This needed to happen very fast, and the Tidewater oil company would take months to make the decisions at the corporate level back on the coast. By the time the word got back to Oklahoma, there competitors would already have heard the news from workers in the local bars and bought up the rights to the oil. Getty thought that if he could make these decisions faster the company could make even more money. Getty began to acquire stock in the company in the early 30’s for less than $1.00 per share. He continued to acquire stock until 1951 when he finally took control of it the company.

Tidewater had already merged with Associated Oil Company and now through this merger and other acquisitions, Getty had taken control of Tidewater, Associated,Skelly and a few other lesser know oil companies.

Lets post any item you might have from the early Tidewater era. This would be up to the 1940’s. Most of these items are the old orange and black colors. Then in a week or so I will post a little history on the Associated Oil Company before Tidewater took it over. At this time we can post pictures of our stuff from this time frame. And then if everyone is still on board, we can end the month with our Flying “A” goodies from 1948 to the end of the company. This could include the early Getty oil era too.















[This message has been edited by Flyingaman (edited 03-01-2004).]


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Here's is one more neat picture of a pricer from the 30's




Ok Guys and Gals lets post your Tidewater pre war stuff.


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Nice job Craig, I know you thought you couldn't do it but you did great. I'm proud of you.

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Outstanding Craig..great job..I dig you are doing it in sections throughout the month..very cool.


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Hubba the GAS GEEK , OIL FREAK of Shoreline WA


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Great job Craig. Keep the pictures and info coming.
Bob


Wanted: Gas pump globes:Sinclair & affiliates, IL companies. Ripple bodies. Anything Sinclair, Stoll, Pierce, 4 Bros.


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Great job Craig! Lucky for us that there wasn't much traffic when you learned to drive. I'll bet you scared the horses & buggy's though!! HaHaHa!!

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Here is an early 1/2 gallon Veedol can.

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Thanks guys, Tom, you are right. However when a 15 year old kid is parallel parking a large oil truck and he can hardly see over the steering wheel,they get out of your way.
Craig


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Great job Craig. I hope I can keep up with all you guys in May company of the month. Here is an early tydol Ethyl 30 inch porcelain sign already posted under sign of the month but here again. Ted

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Here is a 1 quart early solder seam can by the Tidewater Oil Company. Three sides of the same can. Ted



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Great job Craig............Ted aren't their about 4 versions of that black Veedol quart?

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Elden asked me to post this neat clock from Veedol , windup , I have one like it, they keep real good time

he got this sign over at fred's also, very nice,

More cans from Elden .




[This message has been edited by Dwaine Buck (edited 03-03-2004).]

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Here are some more great pictures that I am posting for Larry Karlson. They are more good examples of the early Tidewater era. Larry jump in and post any comments about your signs you would like. Thanks for sending them.















[This message has been edited by Flyingaman (edited 03-04-2004).]


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Come on guys, before we move on into the Tidewater-Associated era. Lets get some more pictures of pre-was Tidewater stuff. I know there is more stuff out there, so let get on board and show your stuff. Signs, pens anything with the tidewater name from 1900 thru 1940. Ok go................


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Larry those are some great pictures. I really like the shoebox globes in the back of the photos.

Scott


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Great info and pictures so far. Keep those pictures coming in!
Bob


Wanted: Gas pump globes:Sinclair & affiliates, IL companies. Ripple bodies. Anything Sinclair, Stoll, Pierce, 4 Bros.


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Heres a few 5 quart cans -all diff-Cycol says associated oil co-Hope this pic shows up



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Wanted 5 quart cans

[This message has been edited by 5 quart (edited 03-11-2004).]

[This message has been edited by 5 quart (edited 03-11-2004).]


[b] Wanted 5 quart cans -old speed equipment -1950-60s- Cad- Olds std shift parts - site at www.oilnspeed.com
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I'm ready for more history and pictures of cool stuff!


Wanted: Gas pump globes:Sinclair & affiliates, IL companies. Ripple bodies. Anything Sinclair, Stoll, Pierce, 4 Bros.


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And now the rest of the story.


Associated Oil Company

The Associated Oil Company started in the early 1900’s.The company was founded by a group of well operators, as a means to transport oil out of their fields. Therefore, the name Associated oil. Like Tidewater Oil Company they too built a pipeline to transport the oil. The pipeline ended in Martinez, California, where they built a refinery. Now even the big Standard Oil feared what this powerhouse could do. Associated Oil Company began to market their products and branched out all over the west coast, including Hawaii. Strangely enough the products resembled the Tidewater line because of the hiring of a defector employee. Their oil and greases became Cycol and Tycol as compared to Veedol and Tydol.
Some of the history of this company is vague and I can only speculate as to how it came about, but here is my shot at it. Associated Oil Company and Tidewater were by 1926 both owned and controlled by holding companies that were put together by some Wall Street wizards. The practice of holding companies became illegal by 1936 and the two were married into an operating company at this time. The company became Tidewater Associated Oil Company. The company was now a nation wide company with substantial operations in 4 divisions. (The Eastern division, the Mid-Continent Division, the Southern Division and the Western Division). Associated oil with its flying wings attached to the “A” became the new marketing emblem for the new Tidewater Associated Oil Company. From “Lets Get Associated” to Flying “A” Gasoline the company was fast becoming one of the most popular oil companies in the country. One of the smaller oil companies that were under the Associated Oil umbrella which operated for several years independently of the Tidewater Associated Oil company was Seaside Oil.
Now remember J. Paul Getty, he had been buying up stock in the holding companies since the early 1930’s for as low as $1.00 per share during the depression . By 1948 he had enough stock in the company to influence most decisions and by 1951 he took control. The rest is history. I don’t want to bore you with too much detail, so I will speed up the next 20 years. During the late 60’s the government got involved and determined that Getty had a monopoly and broke-up some of the operation. Phillips 66 bought out the West coast stations and the east coast became Getty Oil stations. So by 1970 the last Flying A branded station was closed down.

Now let’s post some pictures from the Associated era to the end. (1948 – 1970)

I'll check in later this month when I get home from Spring Training in sunny Peoria, AZ



This is a station I built in my family room. 1930's era



This is out of an Associated station in downtown SF, CA







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Craig, how far along is the truck??? show pictures if you will of the truck before and durring then after. I can't wait to see if the spider-Lady lets you put the truck in your room. Good story on Associated. Thats about what I have too.

Heres something you guys might want to check out. from 1935. Associateds involvment in the building of the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Bay Bridge.
http://www.sfmuseum.net/assoc/bridge01.html




[This message has been edited by Dwaine Buck (edited 03-14-2004).]

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Here is a Flying A ethyl porcelain pump plate

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craig: many thanks for the primer on tydol-flying a. nice job.know i will have questions for you in the near future. gary

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These are the only 3 things i have that are Tydol. The Tydol Ethyl was almost my first globe i ever bought... it came about second or third.






[This message has been edited by Jarvis (edited 03-17-2004).]


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Here are a few more








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Great job on Company of the month. There has to be some more stuff out there and one day to post it. Ted

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I've got a few Associated items , most of you have already seen. but I don't mind showing off agin, Thanks to Craig for a great job on this small giant company. you did good.

Heres a few Associated 1 lb grease cans, along with a few quart cans.

Here the end of a 1/4 barrel.


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www.vintage-logos.com



[This message has been edited by Dwaine Buck (edited 03-30-2004).]

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Thanks Dwaine

Here are a few pictures from Ed the Rust Collector






Thanks Ed




[This message has been edited by Flyingaman (edited 03-30-2004).]


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Here are a few more to end out the month.





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Great job Craig and all that poster their items!


Wanted: Gas pump globes:Sinclair & affiliates, IL companies. Ripple bodies. Anything Sinclair, Stoll, Pierce, 4 Bros.


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THANKS, CRAIG FOR A WONDERFUL REPORT ON QUITE POSSIBLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE (ONCE LOCAL) GAS/OIL COMPANIES. I'VE TOLD YOU BEFORE AND I'LL TELL YOU AGAIN....YOUR COLLECTION IS PURE 110% EYE CANDY AND I HAVE A WHOLE LOTTA RESPECT THAT KIND OF COLLECTING AND DISPLAY WORK. I HOPE FIRE NEVER FINDS YOUR HOUSE AS A WHOLE LOTTA HISTORY WOULD BE GONE FOREVER. KUDOS TO YOU AND YOUR INTENSELY UNIQUE OVERLOADED EXTRAORDINARY INVENTORY THAT JUST BLOWS THE MIND AND SOUL!!!!
POST MORE....I STILL POST KENDALL FROM JANUARY ONCE IN A WHILE!

DOC @ THE AMERICAN GARAGES


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Great report Craig, that should wrap up Associated Tidewater, now we can go on to Jeff's report on Johnson oil.

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Craig, That is one AWESOME collection and report. Thanks for your hard work.

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Scott in Kansas City
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The Niles Canyon Railway Museum in Sunol California has two Flying A railroad tankcars. One is a single dome car with the Flying A clearly visible and the other is a three dome tankcar that is painted forPhillips Petrolem but below that paint the wings of the Flying A is clearly visable. Both cars were built for Associated Oil and had AOX reporting marks.

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Thanks Joe
Would you or anybody have a picture that we could post. If you want to email me a picture I can post it for you. Thanks again
Craig


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This has been a most informative feature for me and the pictures are wonderful! Thank You Very Much!

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beautifuol job from the standpoint of history, business and the art. this is what the site needs more of. keep it coming!

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Newbie here. My family has a history with Flying A / Associated and I just found these *wonderful* pages!

I need your help -- and I am sure I am now in the right place.

When did Associated introduce "Aviation Ethyl" ? I see one person on this topic has a sign for Aviation Ethyl - yet a Google search on the name brings not one hit!

It is very important to me for I have an old family photo from what appears to be ca. 1928-33, of a Flying A gas station. The globe on one of the pumps is "Associated Aviation Ethyl" and it looks as if it has just been introduced. I am guessing on the years and wish to ID the photo more precisely.

Thank you!!!

Bonnie

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Flying A enthusiasts: I have two more questions -

Does anyone know the time-table for the changes in the design of the Flying A?

When was the logo first used? What years did it have those skinny -- more 'realistic' -- bird-like wings?

Also - does anyone know if there are Associated Oil Company archives some where?

Grateful for any incoming leads...
Bonnie

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