Lastly, the “125 Years of Wayne” book states that William Bateman from Sunoco was put in charge of Martin & Schwartz after the four oil companies purchased the firm in 1937. Well, this clearly explains why Sunoco was such a consistent and dedicated customer of the M&S 70 gas pump!!
But why weren’t Conoco or Standard Indiana or Mobil? I have a handful of theories:
a) Conoco (and the others) were tied to long-term contracts to purchase gas pumps exclusively from the other manufacturers. These contracts were put in place before the purchase of the M&S company.
b) The M&S 70 was a very inferior gas pump and Conoco preferred to use the superior pumps from Wayne and Tokheim.
c) Sunoco owned a huge majority of the company (80%+) and the other three minority owners used their ownership as a financial interest rather than as a strategic supplier. Sunoco owning a huge share of M&S would explain why they installed a company man as CEO of M&S.
d) Martin & Schwartz had production issues such that they could not supply the other three owners - until they ramped up production in 1946 with the very popular M&S 80 model.
e) Conoco management had a feud with William Bateman and refused to buy the M&S 70 pumps for a decade. But this doesn’t explain why Standard Indiana apparently didn’t use the M&S 70 either.
Whew! There are the facts and my theories. Anybody have any thoughts on this mystery?
Thanks.
Andy
