COTM OCTOBER: THE TEXAS CO (OR) TEXACO - Thu Sep 30 2004 11:54 PM
THERE HAS BEEN A LAST MINUTE CHANGE IN THE COMPANY OF THE MONTH FEATURE. THE PERSON THAT WAS LINED UP FOR THIS MONTH'S FEATURE CANNOT CONTRIBUTE AT THIS TIME, SO I WILL BE DOING A FEATURE ON TEXACO.
I'M SURE THERE WILL BE ALOT OF IMAGES AND INPUT ON THIS ONCE
VERY LARGE OIL CO HAVING AT ONE TIME, GAS STATIONS IN ALL 50 STATES!
I AM GOING TO START THIS COTM THREAD SLIGHTLY EARLY (BY A FEW HOURS) SINCE I WILL BE ON THE ROAD IN THE A.M. OF OCT 1ST HEADING TO CARLISLE, SO I HOPE I'M NOT STEPPING ON CHEESE'S FEET AS HE SEEMED TO BE FINISHED WITH HIS
HI-SPEED COTM REPORT.
HERE IS SOME INFO FROM THE TEXACO SIGHT ABOUT IT'S FOUNDERS:
Born in the early days of the Texas oil boom, Texaco was the idea of two men with contrasting styles and outlooks. “Buckskin Joe” Cullinan was a risk-taking entrepreneur who had learned his trade in the oil fields of Pennsylvania. Arnold Schlaet was a financier whose prudence provided a valuable counterweight to Cullinan’s daring and determination.
Cullinan knew every aspect of the oil business from drilling wells and laying pipelines to running a refinery and marketing products. He had a keen eye for the potential of the sleepy agricultural region of East Texas where oil recently had been discovered. And as his nickname implied, Cullinan was a rough-hewn, forceful leader who was adept at gaining the maximum effort from his workers.
What Cullinan lacked was the financial savvy that was second nature to Schlaet. As an employee of H.P. Lapham and Co., he managed the investment firm’s petroleum interests. But despite his natural conservatism, he was so impressed with Cullinan’s plans for buying Texas crude oil at low prices and distributing it to Eastern markets that he helped Cullinan gain capital to get the venture off the ground.
Together, Cullinan and Schlaet initially founded a modest enterprise. Established in March 1901 as The Texas Fuel Company, it started out in three rooms in a corrugated iron building in Beaumont, Texas. At the outset, the company had just 12 employees, and it made up in grit what it lacked in numbers. As Pulitzer Prize winning author Marquis James wrote, “the pioneering employees…slept in their clothes and worked around the clock in the days when drinking water in the Spindletop field sold for 10 cents a cup and oil for three cents a barrel … .”
The company’s fortunes changed overnight with the discovery of oil at Sour Lake, just 20 miles from Beaumont. Renamed The Texas Company, the enterprise had a solid foundation for the growth that would mark its ascent in the decades ahead. As Texaco Inc., it would become one of the leading global energy companies with a rich history of achievements.
I NEED A FAVOR FROM EVERYBODY, PLEASE DON'T POST "YOUR" STUFF & COMMENTS UNTIL AT LEAST THE 5TH, AS I'D LIKE TO CONTINUE WITH MORE BITS FROM TEXACO HISTORY IN THE UPCOMING DAYS. THANKS IN ADVANCE
I APPRECIATE THE HEAD START!
DOC @ THE AMERICAN GARAGES
drcoke@optonline.net
I'M SURE THERE WILL BE ALOT OF IMAGES AND INPUT ON THIS ONCE
VERY LARGE OIL CO HAVING AT ONE TIME, GAS STATIONS IN ALL 50 STATES!
I AM GOING TO START THIS COTM THREAD SLIGHTLY EARLY (BY A FEW HOURS) SINCE I WILL BE ON THE ROAD IN THE A.M. OF OCT 1ST HEADING TO CARLISLE, SO I HOPE I'M NOT STEPPING ON CHEESE'S FEET AS HE SEEMED TO BE FINISHED WITH HIS
HI-SPEED COTM REPORT.
HERE IS SOME INFO FROM THE TEXACO SIGHT ABOUT IT'S FOUNDERS:
Born in the early days of the Texas oil boom, Texaco was the idea of two men with contrasting styles and outlooks. “Buckskin Joe” Cullinan was a risk-taking entrepreneur who had learned his trade in the oil fields of Pennsylvania. Arnold Schlaet was a financier whose prudence provided a valuable counterweight to Cullinan’s daring and determination.
Cullinan knew every aspect of the oil business from drilling wells and laying pipelines to running a refinery and marketing products. He had a keen eye for the potential of the sleepy agricultural region of East Texas where oil recently had been discovered. And as his nickname implied, Cullinan was a rough-hewn, forceful leader who was adept at gaining the maximum effort from his workers.
What Cullinan lacked was the financial savvy that was second nature to Schlaet. As an employee of H.P. Lapham and Co., he managed the investment firm’s petroleum interests. But despite his natural conservatism, he was so impressed with Cullinan’s plans for buying Texas crude oil at low prices and distributing it to Eastern markets that he helped Cullinan gain capital to get the venture off the ground.
Together, Cullinan and Schlaet initially founded a modest enterprise. Established in March 1901 as The Texas Fuel Company, it started out in three rooms in a corrugated iron building in Beaumont, Texas. At the outset, the company had just 12 employees, and it made up in grit what it lacked in numbers. As Pulitzer Prize winning author Marquis James wrote, “the pioneering employees…slept in their clothes and worked around the clock in the days when drinking water in the Spindletop field sold for 10 cents a cup and oil for three cents a barrel … .”
The company’s fortunes changed overnight with the discovery of oil at Sour Lake, just 20 miles from Beaumont. Renamed The Texas Company, the enterprise had a solid foundation for the growth that would mark its ascent in the decades ahead. As Texaco Inc., it would become one of the leading global energy companies with a rich history of achievements.
I NEED A FAVOR FROM EVERYBODY, PLEASE DON'T POST "YOUR" STUFF & COMMENTS UNTIL AT LEAST THE 5TH, AS I'D LIKE TO CONTINUE WITH MORE BITS FROM TEXACO HISTORY IN THE UPCOMING DAYS. THANKS IN ADVANCE
I APPRECIATE THE HEAD START!
DOC @ THE AMERICAN GARAGES
drcoke@optonline.net