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The Standard Oil Company was found to be in violation of antitrust laws in
1911.
A conspiracy was alleged to have been formed in or about the year 1870 by three individuals, John D. Rockefeller, William Rockefeller, and Henry M. Flagler. They created a monopoly, which was in violation of antitrust laws.
EXAMPLE:
In 1872, the company had acquired substantially all but three or four of the thirty-five or forty oil refineries located in Cleveland, Ohio. Hence they controlled the price and distribution of product and squeezed out all other companies.
The result of the ruling by the court in 1911,was that Several “Baby” Standard Oil Companies were created separate and independent of each other. Since there was already a Standard oil of Kentucky, it was simple to turn it into an independent company.

Most people aren’t aware that The Standard Oil Company of Kentucky was originally formed in 1886, its home office was in Louisville, Kentucky. A program was begun to establish agencies and build bulk distributing plants in each county of the southern states it served. Principal products were kerosene, axle-grease, stove oil and lubricants.

Standard Oil of Kentucky (KYSO) started out in 1911 on their own as a separate and independent Oil Company. They were classified as an independent oil company because they had no oil refineries or exploration. Thus began the relationship with Standard of New Jersey(ESSO), who sold them their Crown Gasoline along with Esso and Mobiloil lubricants.

KYSO products were marketed in 5 states, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Kentucky and Mississippi.
Their “Down Home” approach and the rapidly increasing economy of the south helped KYSO to quickly progress from the image of a small town, jobber-oriented marketer to that of a major oil company.

In 1961 KYSO was bought by Standard Oil of California (Chevron) and the KYSO trademark was phased out. This purchase was the scoop of the century.

PLEASE POST ANY PHOTOGRAPHS OR INFORMATION THAT YOU HAVE ON KYSO. IF YOU CAN’T POST PHOTOS SEND THEM TO DOC, REX OR ANY MODERATOR.

Lets look at the signs that KYSO used from the beginning to the time that they were bought out by Chevron.

In the beginning KYSO used painted wooden signs. The first porcelain sign (flange) that we know of was first used in 1911-1919. This is the finest example of that sign that I have ever seen. It was found in a burned down garage.




Below is one of the first retail stations located in a “hole in the wall” in Waycross, GA. In 1915. You can barely see the crown flange next to the left window. Equally important, notice the filling station sign above the door. This is another early sign used by KYSO. The car at the curb is said to be a 1910 EMF.



The first "filling station" built by KYSO in 1917, was located at the corner of Third and York Streets in Louisville, Kentucky. This was the forerunner of the modern service station.

This Crown Gasoline Flange sign was the second porcelain sign that KYSO displayed and became one of the most used signs of the period. (1919-1928). The only major change from the first sign was that the "KYSO" became "Standard Oil Company."





[This message has been edited by Kysoilman (edited 06-01-2005).]

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As KYSO built more service stations, they found that the flange sign didn't give them the roadside exposure that they wanted. So the following are dealer signs that they used that could be displayed closer to the street and up in the air. These signs were used from 1928 to 1945.

This photo dates back to 1940. Notice the Art Deco type sign. Standard experimented with different types of signs. They were a very conservative company. This type of sign was short lived. Note the Atlas tire sign and display. In 1930, the baby standards formed the Atlas corporation that supplied all of the TBA to all of the Standards. Sounds like a good deal for the newly formed Standards.


Standard Oil Products sign.


This sign reads "Standard Oil Dealer". It came from a country store in Owenton, KY. The store burned down and my father-in-law saved it for me.


This sign reads "Standard Oil Products" in yellow. If anyone knows the significance of the color change, please let us know.


This sign reads "Standard Oil Products" also. It is the only one that I have seen that is red and white. It was found in a KYSO station in Summerset, Kentucky. If anyone knows the significance of the color, please let us know.

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LETS LOOK AT SOME MORE KYSO DEALER SIGNS...
........................
THIS IS A GREAT SIGN TO BAD ITS AN ARTIST RENDERING FROM 1939...


I WOULD LOVE TO FIND THIS SIGN LOOKS GREAT WITH THE CROWN GASOLINE GLOBE IN THE BACK GROUND 1920's.

HERE IS A SCAN OF 4 SIGNS....NEAT FILLING STATION SIGN.

THIS STANDARD OIL DEALER SIGN WAS USED FROM 1945-1949.THIS DSP EMBOSSED SIGN IS CALLED BAR AND HALF CIRCLE OR TEAR DROP.


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REX LIKES KYSO

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just super rex...... super....... cheese

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Lookin great Rex, Let it roll!

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Great stuff Rex!! Just one question, though.......if it was SOCONY, then why wasn't it SOCKY, instead of KYSO?? Probably had something to do with WWII and eating raw fish...........

Richard


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Richard were a little backwards here in cantuckey..."GET-IT" backwards.....LOL + sum peoples say we kant spel.........
..........
REX LIEKS SOKY

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For 50 years,(1911-1961) Standard Oil Of Kentucky (KYSO) grew at a rapid pace. As the interstate system grew, major oil companies recognized what a great opportunity they had and scrambled to get sites on the interstate exits.
Standard oil Of California (Chevron), having the refining capicity and the desire to expand nation-wide, stepped up to the plate and purchased KYSO right from under Standard Oil of New Jersey, Esso's nose.
Chevron gradually started changing the image of the KYSO stations, being careful not to lose any of the valued KYSO customers.

The pictures below show the transition of the teardrop/bar and half circle sign from blue to white. Notice the color change but not the name. What Chevron is saying here is "Look Mr. Customer, something is going on but we are still the same good old Standard Oil Company". All changes were done gradually. The Logo's were changed on all maps, credit cards, touring service. With the objective being that in the end all of the above would read just CHEVRON.


This is a painted 4x8' metal sign.


Notice on this picture that the Standard Oil sign and the Chevron Hallmark are both on the station.

Many people don't know that Jay Leno was one of the first Standard Oil Dealers.

This is a picture of the Chevron Hallmark that has the word Standard on it. There are still stations today that have the wording "Standard" in order to protect the trademark.


This is a brief history of how KYSO got started and how they became a Chevron Company.
From here we will move on to all of the other good KYSO stuff. If you have any KYSo items or coments, please post.
REX LIKES KYSO

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Great job Rex. I have nothing to contribute but really enjoy this thread. Keep up the good work.

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Scott Shipers
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Hi Rex,

Great job!! I really love the oldest Kyso Crown flange sign! That's a beauty!!

Standard Oil of California built the Pascagoula, MS refinery after the Kyso merger. Standard had new production coming online in the Gulf of Mexico which had to find a market. This was a marriage made in heaven for both companies. I have a copy of the proxy document for the merger vote. Attached is the opening cover letter from R.G. Follis (CEO, Standard) recapping the merger agreement...





By the way, I work for Chevron in Houston.

Paul

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Thanks guys for all of the positive comments. Thanks Paul for posting the Proxy Document. How Interesting is that!! It tells it all doesn't it.
Any idea what the value of the shares would be today? I wonder how many shares each recipient would be holding if they had kept them all until today.
As a side note, Chevron Texaco Corp. has changed it's name to Chevron Corporation effective May 9, 2005.
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Rex,

Since 1961, Standard/Chevron has had five 5% stock dividends and three 2 for 1 stock splits. One share of Standard Oil of California in 1961 would now be 10.16 shares of Chevron. But the real wealth builder is the constant reinvestment of the dividends. As you know, Chevron and other big oil companies pay good dividends.

Cheers!!

Paul

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Awesome stuff..great Job REX. Very cool

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Hubba: GAS GEEK , OIL FREAK and humble moderator


Hubba: GAS GEEK , OIL FREAK of Seattle WA
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Chevron continued the transition of changing the KYSO image to the
Chevron image through the 1970s. Gradually phasing out the KYSO logos. One of their best marketing programs was "Come to Chevron Island". The point that they were making was KYSO has become the Chevron Island.
This pictures shows the plastic Chevron Island sign that they used. This plastic was very fragile and not ment to last. This sign is very hard to find in one piece.
It was left in the Standard Oil Warehouse/bulk plant that I purchased from Chevron in 1977. It was still in it's original box.

Here is a picture of the actual sign on a pump island. You can see why they didn't last long.

The Chevron Island promotion was advertised nationaly. I'll bet some of the older guys remember it. They had a tropical girl dressed in a hula skirt. She attended all of the regional dealer meetings. The 42" metal Chevron Island sign below was used during the promotion. Roy Reed has one in his Standard collection. Notice the Chevron Island license plates around the sign. They were given away at grand openings while this promotion was going on.

The next 4 signs were displayed on taxicabs.
Notice that both the KYSO and Chevron logos are on 3 of the 4 signs.


.................
REX LIKES KYSO ISLAND

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Great job so far Rex. Let's see some globes!


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


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