I am very curious about why Conoco did not use the Martin & Schwartz (“M&S”) model 70 gas pump in their stations. I have lots of evidence and a few theories, so bear with me and I will lay out the facts.

Many sources report that Conoco (along with Sunoco, Mobil and Standard Indiana) purchased the Martin & Schwartz company in 1937. This ownership is reported in the company history book “125 Years of Wayne” (Wayne purchased M&S in 1951), so I don’t doubt this fact. Several other authors have stated that these four oil companies purchased the ownership to provide M&S with a captive market for their gas pumps. But that is not what happened.

In 1937 - when the four companies purchased the company, M&S began producing the M&S 70 gas pump. For the next ten years - until 1946 when the M&S 80 was introduced, Conoco did not use the M&S 70 at all. There is no doubt that all four companies extensively used the M&S 80 once it was introduced in 1946, but my question relates to the decade prior when the M&S 70 was in production.

I have an extensive collection of photos of Conoco gas stations. Of these, 220 photos show gas pumps from this 1937-1945 era. Not a single photo shows the M&S 70. Not one. None. This isn’t a coincidence…something is going on here. Of the 220 photos, roughly 70 show the Tokheim 39 tall, 50 show the Wayne 70, 45 show the Wayne 60 and 20 show the Tokheim 36B. The remainder include a few Gilbarco pumps, Bennett pumps, Bowser pumps and Southwest pumps. But not a single M&S 70. Here are two photos demonstrating a typical Conoco station of that era. The first one is a Dodge City, KS grand opening in 1939 (when Conoco already owned M&S) where they use the Tokheim 36B.