Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana Company of the Month for Feb (Imperial Refineries)

This month's company of the month is Imperial Refineries founded in 1915 in Tulsa, Oklahoma or St. Louis, Missouri. I have seen lierature for both but depends who you ask as to which place is the home. They eventually settled in Clayton, Missouri. This company was once called "The Independent Nobody Knows". Originally affliated with Wickett Refining Co, Kettle Creek Refining and San Angelo Refining soliciting jobbers in the Central US beginning in 1929. They also had a connection to Johnson Oil of Mt. Pleasant, Michigan. Imperial fades through from the mid 30's until after World War II when it appears again, this time as a chain of discount stations in Missouri, Illinois, and parts of surrounding states, with an affiliate operation in Florida. They maxed out at 135 stations before selling out to Chicago area Discounter Checker Oil in 1976 which in turn sold to Emro Marketing (Marathon's Speedway Operation). Imperial stations were eventually branded Speedway, where some still remain today.

That is the sketchy history of Imperial Refineries. Here are some other interesting tidbits. Imperial's slogan was BUY and SAVE WITH IMPERIAL. Since they sold discount gas they always claimed they were 2-3 cents per gallon cheaper. These 2 slogans appear on almost all of their items. What you probably remember Imperial for is they were one of the last companies to still use globes on their gas pumps up until the 80'. Imperial is still in operation today with a station in St. Joseph, Missouri.

When I started to collect petroliana it was only natural for me to collect this brand. I grew up in Pattonsburg, Missouri (population 500) in the 80's and this was one of the filling station that we had. All 85 pictures that I post for this segment will come from my family's collection. My mom and dad as well as my brother and his wife all collect Imperial Refineries.

I would like to thank Wayne Henderson and Bob Drake for some very helpful information on this little known Independent. One of the reasons I chose to do this was I collected the stuff but I did not know any of their history. I would like to credit Dwaine Buck for encouraging me to "learn the history of the stuff you collect, just don't collect it".

[This message has been edited by quartcans (edited 02-01-2004).]

Throughout all of the years their company logo hardly ever changed. Here are a couple of examples.
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce85264a924bf00000003610[/img]
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce85264b7a0b800000003610[/img]

The first two pictures are from the Imperial station in my hometown. Notice the change over time (addition of bathrooms) and in the scond picture the out of gas signs on the pumps. They sold gas out of this house and also lived their as well. The third picture is the owner standing proudly, and the last picture is of a current Imperial station in St. Joseph, Missouri.
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4dc20b3127cce87e65e7405ea0000003610[/img]

[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce85264b278aed0000003610[/img]
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce852648d2ca810000003610[/img]
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce85264e95cac50000003610[/img]



[This message has been edited by quartcans (edited 02-01-2004).]

Here are some of the globes and the dates they were used.
50 year anniversary 1965
Premium 65-82
Stove Oil 50-65
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce85264a73ca210000003610[/img]
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce852648b94bda0000003610[/img]
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce8526499b0b600000003610[/img]

Imperial Refineries 40-82
Imperial Ethyl 46-65
Imperial No Lead 75-82
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce852649a10b5a0000003610[/img]
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce85264e644b040000003610[/img]
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df05b3127cce8767456d1ba60000003610[/img]

great photos and also info, really enjoyed it. cheese

Here are some pumps restored to Imperial Refineries. All of the pumps restored were done by my brother Shawn Shipers. Bennetts are what pumps Imperial mainly used. The 1st one is my dad's and second is my brother's. The 36 is mine.
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce8526483d4b5e0000003610[/img]
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df05b3127cce876745651bae0000003610[/img]
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce852649cb0b300000003610[/img]

Nice Job Scott...tooo coool.. Thumbs up to you my friend

------------------
Hubba the GAS GEEK , OIL FREAK of Shoreline WA

Great job Scott.
There used to be an Imperial station here. I don't ever remember seeing a quart there. They were big on selling oil in 2 gallon cans. I'm not sure when that station closed. Sometime between 1977 and 1984 I think.
Bob

Great job Scott, I hope I can do as well in May with Signal Oil. Ted

Thanks for the kind words guys. I have about 75 pictures left to post for this company including several quart cans Bob. They did sell a lot of stuff out of 2 gallons and I have several of those to post as well. I want to keep the pictures coming daily so it will last the whole month. Scott

Here are a couple of 6 foot pole signs. Thanks to gasoildude for picture #2.
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df10b3127cce87f922fde8650000003610[/img]
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df08b3127cce87c5223ea42b0000003610[/img]

[This message has been edited by quartcans (edited 02-02-2004).]

Imperial never used to many signs to promote their product. I'm not sure why because they seemed to paste their logo on everything else. I don't know what this sign was used for. The next 2 signs are pumps plates. The 1st is aluminum and the 2nd is porcelain.
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df05b3127cce876745b91b720000003610[/img]
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce8526491c8ad70000003610[/img]
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce8526485aca090000003610[/img]

Starting today through next week I will be posting oil containers that Imperial Refineries used.
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce85264bfc0b060000003610[/img]
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df25b3127cce852648074b640000003610[/img]
[img]http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4df05b3127cce8767455e9aa50000003610[/img]

You're doing great Scott.
Anyone else have any Imperial stuff they can post?
Bob