Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana COTM: SHELL

December is here and it's time to feature Shell as our company of the month. Thanks to Doc for the banner and to Jim for the great site. I feel honored for the priviledge of hosting a company so revered by collectors. I don't consider myself to be a historian of the company, I'm mainly a collector, but there is a lot of information available and I'll do my best. I collect lots of stuff including Texaco, Mobil, Richfield, Flying A, Chevron, and Signal, but I'd have to say Shell gets me the most excited. I have a modest collection of Shell items and we'll be seeing some of that here, but I know there are some incredible collections out there and a lot of stuff I don't have or probably never even seen. So lets all join the party, share pictures of our stuff and make this an all time topic. I'm shooting for ten pages!

The origins of this global enterprise can be traced back to Marcus Samuel in London, England circa 1833. He started an import export business selling sea shells to Victorian natural history enthusiasts. Later his son expanded the business into exporting Russian oil products to asian markets. The name "Shell" first appeared in 1891 as a trademark for kerosene being shipped to the far east. In 1892 the first tanker load of kerosene was delivered to Singapore and Bangkok. 1897 saw the formation of the Shell Transport and Trading Company.

Meanwhile, a Netherlands company named Royal Dutch was competing with the British for overseas petroleum markets. A merger with with Samuel's company was arranged and in 1907 the Royal Dutch/Shell group of companies was created and a worldwide enterprise was born.

History of the Pecten: First appeared in 1901 as a Mussel shell and in 1904 gained more of an imagery status as a Scallop shell.




1909 saw it refined to the early image we are most familiar with. Major changes were made in 1948 and 1955. Why red and yellow? The companies first kerosene shipments were in red containers, traced to Spanish origins. Early Shell of California stations seeking visual impact saw the connection to the state's Spanish heritage and red and yellow were chosen.

I'll be adding more history bits later, hopefully to include the formation of Shell of California and Roxana Petroleum Company. But we want to see pumps, cans, signage, globes, all that good stuff, right?

Cans from Shell of California late teens early twenties



Golden Shell cans



30's or 40's vintage cans



Five quart cans



Grease cans early and later, note the Roxana Petroleum logo



Variety of containers



I'll be back later tonight with other stuff. Enjoy!


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Here are some pictures I photographed at the Shell Museum in Roxanna, Illinois.








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Scott Shipers
WANTED: Quart Picture Cans
Kansas City, Missouri

Here are some misc. Shell items I have photographed at shows or in collections.






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Scott Shipers
WANTED: Quart Picture Cans
Kansas City, Missouri

Here is a porcelain thermometer from a friends collection.


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Scott Shipers
WANTED: Quart Picture Cans
Kansas City, Missouri

Thanks Scott, good stuff. That Shell thermometer commands a hefty price when one comes up for sale.

Here's a link from this site to the Shell History Museum:
http://www.oldgas.com/info/shellmus.htm

And the official museum web site:
http://www.wrrhm.org/

Shell clam station
http://www.oldgas.com/info/ws_shell.htm

Restored Bowser 310 in my basement



We're not going to go in any particular order here, so feel free to post your signs, cans, whatever at any time.

Great stuff so far! Check your email Vern. I sent you a couple of pictures.

Royal Shell's next move was to gain a foothold in the United States. Their presence here grew out of two organizations founded in 1912, the Pacific coast based American Gasoline Company and the midwest based Roxana Petroleum Company. Royal Dutch Shell purchased the property for a refinery in 1917 in what was to become "the town that Shell built", Roxana Illinois. The town was incorporated in 1921 and supposedly took it's name from the wife of the owner of Royal Dutch, Roxanne.

Roxana Petroleum items are at the top of the Shell collectibles food chain. Here's some items from Roxana Petroleum in my collection I've added this year.









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A look at some signs







From the world famous flyingausa collection



Foreign sign





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Nice Bennett 541 from Paul Fuhrlinger (flyingausa), looks very authentic



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Posting these for Jim White (leonardoil)

"1) I need to know the era,I have never seen one with the red lines going almost all the way thru the sign.Early?
2)This is a porc 36" single sided Roxanna era sign."



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Jim "Oldgas" Potts
Your host and moderator

Thanks Jim

Picked this up on ebay. It is 7", curved, heavy porcelain. Looks like it may have gone on a curb type pump? Based on the logos it looks to be an early piece. I think it is foreign.

Does anyone have any info on the small curved sign I posted?

SHELL w/ETHYL [porcelain 1 piece pump plate on left] was used 1933-1936. Very few of these plates are known to exist.
SHELL [porcelain sign on right] was used 1937-1946.
[according to B&H resto book]
db

bustermonty, that's one of the coolest foreign Shell signs I've seen.

DB, thanks for posting the picture of that pump, it's a celebrity in it's own right. Never even noticed the ultra rare pump plate on it before.

Fifteen inch "west coast" globe. Actually used not just on the west coast but as far east as Texas, I'm not quite sure on the extent of Shell of California marketing.



And it's eastern cousin



Ultra rare fifteen inch lens from a prominent local collector in Tacoma

36" Golden Shell



Couple more signs from Tacoma

Here's some British globes from the late 20's up to the 60's

Posting for Frank Jordan:

"the six inch sign was used on a reps vehicle,from the 1920"s
shell premium pump plate from the thirties"





Great signs Frank!

I've been a little swamped with photo submissions, it's taking me a while but I'll get to all of them. Thanks

A few more from flyingausa Paul







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From lastgas15 Bob Drake:



"These last few pictures are of my son Darrel's collection. He was around 10 years old when he started collecting. He lost interest in collecting petro stuff when he discovered girls and cars. Most of his cans are common but there are a few rare pieces in there. One is an early striped (Roxanna) handy oiler. Another is the shell shaped plastic handy oiler in the last picture.
He also has a Shell Insecticide burlap bag, and a rare Jimmy Allen Aero Shell puzzle."











Thanks Bob, we'll have more from him later



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Submitted by some guy in Oklahoma. Thanks Butch!







36 inch single sided sign of european origin, possibly Belgium

A few more from Butch Greer



Another beautiful foreign sign

Some killer items from John O'Hern. I've never seen the "no smoking" sign before. The Roxana globe is similar in condition to mine. Next to impossible to find one that the red hasn't gone away on.











Thanks John,

Thanks to all for the photos ! Always had Shell stuff around. Dad and uncles ran "Shell-A-Rama" on Route 17 North in Mahwah, NJ c.1960 across the highway from Pal's Diner. Also good friend George "Mr. Packard" Jepson had the Shell in Hillsdale, NJ for ages. Would love to get any memorabilia from these places. Ed

I've got no idea on the history of this metal box, but it hangs out in my living room...




Wes

Here are two maps, 1947 & 1948, from Shell. I'm a bit suprised, that with all the colorful Shell logos, that these are a bit plain....

Therm, that's a heck of a nice looking box. Don't know anything about it but it sure appeals to me.

Thanks to Jeff for the maps. Shell put out some great and very graphic maps, the 1929 version being one of the classics, also the 1933 license plate map too. Anybody have some to post?

This is the largest porcelain sign I've ever had. 8'x8' 2pcs, single side.ALL black spots were roofing tar that cleaned off.

This is a GREEN STREAK pump plate.

Oil rack sign, single side.


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A couple of small items.

Close up of SHELL ETHYL pump plate.

These are from a oilfield office building.
db

Still searching for some help on the 2 pics of Shell signs on page 1 at bottom that Jim had posted for me.Mostly the one on the left? any info? haven't seen anything posted here like it.
thanks Jim

More from Frank Jordan:

"These hat badges were used from the forties through the nineties."



Thanks Frank,

We'll break for a few more historical factoids. As we learned before, Shell's presence in the U.S. stemmed from two acquistions, Roxana Petroleum and the American Gasoline Company in 1912. My guess is that American Gasoline was incororated into Shell of California at that time. I haven't been able to document this so if anyone else has any other historical information I'd appreciate it.

For review here is a timeline history of Shell:

1833: Marcus Samuel starts import export business in London
1890: Royal Dutch Company launched

1892: Marcus commissions the first special oil tanker and delivers 4,000 tons of Russian kerosene to Singapore and Bangkok

1897: Samuel's company begins to operate under the name Shell Transport and Trading Company, Limited

1903: Shell and Dutch company N.V. Koninklijke Nederlandsche Maatschappij tot Explotatie van Petroleum-bronnen in Nederlandsch-Indië form the Asiatic Petroleum Company

1903: Royal Dutch and Shell group begins joint marketing campaign under name "British Dutch"

1906-1914: British Dutch Group acquires producing interests in: Romania (1906), Russia (1910), Egypt (1911), Venezuela (1913) and Trinidad (1914)

1907: Royal Dutch/Shell partnership is extended worldwide, with the creation of the Royal Dutch / Shell Group of Companies

1912: Trading in the US starts after the acquisition of the American Gasoline Company, an American marketing company

1912: Turkish Petroleum Company founded with 50% ownership by Turkish National Bank, 25% Deutsche Bank, 25% Royal Dutch/Shell

1915: Formation of the Shell Company in California

1915: Shell's Martinez, California refinery became the country's first modern, continous-process refinery that long served as the model for other U.S. refineries.

1918: Royal Dutch/Shell buys Mexican Eagle

1921: Shell's historic strike in 1921 at the legendary Signal Hill field in California set off an oil boom, with the field becoming the nation's most productive in terms of barrels per acre.

1922: Shell companies in California and the midwest merged with Deleware based Union Oil Company to form Shell Union Corporation, a holding company. This merger created the publicly held company that eventually became Shell Oil Company in 1949. In 1985, Shell Oil became a wholly owned affiliate of the Royal Dutch/ Shell Group of Companies.

1937: Shell, Total, and Partex form the consortium Petroleum Development (Oman and Dhofar) later, Petroleum Development Oman

1941: Shell scientists made a history shaping discovery when they invented the 100-octane gasoline needed for a new generation of aviation engines used in World War II.

1945-55: Exploratory drilling in Tunisia, Algeria, Nigeria, Trinidad and offshore in British Borneo; Production from the Iraq Petroleum Company increases dramatically

1949: Royal Dutch shortens its corporate title to "Shell"

1954: Consortium of oil companies, including British Petroleum, Exxon, Socony, Texas Oil, Socal, Gulf, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, and CFP form the Iranian Oil Participants Ltd. (IOP) and negotiate agreement with Iranian government and for oil production in Iran

1956: Shell discovers oil in the Sahara

1959: Joint Shell/Esso exploration company called N.V. Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij (NAM) discovers gas fields in Groningen in the Netherlands

1974: Omani government claims 25% interest Petroleum Development Oman

1975: Omani government raises its interest in Petroleum Development Oman to 60%

1979: Shell acquires Belridge Oil

1984: Shell buys minority interest (30%) in Shell Oil US

Mid-1980s: Royal Dutch/Shell buys remaining 31% of Shell Oil U.S.A. (the remainder that it did not yet own)

1998: Shell Oil Co., Texaco Inc. and Saudi Aramco initiate joint venture combining their eastern U.S. refining and marketing assets under the name Motiva Enterprises LLC, paralleling a joint venture launched by Shell and Texaco under the name Equilon Enterprises LLC for their Midwest, Southwest and West Coast downstream assets; Shell to own 35% of Houston-based Motiva, while Texaco and Aramco will each own 32.5%

1998: Occidental and Royal Dutch/Shell, Anglo-Dutch oil group complete a $1bn global asset swap

Bob Drake sent in a whole bunch of images from Aumann Auctions. Thanks to Bob and credits to Aumann Auctions

















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For some reason I'm having problems editing that last post, but here's more courtesy of Bob and Aumann Auctions:

More credits to Bob and Aumann Auctions

Continuing credits to Bob and Aumann Auctions















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Last post from Bob and Aumann Auctions

Just received these from e-mail:

Hi
Heres some pics from gas Pump Ronnie.
The clock face is a COMWEL, made in Lynwood Ca.
The tank cart is a Milwaukee. You can use these on the site if you like.
D. Fritsche





[This message has been edited by gaspower (edited 12-16-2006).]

More stuff thanks to Frank Jordan:

SHELL MAP OF AN AREA OF GERMANY (DATE UNKNOWN TO ME). THE WORD SHELL IS ON THE MAP 17 TIMES, BUT NO SHELL LOGO.

SHELL 6 INCH PATCH WITH THE 1928-1946 LOGO

Great job Gaspower, thanks for the time and effort to you and all participants!

The caption on the back of this photo reads:
"1912-Shell's Seattle Dept. Westlake Ave. and Highland Drive. Site of present division office. Property acquired Sept. 27, 1912."
It's hard to get any detail in a 50 KB or under jpg image, but note the sign on the office to the left that says "American Gasoline Company".



The caption on the next one reads:
"1915 Show Place Shell station at Eastlake and Hamlin, Seattle gasoline was 12 cents a gallon, higher than the price of eggs."

Photo credits to Seattle Historical Society.



[This message has been edited by gaspower (edited 12-17-2006).]

Frank Jordan's Shellane Bottled Gas sign on page 3 shows the same pecten as the one Jim White (leonardoil) asked about on page 1. Franks says he thinks that logo was from "the fifties and maybe the forties."

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Jim "Oldgas" Potts
Your host and moderator

Not real old, but kind of unusual

Location unknown, but I guess Southern Cal. I'll be posting more station pics if I can get through some copyright issues. Anybody else got any good station pictures?

more shell pictures

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frank jordan

A few more globes and thanks to Bob Drake for the pics

15" Green Streak, Shell's motor grade fuel, and #1 on my wanted list.



12 1/2" three piece globe, very rare, maybe only a couple known to exist, anybody have any info to add on this?



One piece "canteen" globe, not sure on the time frame for use, probably 20's.



Super Shell version



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1933 map and others





Cool Super Shell jumbo matchbook I got from Tom Stover





Giveaway item and patches from Frank Jordan





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Couple containers

Some nice foreign globes from Paul Fuhrlinger









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More foreign globes courtesy of Bob Drake:











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Foreign cont.

SHELL 1950 PAPER CREDIT CARD

5 gallon SHELL SQUARE CAN- -OLDER COLORS

2 SQUARE 5 GALLON CAN S.dIFFERENT COLORS

[URL=http://imageshack.us] [/URL Shell giveaways-2 different colors on the shell clothes hangers

Empty Shellubrication display rack

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frank jordan

I am lacking the Rubber Lubricant to complete the display

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frank jordan

@Shell cans

Shell Oil samples are dated 1937 to 1950

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frank jordan

2 different styles of 1 gallon cans

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frank jordan

Some advertising images thanks to Bob Drake















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1954 SHELL BOOKLET

A driver i worked with at Signal hill in S.Ca.

Shell Truck trailer over looking San Francisco

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frank jordan

Picture taken from a calender

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frank jordan

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2

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3

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4

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5

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6

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7

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8

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9

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frank jordan

Dated 1937

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frank jordan

hey frank i have the same calender

Wow, great images Frank. I had hoped to include some great old images from some well known collector calenders that are published every year, but was not given permission to use them here. Here are some others I have, photo credits for the tax asessor photos go to the Puget Sound Regional Archives.

Along Aurora Avenue in Seattle near Green Lake:



Near Woodland Park in Seattle. I also have a photo of a Texaco station featuring the exact same architecture close by.



Along the Bothell Highway, now known as Lake City Way.

Some "then and now" pictures. The first two are along S. 133rd in Tukwila.





Another station on Aurora near Green Lake. The pump in the background looks to be a Tokheim 850 with a Green Streak globe.

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frank jordan

1 quart Shell Penn.-ShellPetroleum Corporation
1 pintShell New Zeland-x-100

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frank jordan

5 gallon Shell bulk oil can-powder coated

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frank jordan

1qt.Shell Penn-2 different Silver Shell decals-all N.O.S.

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frank jordan

This item is not marked SHELL but was used at one time in the SHELL OIL W.SACRAMENTO terminal.If you do not know what it was used for--email me and i will clue you in!!

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frank jordan

Fellow PNW Gas Geek Tom Stover was nice enough to send in pics from his wonderful collection, thanks to wife Carole

How about this Shell Household Kit. It's got my DNA all over, spilled lots of drool over it at Tom's birthday party!

A few more from Tom