Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Valvoline History Question

Curious if anyone is versed in Valvoline’s history enough to know when they transitioned from Edgewater Oil Works over to Valvoline Oil Company on their cans. Seems by the 30s the latter appeared on their products, but I can’t seem to find a definitive time frame for when exactly that happened. Additionally, with the Edgewater refinery being in NJ, anyone know of any Valvoline cans that mentioned NJ instead of NY under the company name? Thank you ahead of time for anyone willing to lend a hand!

can of subject .. ...

Well, this doesn't answer your question, here is some history of the two.

Valvoline History
Founding and Early Development
Founded: 1866 by Dr. John Ellis
Original Name: Continuous Oil Refining Company
Location: Binghamton, New York
Key Product: High-quality lubricants, initially marketed as Binghamton Cylinder Oil, later renamed Valvoline in 1868.
Contributions to the Oil Industry
Valvoline was one of the first companies to refine petroleum for use as a lubricant, improving upon earlier animal and vegetable oils.
The company gained recognition for its innovative products, which were essential for steam engines and industrial machinery.
Edgewater Oil Works History
Overview
Role: Edgewater Oil Works was part of the early oil industry in New York, contributing to the development of petroleum products during the same era as Valvoline.
Significance: While not as widely recognized as Valvoline, Edgewater Oil Works played a role in the regional oil production landscape.
Contributions
Edgewater Oil Works focused on refining and producing various petroleum products, helping to establish New York as a significant player in the oil industry during the 19th century.

Great info, Randy. Think that’s the first I’ve heard of Continuous Oil.

And thank you other Randy for the pic, beautiful can! I need one of those for my NJ collection 😅

The more I look into it, the more it seems the two companies may have offered Valvoline products during the same time period…so I guess that makes Edgewater a subsidiary or a distributor of sorts for Valvoline Oil Company at one point in time. Diving a little deeper, I think Edgewater may have had a hand (using the access to international waters their location provided) to help move and sell Valvoline’s products abroad as I’ve turned up Valvoline cans using the Edgewater company’s name in a couple different countries.

I guess that’d make me mostly curious as to when that relationship started and when that ended, would be useful in understanding the timeline/role and help date some cans and signs. Thanks guys!