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Its my privelage to be asked to host July's C.O.T.M. I'll be covering one of the greatest companies in Canadian Gas & Oil History, McColl Frontenac, and their famous "Red Indian" brands. I'll start with a company history later today, and then lots of pictures throughout the month. If anyone has pictures, stories or suggestions, please email them to me at pogogas@telus.net . I'm not sure I can match Rex's awesome job last month, but I'll do my best to come close!

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Good Luck on the Hunt
Lance / The Pogo Man

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Lance / The Pogo Man


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As promised, my first submission, the companies history. Special thanks to my daughter Bridgette for composing this for me, the information is the best compiled history I've ever come accross, it is taken from "The Garage Door News" Fall 2002, which is the quarterly magazine published by the Canadian Service Station Memorabilia Association.


The company had its origins at the beginning of Canada’s oil history in the Ontario oil fields of Oil Springs and Petrolia where it started as McColl and Anderson in 1873. That was when Jon B. McColl and William Anderson formed a partnership to go into the lubricating oil business in Toronto. The company name was changed in 1876 to McColl Brothers and Company and the McColl family continued to operate under this name until the end of the first world war.

The McColl Brothers and Company primarily provided oils, greases, paints and varnishes to the railways presently under construction. As the Grand Trunk, Michigan Centre and later the Canadian Pacific, moved westward, McColl built plants at Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary and Vancouver as well as to the east at Toronto, Montreal and Halifax. Realizing the potential of the fast growing gasoline market, the company reorganized and re-capitalized and in 1916, began importing gasoline from the United States to supply to motorists through its marketing network.

On December 12, 1918, the old McColl Brothers and Company partnership of John W. McColl was converted into a private limited liability company under Dominion charter effective January 1, 1919. The company’s new name was McColl Brothers Ltd.

In the early 1920's the company’s gasoline marketing business was confined to Ontario and Quebec. In 1925, a new refinery was built in Toronto which started operations on August 1, and by 1927, had expanded gasoline sales to Winnipeg. Lubricants were marketed across Canada under the brand name “Red Indian.”

Early in 1927, the Montreal financial house of Nesbitt, Thompson and Company purchased all the outstanding stocks of McColl Brothers, and in late 1927, merged the company with Frontenac Oil Refineries of Montreal, a company they also owned which had emerged from the bankrupt Nation’s Oil Refineries. The company’s newly acquired Nation’s Oil Refineries of Montreal was the second largest in Quebec, and crude oil was supplied from Trinidad through a wholly-owned subsidiary Antilles Petroleum Company. In 1929, the company purchased perfection Petroleum company of Toronto.

During the depression and because of stiff competition in Quebec from B-A and Shell, the company began to struggle, and in 1936, the predatory Texas Corporation of the United States secretly began buying up shares of McColl Frontenac. By 1938, the company owned enough shares to muscles out the McColl Frontenac board of directors and set up its own slate of directors.

Through this new board of directors, the Texas Corporation purchased the Texas Company of Canada, a company which had been marketing in Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia. At this same time the company purchased the Empire Oil Company of Winnipeg. The company furthered its position in British Columbia by buying, in 1940, the majority interest in BC. Fuel Co. Ltd. had changed its name to McColl Frontenac Oil Co. (BC) Ltd.

McColl Frontenac marketed gasoline and other products across Canada through some 4,000 retail outlets of which 85% were owned by others. In 1941, “Sky Chief” was the first Texaco brand name introduced and gradually the “Red Indian” and other McColl Frontenac brands were replaced by those of Texaco.

In 1957, McColl Frontenac sold its Antilles Petroleum Co. to the Texas Corporation for $11 million and at the same time, purchased a refinery in Toronto from Regent Refining in exchange for a block of shares worth some $15 million. Since Texaco had previously purchased Trinidad Laeseholds Ltd., the parent company of Regent Refining, it received most of the shares issued by McColl Frontenac for the Toronto refinery, further increasing its own partnership of McColl Frontenac.

In 1959, McColl Frontenac changed its name to Texaco Canada Limited.



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Lance / The Pogo Man


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We'll start out with the most common Station ID signs. These signs came in various sizes from 24" all the way up to 60". The main difference you'll see is the variation of the indian head, the earlier version (Pre 1927, McColl Bros I believe) had black braids, black reliefs in the headress, and a white eye.



After the creation of McColl Frontenac in 1927 the logo became more stylized with white braids, white reliefs in the headress and a black eye.



The earlier signs read GASOLINE ~ MOTOR OILS as shown above. The later versions read both GASOLINE ~ MOTOR OILS or McCOLL FRONTENAC PRODUCTS as shown below.





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Lance / The Pogo Man

[This message has been edited by PogoGas.com (edited 07-08-2005).]


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Today we will look at keyhole signs. I only have a few photos of 2 variations, McCOLL FRONTENAC PRODUCTS & McCOLL FRONTENAC OIL CO LTD. I'm quite sure these also came with the dealer's name on them, if anyone has a photo of one, please send it to me to post pogogas@telus.net









Everyone have a great 4th of July and we'll see you again tommorow, I'm off to finish building my sundeck.

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Lance / The Pogo Man


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hi lance who is the owner of the keyhole sign?

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AS PER LANCE'S REQUEST...THIS RE-POST:

THE ONLY THING I CAN POST IN RELATION TO THE THREAD IS MY OWN HANDPAINTED 26" X 72" REPRODUCTION OF THE SELF-FRAMED PORC 1930'S SIGN. GRAPHICALLY SPEAKING ANY SIGNS HAVING THE INDIAN LOGO IS RIGHT UP THERE ON THE TOP OF MY LIST!



DOC @ THE AMERICAN GARAGES


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Great job on the sign Doc! Here are some originals to compare it too. This is the most common Motor Oil sign, but still very rare and commanding big money these days, wish I'd kept a few of the ones I've had through the years. This sign measures 26 x 72 and is a cookie cutter style.











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Lance / The Pogo Man

[This message has been edited by PogoGas.com (edited 07-09-2005).]


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Lance @ Pogos Garage

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Here is the accompanying Aviation Motor Oil Sign. This sign is the same size but even rarer............



I'll finish with signs early next week, then we'll move on to globes, product containers, maps and smalls etc, and then finish off the month old photos of stations (My personal favorite).


[This message has been edited by PogoGas.com (edited 07-08-2005).]


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This morning we will look at some more Motor Oil Signs. These are 4 early signs, the first one is painted tin sign and is a direct copy of the 1 gallon oil can of the same period, also very rare and the artwork is quite primative. The other three show porcelain signs of the same period, pre McColl/Frontenac.









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Lance / The Pogo Man

[This message has been edited by PogoGas.com (edited 07-09-2005).]


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When the company merged as McColl Frontenac, the artwork was re-stylized and became more uniform, these signs all date from the late thirties, early forties.














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Lance / The Pogo Man

[This message has been edited by PogoGas.com (edited 07-09-2005).]


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Lance @ Pogos Garage

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Here is a very early lubester sign.......



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Nice Job lance.


Chris Holt
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Thanks Chris, Its a great brand!

Here is another dealer sign, at least part of one. I've included a couple artistic renderings from other literature to show the complete signs. I've owned one Indian Head and seen one other, but have never seen the panels with the lettering.

[img]http://www.pogogas.com/RedIndianSign6_400x317[/img]







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Looks like that sign was cut out of a 5 footer and a frame stuck on it Lance.


Wanted early tin litho signage.
petro, farm, auto, etc.
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Onto the globes now. This is an early globe used by Frontenac Oil Co, circa 1925-27. Frontenac merged with McColl Bros to form McColl Frontenac as noted in the company history above.



If anyone has pictures they would be willing to share, thats why we are here. Send them to me and I'll be happy to post them.....

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Lance / The Pogo Man


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Globe number two this week is an early one piece, Marathon Hi Test. This globe is interesting because all Marathon Indian globes are baked, this one was etched, and as far as I know, its still the only one known.





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Lance @ Pogos Garage

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I have a few questions about this brand...

In era 1926 or there abouts;

1st - can someone tell me if they would have had 2 grades of gas or 3 grades at a station?

2nd - what lens's would have been on each grade of gas and how would the pumps have been painted?

3rd - what color would the stations have been painted?

The reason I am asking this is because I am getting ready to start building a new garage and will be making it look exactly like a 1926 gas station with a right side bay for model t service - and would like it to look as close to "real / original" on the outside as I can - the total design standpoint from the roof to the driveway nothing would be there that would not have been there in 1926... "execpt for the hidden cctv cams that will be there to protect my investment from the crooks"...

If I can get a good idea of this brand it will be a toss up between red indian and red crown.


Travis E. Towle
Topeka, Kansas

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Travis
Hopefully someone here has answers to your questions, if not I'll be posting pictures of original stations later in this feature, so that should help.

Todays globe is the "Marathon Blue" This is a great globe, the centrpiece of any Red Indian collection. This particular one came out of a wharehouse at an abandoned coal mine just north of Timmins Ontario (Home of Shania Twain) and was NOS. These also came as one piece baked globes, and of course when found, they are generally weathered and illegible.



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Here is another great globe, Cyclo Ethyl. This globe would have been used beside the Marathon Blue on twins.



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Here is the one we all know, the stylized Indian head. This one was used in conjunction with Texaco Sky Chief globes during the years of transition to Texaco.



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Hey guys, I'm a little behind. Something has come up and I have to make a big time road trip to North Carolina, Ohio, West Virginia & Michigan then back home to the West Coast. The good news is I get to meet a bunch of oldgassers who've helped me put this deal together, the bad news is I have to post most of the things I had for COTM before I go. I will be back next friday, so I'll finish the feature with original station photos. And in the mean time, if anyone has pictures they need posted, send them to me and I'll do it as soon as I get home.

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THis is a real nice piece, and hard to find. Most if not all oil bottle racks are set up for 16 bottles. At $200+ per bottle plus the rack, dats a lot of chedda yo!






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Here are some early oil tins, all very hard to find. One thing about Red Indian items, everthing is rare









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Lance / The Pogo Man


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A grouping of the last tins used. These all dates from the thirties, early forties, while the last ones were teens and twenties.










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Maps are popular Red Indian items. There aren't many brands as pretty as this.







Here are four variations of the late thirties, early forties maps, they are dated on the front, and the advertising changes subtly between years.









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Here are a few blotters, nice artwork pn all of them.







This is a business card, that looks like a it doubles as a blotter.



[This message has been edited by PogoGas.com (edited 07-21-2005).]


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Here are a few more paper items, I think I'll save the rest of the stuff for when I get back, if I run into August a little I'm sure there won't be a problem




This is a wartime edition of Harvest Gold, these were used during the Texaco transition, the covers said Red Indian, but inside everything was Texaco.



Playing cards are always popular, these typically showed lithos of stations, and most came as double decks.



Red Indian ad's came in dowzens of full color and monotone layouts. The artwork was always excellent, and they look terrific framed.

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Here are a couple rare ones. These plaster heads are awesome, this is the one piece I wish I had, I'd build a whole station around it. They came in a couple variations, and are extremely rare.







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Well, its the end of the month, I won't be around tommorow so I'll finish things off today with photos of Red Indian stations and one cool signs. I hope you enjoyed this months feature, sorry for the glitches, but you know what they say, life is what happens while you're making plans......












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This is a station just down the street from me, and this shot was taken just after rebranding to Texaco in the late forties.

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Great job, Lance!! This is not a brand I was familiar with, but after seeing all these cool items, makes me want to change from Red Horses to Red indians!! Well.....maybe not, but still likem those Indians!! (I root for the Cleveland Indians, does that count?)


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THANKS, THANKS....LANCE, LANCE POGOGAS!!! EXCELLENT REPORT AND VISUAL IMAGES. I HAVE TO AGREE - THAT INDIAN LOGO IS SUPER AND WILL ALWAYS BE A STRONGPOINT IN OIL MARKETING HISTORY....JUST LIKE THE PEGASUS! SOME REALLY COOL STUFF AND I LIKED THOSE SIMPLE THINGS CALLED POSTCARDS AT THE END.

THANKS AGAIN, LANCE FOR HOSTING JULY'S C.O.T.M!

DOC @ TAG.WEST


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