Well, I was about to get around to the rest of the story...
1959—FTC cracks down on localized “gas war” pricing by Pure.
Pure purchases Wisconsin Independent Oil Co. (Wisco) of Milwaukee, and purchases subsidiaries Pure Oil Products Co. of Michigan, Inc. and Shaw Brothers Oil Co. of Miami.
1960—Pure absorbs the Woodley Petroleum Company, and its various oil field properties. Fluctuations in the oil market cause Pure financial grief that begins its decline. Exploration divisions are consolidated by regions.
Pure’s “Big One” service station concept is unleashed.
Palatine, Illinois division headquarters are finished.
Stanley Whitfield of Chattanooga, Tennessee begins his career with Pure Oil.
Early 60’s—Pure’s Olney, Illinois division is closed and its buildings become a junior college campus. Pure enters the petrochemical sector in a co-venture with Atlantic, producing benzene, toluene, and xylene at Lemont, next manufacturing hexane and heptane. The chemicals are sold under the American Mineral Spirits Company (remember AMSCO?)
1961—Fuel markets are overhauled in conjunction with Crystal Lake research. In March, the Firebird brand replaces the various “Pep” grades.
Montgomery Ward opens catalog desks at three Pure service stations (Palatine, IL; Fox Lake, IL; and Greensboro, NC).
Pure purchases Cascade Petroleum and Davidson Drilling.
1962—Finances weaken further. Pure enters the Arabian oil boom.
In May, plans to establish gas-restaurant-motel (“Tourest”) combinations along the Interstates are revealed, with TraveLodge Corp. to manage the motels, and Quaker Oats to manage the Aunt Jemima restaurant chain.
1963—Off-shore drilling co-ventures bring Pure and Union Oil in the same solar system. Pure discovers that much of its stock has been purchased by a New York brokerage firm which begins the takeover process. Atlantic Refining also attempts to purchase the company.
1964—Allied Chemical and Consolidation Coal, with New York (Loeb-Rhoades) help, attempt to buy out Pure. A syndicate of several corporations, including du Pont, disintegrates when the extent of Pure’s corporate trouble is learned. Petrofina of Belgium also considers merging with Pure.
1965—Atlantic withdraws merger bid. Possibly encouraged by dissident stockholders, Ashland Oil & Refining and Hunt Oil try to top Union offer. Pure is merged with Union Oil, who realized the strengths of Pure’s oil reserves. Crystal Lake’s research department is moved to Brea, California. Pure’s Canadian assets are incorporated into Union Oil of Canada.
The last post-merger board meeting is held at Palatine.
Mid-1960s—76 antenna balls become a fad in the Midwest before a single ball sign is seen.
ca. 1966—Union Oil attempts to deed the Crystal Lake complex to the Illinois Institute of Technology.
1967—McHenry County College takes over the buildings, which comprise its campus until 1975. MCC is known for its automotive classes that utilized the Pure equipment to best advantage. The model Pure station on U.S. 14, adjacent to campus, is closed forever.
1968—Stanley Whitfield enters Smith & McDaniels Distributors, a small Pure distributor in Georgia that becomes Whitfield Oil.
1980—Whitfield buys M.H. Oil and changes it from a Shell distributor to a Union 76 marketer.
1992—The Firebird becomes a phoenix. The Pure trademark is sold, and becomes a brand of Whitfield Oil.
Ca. 1996—The Pure trademark, and Firebird Gasoline trademarks are also made available through the Southeastern Oil Jobbers Cooperative.
