Oil Heat Collectibles


Occasionally you find one. Usually a sign, or printed materials, something that displays a gasoline logo with an image that differs from that associated with their service stations and retail automotive products. There have been a few oddities; Phillips 66 Woolaroc refrigerators & freezers, Esso oil furnaces, Gulf appliances, extended lines of items from the various Co-Op brands, things that you would certainly not commonly associate with service stations. These items generally come from two marketing attempts that major oil companies made in the years following World War II.

The items I've already mentioned, with the exception of the furnaces, came from a plan some marketers experimented with in the late 1940s to turn their stations into complete "Home and Auto" stores. "Home and Auto" stores, now more extinct than even "five and ten cent" stores, thrived in the era before "big box" retailers took over marketing tyres, automotive accessories, appliances, toys, and other items that have found their own venues today. Here in the south of the US, we had the national operations; Firestone, Western Auto, Goodyear, B.F.Goodrich, and Sears "Allstate" stores; as well as local operations such as Taubman's-Advance Stores (now Advance Auto Parts) and Regent Stores. Gulf, Phillips, and Mobil all experimented with gasoline stations that became "Home and Auto" shops, and certain collectibles are associated with these experiments. Our story is not about these items however, nor about the many petrochemical and agricultural items that are sometimes found with oil company logos. In this article we plan to take a look at the plans that the major oil companies had to create a "brand image" for the fuel oil and other heating fuel operations that they or their jobbers operated.

Fuel oil is a commodity item, one that hopefully the customer never sees. Performance, within reason, cannot be compared; there is no perceived image of one brand being better than others such as exists (or existed) between gasoline brands. As a result, fuel oil is sold only on a price and service basis. If the local jobber gives acceptable service at a comparable price, brand or image is seldom a factor. From the end of World War II until the oil shortages of the 1970s, most every major oil company had a brand and image program for fuel oil that was offered to their jobbers. The following logos represent some of the fuel oil brand programs.

Among the collectible items from the marketing efforts, the most popular are the Esso "Watchdogs". These life-size plastic and fiberglass replica dogs were made to mount on top of the cabs of fuel oil and oil burner service trucks associated with the Watchdog Oil Heat program, which was basically a service to monitor your oil usage and keep your oil tank full. Other popular items are the various signs advertising participating jobbers in the Gulf "Solar Heat" program. There are several known variations, and most had a place for the jobber to bolt on a "privilege panel" listing his company name. Most of the programs provided special signage for participating jobbers, some of which are shown here. Truck signs are also known, most are porcelain, bolt-on signs that are confused with gas pump signs which are of the same basic sizes and construction.

Since some marketers sold their fuel oil products in a limited number of retail service stations for small quantity purchases, there are a few instances of pump globes or signs exist. If you include in the heating fuel market kerosene (that was usually marketed at service stations for cleaning fluid or other "solvent" purposes prior to the introduction of unvented kerosene heaters), there are then numerous examples of these items. The most widespread example of a pump image item bearing the brandname of a heating fuel program are the Sinclair "Super-Flame" kerosene globes. Although this product was marketed at service stations for illumination or cleaning solvent purposes, the product itself was essentially the same as Super-Flame Fuel Oil" delivered to your home heating oil tank by the local jobber. Other kerosene globes are known, dating as far back as the one-piece Gulf Kerosene globes of the 1920s.

Along with the heating oil market, some oil companies found a niche in the marketing of natural gas products. Propane, LP (liquified petroleum) Gas, bottle gas, these products were marketed for various heating and cooking purposes. Probably best known of the oil company brands is Philgas. Another gasoline marketer that branched into propane is Skelly, marketing Skelgas. It is ironic that Skelgas has actually survived the oil company parent, having been spun off as an independent from the complex Skelly/Getty/Texaco mergers. Phillips Petroleum began experimenting with propane in the early 1920s due to an interest that founder Frank Phillips had in the product. Ever trying to develop new uses for petroleum products, Phillips experimented with propane appliances and storage/delivery systems, developing products that became industry standards. By the time Phillips Petroleum began marketing their Phillips 66 gasoline in 1927, Philgas was already an established product.

Skelly Oil entered propane marketing in 1928 with the introduction of Skelgas. Like Phillips, Skelly developed many of the storage and delivery system principles that then entire industry would adopt, and in later years offered a complete line of propane appliances for use with the products. Skelly, like some of the others, began operating and franchising storefront appliance dealerships that were complete one-stop shops for propane products. While interest is limited in these items when compared to the items from the same companies that are more commonly associated with service stations, collectibles from the fuel oil and other heating fuel operations associated with major oil companies can be quite rare and highly sought-after by collectors specializing in each specific brand. If anyone out there specializes in these items of signage, please contact us at PCM and we will be glad to feature your collection.

Illustration shows a rare Pure Tiolene flange from the 1920s.

Article and image courtesy of ‘Petroleum Collectibles Monthly’ magazine.