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BRIEF COMPANY HISTORY
A I B I C I D I E I F I G I H I i I J I K I L I M I N I O I P I Q I R I S I T I U I V I W I X I Y I Z
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NATIONAL BENZOLE CO LTD was formed in London in 1919 to market a surplus of Benzole as a motor fuel additive. Benzole had been used as a shell propellant in the 1st world war and there was an abundant supply when the war came to a close. By 1922 the company was producing their own mixture of benzole and petrol and this product became known as National Benzole Mixture. It was marketed as an anti knock petrol that gave improved acceleration. In 1928 the company's aggressive marketing was proving a success and the famous "Mr Mercury" became the company's new logo with strong corporate colours of black, yellow/gold and silver. By 1934 the company had acquired Power Petroleum and expanded its business interests throughout the UK. During the 2nd World War petrol was pooled and corporate identity was suspended but 1953 saw the return of Mr Mercury in familiar guise and by 1957 he had had a makeover, he was now blue, yellow and white and took a very striking forward looking pose - somewhat art deco in design. In this year National Benzole was acquired by Shell-Mex and B.P. Ltd but continued its separate identity with the addition that it managed the Dominion Motor Spirit Co Ltd, which can be seen by ownership titles on later Dominion Petrol Pump Globes. NBC had earlier, around 1950, become the marketing agency for Dominion products and now that they had full control Dominion Motor Spirit was quickly phased out. In the early 1960's the company dropped the Benzole Mixture as well and solely sold straight petrol with the brand becoming plain "National". 1976 saw the de merger of Shell-Mex and B.P. with the company staying with British Petroleum. The brand started to decline in the 1980's as B.P. concentrated on their own brand and by the early 1990's the National brand was no more. We have a legacy though - the Smurfs, remember them and you may well remember the National Benzole Co. See also Power Petroleum history. LINKS - National Benzole Petrol Cans I Petrol Globes If you have further interesting information on this company or photographic images that you would like to send then please contact us by email. |
POWER PETROLEUM CO LTD (THE) commenced business in 1922 and was quickly taken over by the Medway Oil & Storage Co (MOSCO) in 1924 with its headquarters being moved to the Isle of Grain in Kent. Around 1930 another company came to prominence - Russian Oil Products (ROP) and a connection was made in the press between ROP and MOSCO which seemed to suggest that the Russians had infiltrated the UK's oil market. This of course was untrue but Power used the publicity to good effect and their business and brands started to grow. 1935 saw Power enter into an agreement with the Ethyl Corporation of America to add Tetraethyl to their petrol and a new brand was launched "Power Ethyl". Prior to this in 1934, Power Petroleum had been acquired by Shell-Mex & B.P. Ltd but had continued to trade under its own brands. In 1948 "Power Diesel" was introduced and by 1957 "Power Plus" was about to be launched when reorganisation within B.P. Ltd led to new branding and marketing strategies with the result that Power Plus became BP Super. Power Petroleum is still owned by B.P. OIL UK Ltd. The company's original logo was a diamond within a diamond with the words "Medway Oil and Storage Company" between the diamonds. This was later altered in the early 1930's to the single diamond shape with the "Power" brand within it. There was also another logo, a circle with entwined P's and the name "Power Petroleum". The early company vehicles were painted orange and chrome with the Power brand prominently painted on. Early globes in the shape of a diamond were made by the glass factories of Czechoslovakia but later globes were produced in the UK. Slogans of the time were "At the sign of the diamond" and "Just try it". At the same time that the Power name was being phased out in 1957 the National Benzole Company Ltd was acquired by Shell-Mex and B.P. Ltd. NBC quickly seized on using the familiar Power diamond globe as their own and re branded with a "Mr Mercury" this lasted a short time before modernising to the plain brand of "National". LINKS - Power Petrol Cans I Globes I Signage If you have further interesting information on this company or photographic images that you would like to send then please contact us by email. |
PRICE'S PATENT CANDLE CO of 1847 started life as Edward Price & Co in 1830 and is still trading today albeit under Italian ownership. The company had production facilities at London, Liverpool and Manchester. The main business of candle making is a long story but central to this is oil which, amongst other locations, was discovered in Burma in 1854. Price's imported large quantities of oil into the UK to make paraffin wax candles and with a distillation process of the oil the company was able to produce four separate products - benzene used as a cleaning product; kerosene for lamp oil; paraffin wax for candles; and lastly a heavy waste oil for which no use had at that time been found. Large exports were made to the USA of kerosene but that came to an end when oil was discovered in Pennsylvania in 1859. With stockpiles of bulk oil Price's experimented with the heavy waste oil and produced its first lubrication oils for use with steam engines and other machinery. By 1930 the company had produced many lubricating oils including "Motorine" which was the approved oil for Rolls Royce cars. In 1919 Price's Patent Candle Company Ltd was taken over by Lever Brothers Ltd and three years later a new company was formed to take over the business - Candles Ltd, which was jointly owned by Lever Bros, British Petroleum, Burmah Oil and Shell. Lever Brothers withdrew from Candles Ltd in 1936 but the company continued with its oil lubricant production at Battersea in London. In 1951 Price's produced the first multigrade oil which was branded "Price's Energol" the brand was a huge success but by 1954 B.P. had moved all of the company's oil production to their Grangemouth refinery and re branded Price's Energol to "B.P. Energol". By 1982 B.P and Burmah Oil had pulled out leaving Shell as the sole owner. Shell finally sold the business in 1991. An enduring "trade mark" of the company is a fully rigged Clipper Ship which appeared on all of the company's products and advertising. This first appeared in the 1870's and was a recognition of the importance that this means of transport had had for the fortunes of the company in its importation of oil. LINKS - Price's Signage If you have further interesting information on this company or photographic images that you would like to send then please contact us by email. RAYBESTOS was founded in 1902, as an Automotive Brake Co, by Arthur H. Raymond and Arthur F. Law of Bridgeport, Connecticut. A woven brake lining was invented by them in 1906 and in 1924 they developed the concept of training of technicians to meet the changing needs of the automotive industry. 1950 saw the Raybestos name enter Motor Racing where it still stands strong today. The Raybestos brand continues under the ownership of the Affina Group Inc. LINKS - Raybestos Signage If you have further interesting information on this company or photographic images that you would like to send then please contact us by email. REGENT Oil Company was founded in 1947 following a merger between Texaco Petroleum Products and Trinidad Leaseholds. Prior to the war the Regent brand name had been used by a small distributor of motor spirit who had been taken over by Trinidad Leaseholds in 1931 and it was this name that the newly merged company used. 1953 saw the end of pooled petrol regulations and Regent began to broaden its operations by selling branded petrol in the UK. The company also had a tanker fleet and this expanded through its Texaco connections. Texaco had various North Sea interests including refineries etc. Texaco took full control of Regent in 1967 by buying out Trinidad Leaseholds and began to phase out the Regent brand in favour of the Texaco brand. Texaco also had other small brand names and in 2004 relaunched them all under the Regent brand where the familiar red white and blue branding can still be seen today. LINKS - Regent Petrol Cans I Globes If you have further interesting information on this company or photographic images that you would like to send then please contact us by email. |
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