BRIEF COMPANY HISTORY

SHELL TRANSPORT AND TRADING COMPANY (THE), formed in 1897, was the brainchild of 2 brothers - Marcus and Sam Samuel. Their father had been a London trader sending merchandise out to the Far East and it was this market that the 2 brothers first exploited in 1892 by shipping Lamp Oil by the tanker load. In honour of their father, who had previously shipped seashells to this region, they gave the brand name of "SHELL" to their new product. By 1897, after a very successful 5 years, Marcus and Sam were ready to launch their new company. In 1900 the company had its first logo - a mussel shell but this was not to last that long and was replaced in 1904 by the first pecten (scallop shell). The company grew quickly and in 1907 Shell merged with the Royal Dutch Petroleum Company. The trademark of the new venture was a yellow pecten on a red background with the brand name of SHELL.

The history of the company is so vast and diverse that this brief account is limited to that as it applies to the UK and then only to those matters that relate to the branding of the company as seen through its advertising and products.

There has been many variations of the company's logo over the years with a gradual modernisation of the pecten to that which we are familiar with today. There has also been changes to the colour schemes throughout the past 100 years with yellow on red, red on yellow etc. Early Shell paper advertising can be described as clumsy and cluttered. As with most advertising of the early 20th century too much was crammed in so much so that quite often the message was lost. By the 1920's things started to change though, a new era of simplistic but effective advertising was being borne and this carried on through into the 1930's and up to WW2. It seemed that graphic artists were given a free reign and with the Art Deco influence, advertising had reached its zenith. Shell fully exploited this new and exciting style and throughout its advertising and in all media it became a worldwide name for oil. The legacy left by Shell from the pre war period can today be found in the company's vast range of period enamel signs, petrol pump globes, printed tins, petrol cans and printed ephemera such as posters. Of particular note is the Shell "Stick-Man" design which can be found on signs, tins and equipment worldwide.

LINKS - Shell Petrol Cans I Petrol Globes I Signage I Oil Tins

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SHELL - MEX was founded in 1919 to be the UK marketing organisation of Shell and Mexican Eagle. Mexican Eagle had access to wide tracts of land deemed to be rich in oil potential and Shell saw the merger as making good economic sense. The original offices were located at Kingsway WC2 but new larger premises were soon required so in 1930/31 Shell-Mex House at 80, Strand, London was constructed to serve the enlarged business.

Whilst at Kingsway branding of the company was a combination of Shell Motor Spirit, Mex Motor Spirit and Shell Mex Motor Spirit. This can be seen through the branded 2 gallon petrol cans of the period and also the various petrol pump globes.

LINKS - Shell - Mex Petrol Cans I Petrol Globes

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SHELL - MEX AND B.P. LTD was formed in 1931 as a joint UK marketing venture between Shell-Mex and British Petroleum mainly as a result of the difficult trading conditions being experienced at that time. The headquarters was located at Shell-Mex House, 80, Strand, London. In 1934 the company acquired The Dominion Motor Spirit Company and in 1958 the National Benzole Company Ltd joined the organisation. 1976 saw the de-merger of the business as the two founding companies went their own ways with the National staying with BP.

Throughout the relationship the companies continued to market their own brands. This can be seen on both Shell and BP petrol pump globes which whilst carrying the singular brand the globes are usually marked on the neck "Property of Shell-Mex and B.P. Ltd.

LINKS - Shell Globes I BP Globes

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SPURRIER GLAZEBROOK CO LTD (THE) of 8, Market Place, Manchester was a small oil company operating in the UK with "SPUR" as their registered trade mark.

LINKS - Spur Petrol Can

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STAVELEY BENZOL, formed around 1919, was a little known of company located near Chesterfield in Derbyshire. This area was a major mining area for Benzole which had been produced initially as a propellant for shells used during the Great War but which was now promoted as an anti-knock petrol additive giving better acceleration to the combustion engine.

LINKS - Staveley Benzol Petrol Can

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VACUUM OIL COMPANY had formed as a petroleum company in the United States in 1866 and by the late 1890's had expanded its operations to Europe and Australia. In 1911 a new company was formed in the United States called "Standard Oil Company of New York" (socony) and in 1920 this company registered a new trade mark called "Mobiloil". Also in 1911 another new company, Magnolia Petroleum Company, was formed and its trade mark was a red winged horse "Pegasus". Here then were three ingredients that were to come together in mergers and affiliations to produce the brands and trade marks that are so well known today. 1931 saw the merger of Socony and Vacuum Oil Company and a short while later the merged company Socony - Vacuum affiliated with Magnolia Petroleum Company and the Mobil Pegasus trade mark was born. Another famous early trade mark was the gothic "Gargoyle" perhaps deriving from "garage oil". In 1955 the company was renamed Socony Mobil Oil Company and in 1966 it was shortened to the Mobil Oil Company. By 1999 Mobil had merged with the Exxon Corporation and the company became ExxonMobil.

Products in the UK were mainly lubrication oils with Mobiloil becoming a major brand by the 1930's but it was not until the early 1950's when government "Pooled Petrol" deregulation occurred that Mobil opened its first Petrol stations. The Vacuum Oil Company began its Australian operations at the end of the 19th century and in 1916 it commenced petrol retailing with a brand called "Plume". Pegasus became a familiar logo in 1939 and by 1954 a new petrol brand named "Mobilgas" had replaced the Plume brand.

Pre war enamel signs for the Vacuum Oil Company are very attractive usually incorporating a tin of motor oil in the design on a red background. Other signs were in white and incorporated the "Gargoyle" trade mark. Early motor oil tins were coloured white and produced in a variety of shapes with the grade of oil marked on them "A", "B", "C", "CW", "D" etc for varying types of engine. Later tins incorporated the "Gargoyle" and "Mobiloil" trade marks as part of the brand.

LINKS - Vacuum Oil Company Signage I Oil Tins I 2 Gallon Cans I Mobil Globes

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WAKEFIELD CASTROL came into being in March 1899 after its founder Charles Cheers Wakefield had resigned from the Vacuum Oil Company. He set up business in the heart of London and traded under the name C.C. Wakefield & Co. 10 years later in 1909 the company launched a new product called "Castrol" which was made from Castor Oil. The new product was aimed at the new and developing automotive industry and variable grades were produced for motor cars, motor cycles and aeroplanes with each can being marked up with the appropriate grade. The company was taken over in 1966 by Burmah Oil and became Burmah-Castrol.

Wakefield Castrol became a worldwide name through its innovative marketing campaigns of the inter-wars period. It became closely associated with world speed attempts on land, water and in the air with the brand name standing proud as the winning lubricant. Period Castrol oil tins are highly collectable and there is evidence to suggest that the first branding design around 1909 had the word 'Castrol' in white without a line through the 'O' which then changed to black with a line through the 'O' which again was changed to the more familiar colouring of the trade name "Castrol" in a red script. Their distinctive green cans with black and red lettering were also produced in a variety of shapes - square caddy cans, cans with detachable oil funnels and so on. The early branding in red over a green background with a line going though the "O" in Castrol was changed in 1929 when the oil tins were re branded as "Patent Castrol". Further changes took place in 1946 when "Patent" was dropped and again in 1958 to what can be described as a more modern style of lettering which was again updated some 10 years later. One memorable slogan was "Castrol - liquid engineering". The brand still lives on but for many it was the 1920's and 1930's that Wakefield Castrol will be remembered for.

LINKS - Wakefield Castrol Oil Tins I Enamel Signs

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