XOM going nostalgic.

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I was at a local gas station and there was some "Esso Uniflo" oil on the shelves. SM rated, manufactured by XOM, and "manufactured for sale in the following states....." There were only about 20 states on the list. I'm thinking they really don't need another oil line.
 
They sell that oil at B-Js wholesale. If it was an independent station, that might be where he got it!

I assume the state thing is a holdover from breaking up the Standard Oil company into districts. (S-O --> Esso)
 
Exxon was the old Standard Oil of New Jersey. They had the rights to the "Standard" name, and, indirectly, "S-O" after the break-up of the original "Standard Oil", in about 20 states in the Eastern part of the USA, and retained the right to the Standard name outside the USA.

As a result, in the rest of the country, they had to use a name other than Esso. In the west, it was "Enco", or sometimes "Humble".

Around 1970, the top Standard Oil of NJ management decided that they would be better off if they could market under a single name across the entire USA. So they abandoned Esso, Enco, Humble, etc. used regionally and went with Exxon across the entire country. Outside the USA, they retained the use of the Esso trademark.

I guess the captains of industry have now decided that it would be proper to continue to use the Esso name in the USA markets where they can. I wonder if this is to head off others using the Esso trademark, claiming it was "abandoned" in the USA by ExxonMobil?

I know about all this nonsense because I worked for Exxon around 1970. That was back in the days when many people worked for a company for their entire career, and a lot of old timers were very upset to see the Esso trademark replaced by the Exxon trademark.

Some referred to "Exxon" signs as "the sign of the double cross".
 
It would be nice if this was the beginning of a move to bring the Esso line of oils to the states. I'd love to go to my local wally world and pick up some XD-3 Extra!
grin.gif
 
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