The Hancock Refining Company was based in Long Beach, California and was founded in the Twenties. By the 1950 issue date of this map, Hancock operated stations throughout California. Hancock, Regal, and Norwalk were all California-based regional marketing companies acquired by Signal Oil and Gas around 1960. Note the common appearance of this triple-branded map with those issued by Signal's other subsidiaries — SOC and Billups in the southeast and south central states.
Harbor was a fairly short-lived secondary brand owned by Champlin and based in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Harbor was one of the first brands offering 24-hour operation at all locations. The map also touts Harbor's fast service, universal credit card acceptance, and interestingly mentioned the "all-weather canopies" at Harbor stations. This map was issued in 1964 and is believed to be the only Harbor road map issue. Caption pending
Harper is a small retailer based in Springfield, Illinois which operates to this day; some of its service station/convenience store locations are branded Harper while others are co-branded with Phillips or Citgo. This map was issued in 1964. Hess Oil and Chemical was a New Jersey-based refiner that entered marketing in the Northeast in the late Fifties. With the acquisition of other regional firms during the Sixties, Hess expanded its marketing area to include most of the eastern seaboard and now markets in 15 states.
Caption pending H. Earl Clack was an independent marketer in the Rocky Mountain region which marketed under the Hi-Power brand. This 1953 map was issued about the same time the company was acquired by Husky Oil Company. For some time after the acquisition, the Hi-Power name was retained with Husky branding.
Caption pending The Hi-Speed monicker was used by the Hickock Oil Co. of Toledo, Ohio as a brand for its stations in Ohio and Michigan. A controlling interest in the company was acquired by Pure Oil in the Twenties but the Hi-Speed brand did not disappear until the early Fifties when Pure acquired the remaining outstanding shares of Hickock.
Hicks Oil was originally based in the small central Illinois town of Roberts. This map dates from the late Thirties. This later Hicks map shows the new "Hicksatomic" brand introduced in the Fifties by an expanded company, now based in Aurora, Illinois. Hicks is still in operation, though its presence is now somewhat limited.
The Holiday brand was introduced by the Erickson Oil Co. of Minneapolis as the brand for its new chain of convenience stores — the first of their kind — when this marketing operation was introduced in the early Sixties. Holiday stations exist to this date in several north central states. This Holiday map was issued in 1965.
Caption pending Home Oil Products was a regional marketer operating in the Canadian province of British Columbia. This scenic map was issued in 1940.
This map was issued by Home Oil Products in 1958. The company marketed in British Columbia until its acquisition by Imperial Oil (Esso) during the early Eighties. The Hoosier Petroleum Co. was based in Indianapolis, Indiana and marketed in Indiana with a small representation in neighboring states. The company marketed using the Hoosier Pete and Vortex names. This map was issued in 1955, just a year before Hoosier Petroleum was acquired by Gaseteria, another Indianapolis-based independent. In 1957, the combined operation was acquired by Jersey Standard, with the stations rebranded to Oklahoma.
Hudson of Delaware was spun off from the Kansas City operation in 1968 and was purchased by Koch Industries of Wichita, Kansas in the mid-Seventies. Marketing under the Hudson name continued into the early Eighties. The Kansas City-based Hudson Oil Co. was founded in the Thirties and expanded to a coast-to-coast operation (albeit one with a limited presence in most markets). The company was split in 1968, with part of the operation being spun off as the Hudson of Delaware operation (see above). This map was issued in 1958.
The Humble Oil and Refining Company was founded in Houston, Texas during the Teens and acquired by Standard of New Jersey shortly after its birth. During the Twenties, Humble established retail operations in Texas (and later New Mexico).
Caption pending
This 1936 Humble map of Texas is reminiscent of Esso maps of the same year and, in fact, bears a rubber-stamped imprint from an Esso dealer on the Arkansas side of Texarkana (which straddles the Arkansas-Texas state line). The red Humble oval logo is reminiscent of the parent company's familiar Esso logo (and in fact, the Humble logo's colors were inverted to match the Esso logo after World War II). Caption pending
This 1956 map shows the Humble oval logo which, like the emblems used by Jersey Standard's other marketing companies, was a variation on the Esso logo the company used in its original marketing area along most of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. Humble's cover art and that of its Jersey Standard (Esso) parent tended to follow a fairly standard formula. By the late Fifties, the standardized cover design depicted some geographically-appropriate feature. This colorful 1959 Humble map issue is a bit unusual in that it departs from the standard formula. Shortly after this map was issued, Humble stations in Texas and the southwest were rebranded to the newly-coined Enco brand. Even after this 1961 rebranding, the Humble name would live on as the name of Jersey Standard's nationwide marketing subsidiary and the Humble brand would be adopted for use in Ohio due to prohibitions on using either the Esso or Enco names there.
Caption pending This map was issued by the Husky Refining Company of Cody, Wyoming in 1947.
This 1956 map was issued by the H. Earl Clack subsidiary of Husky in 1956. Husky originated in the Thirties as a brand owned by Western Oil and Fuel of Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was established in the late Thirties, entered Canadian marketing in the late Forties and expanded into the Rocky Mountain states by merger and acquisition in the Fifties and Sixties. This 1958 map was issued by Husky Hi-Power and in addition to the regular map, includes a map of fishing locales on the rear.
Caption pending This map was issued by Husky's Canadian subsidiary in 1960.
Caption pending Not much is known about this small independent. The station list on the map shows a mere nine stations (all in Ohio), making this a fairly rare map. This Rand McNally generic map was issued in 1947.

Saturday, June 25, 2005