conoco

 

I know -- I've been on an old truck kick lately.  This gasoline tanker was spotted behind the Continental Oil Company in Floydada.  Better known as Conoco, the Continental Oil Company was founded in 1875.  Despite several mergers, the familiar red bar and triangle logo was used from 1930 to 1970.  Starting in 1909, Conoco built filling stations and then established fleets of trucks to deliver fuel. This particular truck stopped delivering a few decades ago.

 

The photo below also has a Conoco delivery truck, if you look closely under the "warehouse."  My grandfather W. O. Fortenberry and his brother Albert were influential Lubbock County businessmen in 1930-40s .  Bill built the gin at New Deal; Albert had the Conoco dealership.  His trucks delivered throughout the West Texas region and New Mexico.  Right to left: Bill Fortenberry, his wife Bonnie, and Albert in the white suit.

 

 

Fortenberry Gin at New Deal 1939

 



Little known Conoco facts:

In the 1940s the oil company produced an "anti-squeak" crayon under the Conoco label.

The 1957 Wham-O Hula Hoop was made with Conoco/Phillips plastic.