Bygone Oil Co. Logos

Above, a "76" revolving ball sign. Since Conoco Phillips bought the Union Oil Co., the balls have been removed (with a few exceptions) in favor of flat plastic lighted signs. Conoco Phillips was going to do away with the 76 ball logo altogether, but a public outcry saved the logo.

Bygone Oil Co. Logos

by Armand Vaquer

The oil business is a volatile business like any other. Some succeed, some don't. And some are bought up by bigger oil companies (like Union Oil Co. was gobbled up by Conoco Phillips).

There's some I remember when I was a kid that are no longer around and some have changed.

Here's some whose signs are no longer seen in Los Angeles:

Above, "Flying A Service" disappeared from L.A. in the 1960s.

Above, Gulf Oil bought out Wilshire Gasoline stations in the 1960s (wish I could find a Wilshire Gasoline sign) and then left the L.A. market in the early 1980s. They're now primarily in the east.

Left, here's an old Richfield sign. Those are long-gone, but Richfield is now known as Atlantic-Richfield (shortened to ARCO).

Above, Signal Gasoline has been gone from L.A. since the 1960s.

Above, Texaco was my family's favored gasoline for our cars. Shell Oil gobbled up Texaco a few years ago and there's only a few Texaco stations remaining.

Shell Oil still has its yellow shell logo; Standard Oil still has its red-white-blue chevron; and Mobil Oil still has its flying red horse.