Series 7: Business This is another very large series, artificially arranged. The files were removed from storage at various locations, but all original subject headings have been retained. The earliest papers are filed chronologically October 1923 to June 1930 (Boxes 7.1 and 7.2) and include business correspondence related to the Blausteins’ transactions with Pan American Transport & Petroleum Co. All parts of the inter-company organizations are represented in the series. Formal and informal minutes of Board of Directors and Executive Committee meetings held in New York, Baltimore, Boston, and Houston are included for the following companies: Pan Am Petroleum & Transport Co, Pan American Refining Corp, Pan American Production Co, Pan American Gas Co, Pan American Pipe Line Co, American Oil, Lord Baltimore Filling Stations, and Mexican Petroleum Corporation. The series offers a broad record of all aspects of the petroleum industry in the first half of the 20th century: oil field acquisitions, leases, advertising, contracts, agreements, codes, sales reports, purchase of oil tankers, and the growth of filling stations. Between 1921 and 1932, Louis and Jacob Blaustein oversaw the growth and expansion of their oil business into an inter-company enterprise. By 1932, they had moved from their small space in South Baltimore to larger offices in the Amoco Building, Baltimore, MD. Louis Blaustein had offices on the 14th floor that connected to the office of the First Vice-President and General Manager, Jacob Blaustein. On the same floor was Dr. Alvin Thalheimer, Second Vice-President. Mr. M. J. Gately and Mr. J. Rothfield were assistants to Jacob Blaustein, and Miss V. A. Meyer was secretary. Correspondence reveals the competitive practices of filling stations and the enforcement of the Clayton Act in the late 1920s. Other documents detail the mergers and expansion of oil production operations; for example, “Stanolind Oil & Gas Company was organized as a subsidiary of [Standard Oil] Indiana to take over properties of Dixie Oil Co. and McMann Oil & Gas Co. as well as properties of some of Indiana’s other subsidiaries in the Rocky Mountain area.” Jacob Blaustein’s attention to advertising methods, his use of radio commercials, and his attention to the design and distribution of materials (Boxes 7.4 and 7.5) are further indication of his business acumen. In 1930 a huge campaign was launched to promote Amoco’s Orange American Gas, the company’s newly developed regular motor fuel. Another campaign began in 1933 when Amoco products were extended to Georgia and Florida markets, and the slogan became “American Marches Ahead from Maine to Florida.” The agency handling Amoco’s advertising, The Joseph Katz Company, devised contests, billboards, original newspaper ads, circulars, testimonial letters, and posters to promote Amoco. Another milestone for the company occurred on September 24, 1936 with the launching of the tanker Pan Amoco, the first of four new oil tankers being built by the Pan American Petroleum and Transport Company for the American Oil Company. The ship was designed to carry petroleum products from refineries in Texas, Georgia, and Baltimore, Maryland to ocean terminals from Maine to Galveston, Texas. Photographs record the event, including Mrs. Blaustein christening the ship (Box 7.19). Also of interest in Box 7.14 are a series of Amoco’s monthly publication, Milestones, from the 1920s and ‘30s that describe company activities and employee relations. During the Depression years, American businesses responded to the mood of the country in various ways. For example, the American Oil Company attempted to bolster the spirit of the public with parades, radio programs, and “pep-rallies” for employees. The Director of the American Oil Company Band was Arthur Pryor, who presented a program of military music on Saturday evening radio. On the same program was an American Quartet and a comedian, Jay C. Flippen, whose “side-splitting ballyhoo” was an apparent boost to everyone’s morale. Other papers of interest in this series relate to the requirements set for the petroleum industry by the National Recovery Administration (1933-1935) (Box 7.20). Aggressive advertising was promoted by Hugh S. Johnson, administrator for the agency. The Petroleum Code set strict guidelines for sale and resale accounts, employee salaries, and maintenance of equipment. Blaustein was a member of the Planning and Coordination Committee of the American Petroleum Institute. In that capacity, he paid close attention to the interpretation of the Petroleum Code. Minutes, reports, and other communications are filled with his annotations and corrections (Box 7.55). In Box 7.5 are the original telegrams that request fuel for Charles Lindbergh’s trans-Atlantic flight to Paris in April 1927. (In Series 1, File 2602 is a copy of the receipt for ten drums of Amoco Gas that fueled Charles Lindbergh’s trans-Atlantic flight to Paris in April, 1927. Prior to Lindbergh’s scheduled departure, the Standard Oil Company (California) phoned J. Blaustein and told him their shipment of gasoline would not arrive in time for the flight and asked that the American Oil Company rush an emergency shipment to Lindbergh. The fuel was shipped from Baltimore on the B&O Railroad to Hempstead, Long Island). Records of the Blausteins’ numerous business and pleasure trips (Box 7.59) include itineraries, train and plane schedules, hotel reservations, cables, correspondence relating to the purpose of the trip, and some of Jacob Blaustein’s daily correspondence with his secretary while away. In Box 7.77 are documents of Blaustein’s contacts with the U. S. State Department in consideration of purchasing an oil concession in the Middle East. |
