Standard Oil

An appropriate company to write about with oil such a popular topic in today's world. I filled up my Honda Accord today and I finally went over the $50 mark. I hate "remember whens," but I can't help but day dream of $20 fill-ups.

Standard Oil - the creation of John D. Rockefeller, William Rockefeller, Henry Flagler, Samuel Andrews and Stephen Harkness in 1865. By 1878, it controlled over 95% of the oil business in U.S. I am not going to go into much more history here as there is a plethora of information on the internet. Here are a couple of free books through google books about Standard Oil:

The Rise and Progress of of the Standard Oil Company by Gilbert Holland Montague
The Truth About the Trusts by John Moody
The History of the Standard Oil Company by Ida Tarbell

The images I have uploaded are from two games I have in my collection. On the Board by the Parlor Games Co. 1936 and Trusts and Busts or Frenzied Finance by Optimus Pub Co. 1904.

There are several board games that deal with oil:

The Game of Oil by Parker Brothers 1939
Gusher by Carrom 1946
King Oil by Milton Bradley 1974

Also there is literature that deals with oil:


Sevenoaks by J.G. Holland (1875) - story of theft of inventions and sale of stock in a fake oil co.
Oil! by Upton Sinclair (1927) - see movie There Will Be Blood
The Money Captain by Will Payne (1898) - story of the "Duke of Gas"

Books taken from Walter Taylor's The Economic Novel in America.

Finally, don't forget stock and bonds. In 1881, Rockefeller, et al. set up a trust to control all stock in the trusts estates. The stock certificates bear the signatures of John D. Rockefeller and Henry Flagler - the number of shareholders was small - 5 in 1870 to 40 in 1880 - few of the signed shares exist. A liveauctioneers search shows these stock certificates selling from $800-$2,000. Obviously, the high end of this collectible area. There are plenty of oil stocks and bonds out there that are cheaper and good for a beginning collector.