Huile

1959 · 52165 — Vancouver BC: Shell Oil of British Columbia On-The-Spot-Photographers Williams Brothers Feb. 1 1959. 4to. 44 pp unpaginated 12 pages on bonded paper w/ signatures 32 pages of two-sided mylar sleeves with white & black paper inserts for photographs with 76 original and studio photographs inserted into sleeves sized from 2.5 x 2.5 in. up to 8 x 10 in. nearly all originally glued with adhesive to backing papers but now just laid-in to mylar sleeves a few w/ photographer’s stamps on versos. Original tweed-patterned white vinyl padded 20-ring binder engraved silver plate mounted lower front corner minor soiling shelfwear thumbing to covers occasional creasing on some of the images glue offsetting on paper backing leaves behind the photos still a VG exemplar. This remarkable souvenir photo album documents the safety efforts and operations of the Shell Oil Shellburn Oil Refinery located on Burrard Inlet in British Columbia. Shell’s original refinery was constructed in 1932 but by the end of World War II the Canadian economy’s demands for oil products resulted in a substantial expansion which added thermal cracking distillation stabilization U.O.P. catalytic polymerization of stabilizer overhead gas gasoline refining and gasoline sweetening units. The refinery applied a number of new refining techniques perfected during the war to produce high-grade gasoline from high-pour waxy straight-run residue. Gardiner worked not only as public relations and safety inspector for the refinery but also as petroleum engineer. The album begins with large photo by W.T. Davis & F.B. Hughes of On-the-Spot Photographers with Gardiner showing three young girls the details on an oil refinery model which had been developed by Shell and Standard Oil of California in order to promote interest in the petroleum industry. This is then followed by birds-eye images of the refinery operating on the Burrard Inlet in the 1950s earlier images before and after expansion after World War II executive offices oil workers in frigid temperatures with icicles hanging off the equipment in the background large Shell Oil safety sign recording how many days since last industrial accident in the refinery in 1954 as well as awards ceremonies and banquets. Of interest is a particularly nice image towards the end of a Shell Oil Executive fronted with large Shell advertising sign and behind large architectural rendering of 1950s Shell service station with signage and Shell Oil tanker pulling into the station. A few of the photographs were by Donn and Warner Williams the Williams Brothers who served as aerial photographers in the R.C.A.F. during World War II and then established their Williams Bros. Ltd. Commercial Photo lab in 1948 in Vancouver BC. On-the-Spot Photographers operated by W.T. Davis and F.B. Hughes from 1945-1955 maintained studios at 520 Sixth Ave. and later 2124 London St. in New Westminster British Columbia. See; Shell Canada Shellburn Refinery Construction Projects Fluor; Rick Erickson Williams Brothers Mining Fishing Logging Thru the Trapdoor Exhibition 2014; Jim Wolf Royal City: A Photographic History of New Westminster 1858-1960 pp. 174 184 191. Shell Oil of British Columbia, On-The-Spot-Photographers, Williams Brothers], unknown