[PRCo] Re: 1950 Grant Street

[Fred Schneider]

But there is a friend of mine from high school who lives in Texas who explained to me that there is still oil research going on in part of the Harmarville facility, Derrick.   


On Jun 28, 2010, at 8:06 PM, Derrick Brashear wrote:

> On Mon, Jun 28, 2010 at 8:00 PM, Fred Schneider <fwschneider at comcast.net> wrote:
>> I love the picture Matt, particularly those things we don't see today ... there are so many things that disappeared.
>> 
>> Knowing Pittsburgh Railways people, the newspaper photographer had to run to get there before the line truck.   Was that a Press, Post Gazaette or Sun Telegraph picture?   Any idea?
>> 
> 
> Given they just added the Paul Slantis (P-G photographer) collection, ...
> 
> 
>> The Gulf Oil advertisement was local.   The company eventually expanded into all the states.   Then, and I forget who, someone who was not wanted tried to gather up all of Gulf's stock.
> 
> T Boone Pickens.
> 
>> Chevron came dashing in ... the knight on a white horse ... to save Gulf.   The saved it alright.   Chevron absorbed Gulf, took the things they wanted like the Philadelphia refinery.   Chevron put their name on the gas stations they wanted.   It gave them a marketing presence.   Then the sold off the rights to the Gulf name to other people.   Cumberland Farms of Ohio, a convenience store chain, can sell "Gulf products" in this area.   I suspect with it goes the obligation to buy from Chevron?   It's nothing but a hollow name today.    The family had a connection ... dad worked in the research lab in the 1930s and got my uncle a job there.   Uncle Fred retired from Gulf.   A lot of old Gulf people lost money and jobs.
> 
> The Harmarville research center is now yet another Pitt facility. Some
> neat stuff in it.
> 
>