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Monthly Feature

Canadian Oil Companies Monthly Publications           The earliest monthly publication distributed by Canadian Oil Companies Limited was a small "Oil News" booklet. Originally called "Canadian Oil News" -Oil Trade Journal , it was first published in 1915 . By 1922 it had been renamed "En-Ar-Co Oil News" - Oil Trade Journal.

Consider the following 1925 description:

             Over Half a Million People Read the En-ar-co Oil News
     Each issue of the En-ar-co Oil News requires over 8 tons of paper, and over 150 pounds of ink with a force of ten printers working on it almost constantly month in and month out.
     If each copy of one issue were placed end to end , one would see a line 55 miles long, and if each issue were placed one on top of the other , they would make several huge piles each as high as the Woolworth Building.
     Its circulation is greater than many of the national magazines.
     En-ar-co Oil News is one of the oldest house organs published in Canada , having been published almost continuously since 1915.
     Each issue of the En-ar-co Oil News (now) carries an illustration of the famous Boy and Slate sign and each issue carries advertising on En-ar-co Motor Oil , White Rose Gasoline , National Light Kerosene , Black Beauty Axle Grease , En-ar-co Gear Compound , and other En-ar-co Oils.
      There is no other publication like the En-ar-co Oil News . Each number is a special issue.
Thousands of people have written complimenting the En-ar-co Oil News. **************    The Oil Trade Journals were the inspiration of Chas. L. Archbold , editor of the booklets ,who
is also credited with the cute little sayings printed each day on thousands of slates .         Originally called 'Epigrams' , by 1924 they were known in Canada as "en-ar-co-grams' .
These booklets were filled with little cartoons and product illustrations as well as the location of Canadian Oil Companies Ltd. branch offices and service stations.
   Oil news booklets were available at stations or could be mailed directly to your home or business simply by returning the order form included inside. There were also order forms for give-aways such as handy oilers , banks , touring games , bridge score cards , decals etc.
   Each issue carried a theme , filled with bits along that line . Thus a December issue would be labeled "Christmas Number" , etc. The booklets were dated on the cover with a calendar page until early in the 1930's when the date was dropped and each issue is identified only by its "number". These can sometimes be dated by order forms on the inside ,copy write date or postal dates on the back page.
   I believe these booklets were published monthly in Canada from 1915 - 1937 and usually included 16 pages , stapled inside a heavier paper cover . A stamp was simply bent over the loose page edges to form a seal and they were ready to mail , with the recipients name and address hand-written on the outside of the rear cover . Later , addresses were typewritten . Often the back cover could be torn off , to form a pre-printed order-card for En-ar-co products.
    By 1930 these booklets were also printed in french language -- called 'le messager En-Ar-Co'

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   Beginning in May 1925 with Vol.1 # 1, a new 'dealer ' publication appeared. Called the EN-AR-CO BOOSTER it was published monthly on newsprint with each issue containing 8 pages of product news and advertising suggestions. Pages were folded and center stapled . Doubled in half to a 6 1/2" x 9" size they were mailed to dealers in an envelope bearing the Boy and Slate logo .
   Page Two contained the following months 'EN-AR-CO- GRAMS'. These were the sayings for the dealer to letter on the Boy's slate every day or two -- as directed by the company. Usually
there were two pages of dealer and customer testimonials , station photographs and several pages of product information.
    I am not sure how long 'En-ar-co Boosters' were published, but my most recent copy is December 1934. They are probably the best resource for my monthly features and I am always looking for more .
Can you help?                                                                                    e-mail   wpf@mnsi.net

    In late 1938 Canadian Oil Companies Limited returned to Canadian ownership. The new president John Irwin saw the need for a new house organ . It would be a quarterly publication , suitably called the 'White Rose News". (Ira T. Peacock --editor)
    Volume 1 , Number 1 would appear as the Summer 1940 issue. With World War 2 looming
John Irwin wrote the moving front page editorial to lead the news. With the new Canadian ownership came a strong influx of capital , something that hadn't been seen for a while. The White Rose News was the perfect medium to strengthen the White Rose Family and also promote all the image and changes about to take place : New logo , signs , stations , packaging , and products to mention but a few.
   Vol.1 ,# 1 appeared as an eight page publication with a pretty cover , stapled together and full of enthusiasm. It was approximately 7" x 10". Issue #2 doubled in size to 16 pages , followed soon by 28 then 32 pages. It kept the 'family abreast of changes at home and overseas, making much of employees contribution to the war.
    After the war , 1948 in particular, the White Rose News was almost dropped. When the summer and fall issues didn't appear , employee response spurred the company to reconsider, and by winter 1948 it was back .
    The "White Rose News " continued but the size changed to an 8 1/2" x 11" magazine size
for the Summer 1954 edition , then to a newspaper format in February 1958 and was published until at least the April 1960 issue.
    Content changed somewhat with the size change as the newspaper style really didn't contain much 'company' news , rather became a 'folksy' newspaper with employee news, sports scores, maritial , birth and obituary information.

    The 'White Rose News' changed to the newspaper version in the Spring of 1958. It would now be published every two months. This change would allow the newspaper to concentrate on stories about employees of a more local nature -- stories that cannot be timely in a quarterly magazine.
While the magazine format continued --it was renamed 'Canadian Oil News', and was devoted to feature material and company news of a national interest . This contained the official company news , company photos ,policy and boring stuff like that and was published until at least the Christmas 1961 issue.
    The 'White Rose Dealer ' , another quarterly publication ,appeared, in 1949.
Like the 'News' it was first issued as a magazine style but in 1958 switched to a bi-monthly newspaper format. This publication was sent to station owners and contained retail merchandising tips , suggestions and policy ,as wellas new product information.
************** Other publications , like annual reports and comemorative books, were printed but this feature shows only the monthly publications available . Please Sign my Guestbook----I want to hear from you! Sign My Guestbook         View My Guestbook