1-2002.html

Monthly Feature January 2002

National Carbonless Motor Oil

Photo courtesy of Don Cooper

This is a large monthly feature. While the images are loading,
please take the time to read this article,
borrowed from the June 1917 issue of the Canadian Oil News :

National Carbonless Motor Oil For National Use
From 2,000Ft. Under the Ground to Fame

   The building of National Carbonless Motor Oil is a very remarkable story.
It starts at a derrick with drilling a hole down in the earth. From this hole crude
oil is pumped . The crude is then forced through a pipeline to the Refinery which
may be from one to one thousand miles away .
   Arriving at the Refinery , the crude oil is stored in large steel tanks . Some of
these tanks hold 55,000 barrels , or approximately 2,310,000 gallons.
   From these tanks the crude is again pumped , through a pipeline , to the still
where the first separation of the different parts of the crude oil occurs.
   From the heart of the crude oil there is obtained about 20 per cent of choice oil
used for the ultimate purpose of making National Carbonless Motor Oil . This 20
per cent passes out of the still in the form of vapor which is cooled in a condenser ,
back to a pure liquid , leaving behind the undesirable residual oil.
   The same 20 per cent is again pumped through a pipe line into a second still for
the purpose of crystallizing the paraffine wax in order that this wax may be
removed from the wax later on . In this still the oil is again heated and changed
into a vapor. This vapor is then cooled by a condenser to a liquid of even greater
purity , leaving a second time any undesirable residue oil in the bottom of the still .
   After this is done , the pump once more takes up its burden , pumping the oil
through a pipe line to a refrigerating plant where the oil is frozen to zero , after
which it is forced through large filter presses made up of blankets and on these
blankets the paraffine wax collects and the oil free from wax runs away for further
treating .
   The oil being now free from wax is pumped into another still where scientific care
is taken in concentrating the oil , removing from it all those products which would
be undesirable in an automobile .
   After the oil is concentrated to the desirable consistency , it is taken from the still ,
cooled , and then pumped to filters , which are filled with a material known as
Fullers earth . The oil is filtered through this earth , going in at the top and coming
out at the bottom, and in traveling through the earth , any impurities that might
have been left in the oil are removed by the Fullers earth. Therefore in the manufacture
of National Carbonless Motor Oil it has been three times heated up to a temperature
of over 600 degrees Fahrenheit, and once cooled down to zero: twice it has been
converted into a vapor, and condensed back into a liquid , and in going through this
process ten days have been consumed and the oil has traveled around the refinery
through twenty miles of pipe line , in order to reach the ultimate end : "National Carbonless Motor Oil"
Put up in
Barrels,
Half-barrels,
10 gallon cans,
5 gallon cans,
1 gallon cans

1915 1916 1917
I'm really not sure when National Carbonless Motor Oil first appeared, but I
do know that while it graces the June 1917 Canadian Oil News (on the right),
it no longer appears in the October 1917 ads.

There is a difference in the caps and pour spouts . The 1915 version (and '16
shown below) has a large screw cap and a long skinny pour spout . There is also
a soldered ring where a pour spout extension was stored. I believe the earliest
of these were an orange colour , later replaced with the more common yellow
with the combination spout/cap as seen on Don Coopers tin at the top of this page.
I have one of each of these colours and while all the lithographs are the same,
the orangish one , includes 'National Refining Company , U.S.A.', under the
Canadian Oil Companies Ltd. name and branch office locations.
National Refining purchased control of the Canadian Oil Company in 1908 .

This 1916 letterhead comprises almost a third of the page .
It illustrates both the one gallon and five gallon verions.

This oiler was offered in the 1915 and '16 booklets, but by June 1917, had been replaced by
the tall skinny version of the oiler . The tall oiler also read National Carbonless Motor Oil.
By Oct. 1917 the Carbonless name was dropped . I interpret that to mean that the tall
oiler with 'Carbonless' in the name , was produced for less than one year .

This is a personal favourite from my collection .
Patented in 1909 & 1910 and Canadian to boot !
"A tune can be played , a Parrot or Rooster imitated, etc."

It is shown closed for use, on the left . The two halves are slightly concave .
At the top is a spot to place your lips and blow . A fine paper reed creates the whistle
A larger scan is included at the bottom of this feature so you can read the text.
With the 1910 patent date in mind , and the fact that before 1908 the company was called
Canadian Oil Company ( not Companies) , take a look at the tin below :

This one gallon tin is Gold and Black , with very ornate graphics.
and reads "Non-Carbon" , not the later "Carbonless".
I believe that this tin was produced between 1908 and 1910, when
as the Whistle above indicates, the name had become "Carbonless"
Another clue is that the branch offices listed on this tin are
Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and St. John, N.B.,
but not yet Calgary , which opened in 1909.
Interestingly, Vancouver had a branch office until 1909, when distance from the
Head Office resulted in its closure . It was replaced by an office in Nelson B.C.

This photo courtesy of Jocelyn Doucet .
It ranks a special spot here as it measures only 9.75" square and 17" tall
while all the other square 5 gallons I have seen are 10.25" square x 14" tall
Quite early I believe!

I have seen this sign in a photo dated 1915

And here is the whistle close-up I promised

Please Sign my Guestbook----I want to hear from you!
Sign My Guestbook View My Guestbook