2002: New and improved pages on the
European Petrol Road Map Web Site

Updates from 2002

Kenning's 1974 cover
Britain's Kenning Motor Group changed their map cover design every couple of years in the 1960s and 70s. For 1974, they used a busy drawing featuring 7 cars, a tanker, a rental van - and a milk float! (Updated 29 December 2002)

The transitional Seca-Jet map
In 2002, after 40 years, the Seca name was phased out in Belgium in favour of the Jet brand used elsewhere in Europe by Conoco, its parent company. At the time of the changeover, the company issued a pair of small format maps showing where Jet stations could be found. (Updated 22 December 2002)

A Gulf map of Europe
I have added a couple of images from a 1963 Gulf map of Europe, carrying the transitional early 1960s logotype. (Updated 13 December 2002)

BK Autogas and VIFF GPL
A BK Autogas map from the Netherlands has now been found and added to the site. At the same time a later VIFF map, from 1991, has been added from the period when VIFF was introduced into the Netherlands and, jointly branded with Cargas, Belgium. (Updated 12 December 2002)

A Shell waterways map of Europe
Around 1970 Shell's Dutch subsidiary sold a waterways map of Europe covering Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland and France to just south of Geneva. (Updated 8 December 2002)

Shell atlases from Germany
Shell has published hardback road atlases in Germany jointly with Mairs Geographischer of Stuttgart since 1950. A new page has been created to look at the range of atlas designs over the past 50 years, including some special issues for third parties. (Updated 2 December 2002)

Caltex...and Oest Caltex
The Caltex page has been redesigned to include three extra maps, including one from Oest Caltex KG, the large distributor (jobber) for the brand in South-Western Germany. Once again, I have taken the opportunity of rescanning some lower quality images. (Updated 28 November 2002)

A Gasolin city plan
The German Gasolin company had its headquarters in Hannover in the early 1950s, so it no surprise that they issued a small map of the city, clearly marking 23 Gasolin zapfstellen. (Updated 28 November 2002)

Brenntag and earlier Fanal maps
Two mid 1950s Fanal maps have been added to the Fanal page, representing the period before the name became Stinnes Fanal. Also thought to be from within the Hugo Stinnes group in the 1950s, a Brenntag cover is also shown on the page. (Updated 23 November 2002)

Olus Tank
Olus Tank appears to have been a trading name of a small Uniti member based in Leipzig in the late 1930s. It used a slightly more graphic version of the standard Uniti map of the period. (Updated 23 November 2002)

Navigation Improvement
As part of the ongoing technical improvements to the site, (almost) all the individual brand pages have been reformatted, to include a better choice of fonts and a navigation compass at the top of each page, as well as at the bottom. On this occasion I decided to opt for clarity, rather than to "borrow" a petrol logo. Just to make sure there's something new to look at as well, I have added proof that E was indeed a single letter brand of petrol by including a photo of one of its Finnish stations on the No Maps page. If anyone out there is using an Apple Mac, or a PC without the Verdana font, and finds any problems with these updated pages, then please let me know. (Updated 11 November 2002)

Esso Italy Updates
The last Esso page with old images has now been upgraded, and two completely new ones have been added, including a pictorial map of the Veneto which was part of a series given away by Esso's motorway service stations in 1983. (Updated 6 November 2002)

Elf in the Netherlands
Elf has had a relatively small chain in the Netherlands since the early 1970s, and a map from the company dating to around 1990 has now been added to the site. (Updated 27 October 2002)

Hettöl
Based in the Sauerland hills just South of Dortmund, Hettöl was another tiny petrol distributor that paid JRO to produce a special cover for its maps in the 1960s. This map is unusual in that it is a regional title (Ruhrgebiet & Mittelrhein) rather than a national map of West Germany. (Updated 26 October 2002)

Recent Q8 and IDS maps from Belgium
Several oil companies have continued to produce promotional maps in Belgium, generally for use by card holders. Three contrasting maps issued by Q8 and its International Diesel Service (IDS) over the past couple of years have been added. (Updated 25 October 2002)

More Esso Updates
The old images have been taken off the third page of Esso maps in the chronological sequence (1962-74) and replaced by 9 newly scanned images. (Updated 22 October 2002)

Updates to the Esso pages
There have been major updates and upgrades to the Esso pages on this site, especially those dealing with the chronological sequence. The first page, covering 1922-1951, has been extended to include an early Dapolin/Standard postcard from Germany, and almost all the images have been improved.
The next page in the sequence has been completely re-written, with the number of images more than doubled to 18 and all the old ones re-scanned. From this key period of the Esso Touring Service (1952-1962) several more maps of Europe have been incorporated, as well as three from Austria and two more from Germany. (Updated 20 October 2002)

An earlier sectional series of British Total maps
An earlier sectional series of British Total maps, dating from 1970/1 has now been added to the site. Like its successor series it covered the country in 4 sections plus London. (Updated 12 October 2002)

More maps from Derop and Aral
Derop was a Russian controlled firm operating in 1930s Germany. Shortly before it was acquired by BV, it issued an atlas of the country, now shown here. I have also added a couple more Aral sectional maps; it is hard to know sometimes how much detail to include on this site, especially where - as with Aral - there have been numerous minor design changes over a long period of time. (Updated 8 October 2002)

Amoco Italy
Amoco entered the Italian petrol market by buying 700 a chain of service stations in 1961/2. For the next 22 years its outlets were a common site in North and Central Italy, although its road maps have, until now, proved quite elusive. A relatively early map, dating from 1964 or soon after, is now shown. (Updated 6 October 2002)

Icons
I have used a small number of icons on this site that might just remind you of logos used by brands of petrol. The latest to be introduced is a much needed icon to get you back to the TOP of long pages, as shown here. This logo is based on a 1930s identity for Trent Oil Products, but if you want to see the inspiration for some of the others, then you'll need to look at the page of technical notes. (Updated 1 October 2002)

Autol
Autol memorabilia is relatively easy to find, given the small size of this Hannover-based company, as it produced a long running series of colourful calendars. However Autol maps are a lot harder to find - indeed until recently it was not even certain that the brand had sold maps. (Updated 29 September 2002)

Casino Cafétérias
Casino is one of the larger French hypermarket chains, with many of its locations having attached filling stations. Although no maps are known from these, the associated Cafétérias have recently started giving away location maps, and one is now shown alongside the other hypermarket maps. (Updated 20 September 2002)

An intermediate Castrol map
Previously, the only Castrol maps shown were from 1966/7 and 1986/8. This 20 year gap has now been filled by a 1976 edition promoting its GTX oils. (Updated 14 September 2002)

More Esso pictorials
Esso maps from the 1950s and early 1960s have some of the finest graphics found on map covers, and also often have pictorial or panorama maps included as well as ordinary road maps. I have added 3 new front cover images, from 1955 (Sweden and Denmark) and 1960 (Italy), as well as the rear cover of the 1955 Sweden map. An extract from a 1966 Black Forest Panorama map covering Freiburg has been added to both the Esso Germany and Freiburg pages. And finally I have rescanned a few more of the older Esso images and the unrelated brand Heron, as well as updating all the introduction pages, making some a little more specific to their language. If you would like to help me translate any more pages into major European languages (some pages in Spanish and Swedish would be nice!) then please let me know. (Updated 10 September 2002)

The first petrol company map for boats?
Some oil companies, notably Esso, have from time to time sold waterway maps for use by ships or pleasure boats. A pre-war example has now been found from Standard in Germany, centred on Berlin. This map, or its Shell equivalent, is probably the oldest European example of this genre. (Updated 9 September 2002)

An interesting BP variant
The sequence of standard BP covers from the 1950s to 1970s has been expanded by a variant cover design from Austria, showing how BP completely redrew a cover, keeping the same basic design. It is not clear why this was done, or if they did the same in any other countries. (Updated 7 September 2002)

Two memory games
For additional light relief, this site now boasts two memory games in which the computer hides two copies of each of 8 (easy game) or 15 (difficult game) map covers. You have to click on the buttons to reveal the maps beneath - if they are a matching pair, they will stay on display, but if they are different the computer will cover them up again. The aim of the game is to remember where all the covers are, and to find all the pairs in the lowest number of tries. The easy game usually takes between 15 and 25 tries, but the harder one can take up to 50 goes! (Updated 18 August 2002)

Istra-Benz of Slovenia
Until recently it was thought that only Petrol Ljubljana had sold maps of Slovenia. However a 1985 map of the republic has recently been discovered from Istra-Benz, which was based in Koper, Istria, and now sells OMV products. (Updated 18 August 2002)

Kesoil maps of Finland
Continuing the Finnish theme, I have now located both a Kesoil map, dating from 1974, and an earlier service station locator booklet including small scale maps. Kesoil was a leading Finnish brand that has now been replaced by Neste. (Updated 16 August 2002)

A Seo map of Finland..
Finland has always had a relatively unusual downstream petrol market, with a few main players, but strong domestic names such as Kesoil, Union or TB. Seo is a more recent arrival, and issued a high quality road map of the country in April 2001. (Updated 4 August 2002)

..and more maps from Finland
Continuing the Finnish theme, I have added an overview page looking at oil company maps from Finland, which includes four new images. (Updated 4 August 2002)

Standard-Esso advertising on AHA Autohilfe strip maps
In 1931 AHA Autohilfe (a breakdown and accident repair service in Germany) issued a series of strip maps that included advertising from Standard-Esso on the front covers of the maps. (Updated 23 July 2002)

Esso Guides to London and Irish Airports from the 1960s
There are at least three versions of an Esso guide to London Airport (Heathrow) from the 1960s and one to Irish airports (Dublin, Cork and Shannon), which dates from around 1963-4. Each guide includes drawings of aeroplanes from each of the main airlines serving the airport, as well as information on Esso refuelling facilities and plans of the airport. (Updated 20 July 2002)

My swap list
As an active collector of road maps, I often upgrade maps and sometimes buy job lots that include duplicates in order to obtain one particular map that I want. As such, I always have a swap list (trade list) of spare maps that I will exchange for other maps. These maps are not for sale. I will post an updated swap list on this site from time to time; a first version is now on display. (Updated 16 July 2002)

1951 Sears Roebuck map of New Jersey The latest UK Superstore map
Apart from Murco with its road atlases, the only branded map issuers in the UK are three of the largest superstore chains. Although they do not issue new editions every year, the rapid growth of petrol stations attached to their stores has meant that there is a steady stream of updates. New for 2002 is a Tesco booklet map, sponsored by its Motor Insurance affiliate, but locating all Tesco stores and petrol stations. It's probably not since the 1950s US issues from Sears Roebuck stores/Allstate Insurance in the USA that an equivalent combination of activities has appeared on a road map. (Updated 16 July 2002)

Are there less updates to this site?
Possibly! As the site grows, there are less opportunities for adding new maps. Instead, I am trying to fill out the site a bit more and make it a little easier to use. There will be improvements in the appearance of the basic pages in the near future, and I am also adding more pages on associated topics, including a summary of the Letters from Europe in Check The Oil! magazine (including a few additional images such as a King Korn trading stamp booklet, as well as colour versions of others). I have also added more links, including ones on energy-saving motoring. And this week, we will welcome the 100,000th visitor to the site's home page! (1 July 2002)

An earlier AVIA sectional map of Germany
The AVIA page has been updated to show German maps with each of the brand's three main logos, including a sectional map from the 1960s. (Updated 1 July 2002)

More from the Fina Touring Service
Petrofina was one of the companies that operated a Touring Service for their customers in the 1960s. I have now added an image of a light card folder used by their British subsidiary to enclose maps or other touring information. (Updated 21 June 2002)

The Egon Ronay/Castrol map
Most maps conform to a basic style - coloured roads on a light (or white) background, making it easy to read, and drawn to some sort of a scale. However occasionally maps are found that defy convention - and a recently discovered Egon Ronay/Castrol issue chose to have scarlet red roads on a cherry red background, with a third shade of red for the sea. Not only is it hard to read, but it makes the eyes feel quite sore if looked at for very long. Given that this map sold for 5 times that of a typical Esso or Shell map from the same year (1967), it is perhaps surprising that anyone bought it - except of course for gourmets wanting to find the latest Egon Ronay recommended restaurant. (Updated 17 June 2002)

An earlier Regent map
I have been actively collecting maps for a decade, and retaining them for a lot longer. But there are still occasional surprises - such as a series of Regent sheet maps from around 1953 that I have only just discovered. Regent was the fourth biggest brand of petrol in England in the 1950s, so you might expect (wrongly) that its maps would be very common. Of course, if you are sitting on a whole set of these maps, then I'd be delighted to know! (Updated 9 June 2002)

Post-war Veedol maps
Until now, only pre-issues have been shown from the American lubricants company Veedol. Three images have now been added from some mid-1960s German Veedol maps, which used stock cartography by JRO. (Updated 22 May 2002)

Three Aral touring maps, and a Derop
I have extended the coverage of Aral Touring maps (which usually have scenic or photographic covers) and also added a 1930s map from Derop, a predecessor brand of Aral in Germany. (Updated 19 May 2002)

Minol and Intertank maps from East Germany
Two more Intertank and an additional Minol map have been added to the site from the period 1966-75. (Updated 18 May 2002)
I have also added improved images for DK and Neste.

Chevron maps
As part of the continuing re-scanning of older map images, I have now upgraded all the Chevron images, and also extended the text. (Updated 14 May 2002)

The 1953 Esso map of Sweden
The 1953 Esso map of Sweden is now shown on this site. (Updated 12 May 2002)

Two more Esso town plan books
In the 1970s and 1980s Esso issued a series of town plan books for the Netherlands and Belgium. Examples are now shown from 1981/2 (Netherlands) and 1983 (Belgium). (Updated 12 May 2002)

1980s/90s Esso maps
Esso withdrew from large scale map issuing a little earlier than Shell in many countries. Nonetheless, Esso maps can be found from the 1980s and 1990s, and I have added more examples from Finland and France. I have also added an International Directory for holders of the Esso Card, which includes many pages of country maps. (Updated 28 April 2002)

More Sinclair
Following on from Atlantic, I have updated its future subsidiary Sinclair to include two more images from a 1960s' Belgian map. (Updated 27 April 2002)

A later map from A May
A May was an independent Uniti member that issued its own maps in the 1930s; a later example has been added to complement the earlier atlas. (Updated 26 April 2002)

Atlantic
The Atlantic Refining Company was established in Philadelphia in 1866 and had a small number of European marketing chains from the 1920s to the early 1970s. Although it was thought likely to have produced branded maps, it is only now that one has been found - dating from as far back as 1932 in Italy. (Updated 22 April 2002)

More Westfalen maps
Up to now, only one Westfalen map has been shown on this website. Two more examples have now been found, including one restricted to its home region of NW Germany. (Updated 18 April 2002)

A Tesco Road Atlas
Before Tesco started giving away small planning maps showing their station locations, they occasionally sold large format Road Atlases of Britain. A 1994 example has been added to the site. (Updated 24 March 2002)

Two from AGIP...
AGIP's Austrian subsidiary has produced a variety of maps. Its most recent (2001) is an atlas of hotels and restaurants including over 30 pages of maps at the back. There were also maps from AGIP in Tunisia, and one is shown dating from 1974. (Updated 17 March 2002)

...and two from AVIA
In contrast to AGIP, AVIA has not produced maps of Austria (where it has very few outlets) for several years. But I did find a 14 year old AVIA map of Britain still on sale in an Austrian filling station earlier this month... I have also added a slightly older European map, likewise produced for AVIA by Hallwag. (Updated 17 March 2002)

More issues from OMV
OMV is the leading Austrian petrol company. In 1997 it came up with a novel solution to the increasing cost of producing branded maps: it simply included commercial Freytag & Berndt issues inside a customised box, along with a pocket atlas of Vienna. These are now shown, together with a 1991 road atlas of neighbouring Hungary. (Updated 14 March 2002)

An Avanti Road Atlas
Avanti is an Austrian independent company that has in recent years issued a map marking its station locations and, in 2001, a spiral bound road atlas. (Updated 13 March 2002)

DEA (Casati & Lederhausen)
Casati & Lederhausen were for many years a branded distributor (jobber) of DEA products. They sold the small cloth bound DEA "Auto-Atlas" that was, in fact, a cleverly folded and cut sheet map of Germany, but were bought in the 1990s by Westfalen. (Updated 4 March 2002)

Cleveland Petrols
The Cleveland page has been updated with all old images rescanned and a couple of new ones added. Cleveland was a secondary brand used by Esso in the UK from the 1930s until 1972. (Updated 23 February 2002)

BP
BP has this month, for the first time ever, become Europe's largest petrol retailer, following its acquisition of Aral. To mark this I have completely rewritten the BP pages and added 24 new images (net) and rescanned all the older lower resolution ones. To make it more manageable, the BP section is now divided into 4 pages:

an overview of the company's history highlighting early and touring service maps;
maps from 1947-77, the heyday of European map issuance;
more recent maps since 1978; and
BP maps from Britain (which is an unchanged page).

(Updated 19 February 2002)

Quiz Pages
I have added a ninth map to the Quiz based on identifying maps of the Bournemouth area. This includes a village just West of Bournemouth identified as being "Bere-Régis", with an erroneous acute accent. (Updated 17 February 2002)

Power
Power is a Belgian independent company using a name that can trace its origins back over 80 years in Britain. The Belgian company has recently issued its first branded road map. (Updated 14 February 2002)

An MS (Munster Simms) map with its final logo
MS was a Belfast based independent company acquired by Shellmex-BP in the 1960s. A map has now been discovered bearing its final logo which was somewhat simpler than its earlier ones. (Updated 7 February 2002)

Street maps of Freiburg im Breisgau
Freiburg is a medium sized city in Southwest Germany which is large enough to have been included as an inset on several different petrol companies' road maps. A selection of these street plans are shown here, together with more images from the 1935 Shell map of the city.
Warning: This page has around 450K of graphics, so may be slow to load. (Updated 2 February 2002)

Esso maps from Scandinavia
The page of Esso maps from Scandinavia has been updated, with all images rescanned to a higher quality. One extra front cover is now shown, with four rear covers featuring idealised Esso service stations and four extracts from the maps themselves. (Updated 22 January 2002)

Esso maps from Britain
The Esso maps from the UK page has been improved, with all images rescanned to a higher quality. The number of maps shown has been increased slightly to a total of 20 by adding a cruising guide and an earlier atlas, taking advantage of smaller image file sizes than when this page was first created as a Word document in 1997. I have also rescanned the US Esso map of Western Europe on the Esso index page. (Updated 13 January 2002)

Another Igol map
A slightly earlier Igol map has been added to the site. Igol is the brand used by a number of independent French lubricant distributors. (Updated 6 January 2002)

Total in Luxembourg
More maps of Luxembourg are turning up in friends' collections! The latest to have been tracked down is from Total, dating from 1972. (Updated 6 January 2002)

The SECA map of Brussels
The Seca map of Brussels was previously referred to, but not shown. I have now corrected this omission. (Updated 5 January 2002)

A fifth Kenning map
A fifth Kenning map, dating from 1978, is now shown. (Updated 5 January 2002)

Overview of British Maps
British petrol company maps span the largest range of dates of any country in the world - from Pratt's in 1904 to Murco in 2002. These are illustrated along with some 30 other titles, including 15 not previously shown on this web site. As with other major country pages, there is also a summary of the history of the downstream petrol market in the UK. (Updated 4 January 2002)

PKN and CPN
I have updated the history of CPN and PKN Orlen of Poland, and included the CPN image on the PKN page. (Updated 2 January 2002)