MOBIL

by Kevin Walsh

Mobil ad, Flatbush Avenue near 8th Avenue in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

The word “mobile” comes from the Latin mobilis, movable and movere, to move.

Mobil Oil is a descendant of the John D. Rockefeller-founded Standard Oil, which became Standard Oil of New York, or Socony, in 1911 after the trust was broken up. IN 1963 the company became popularly known as Mobil, replacing earlier Mobilgas and Socony. The distinctive red and blue sanserif logo (which resembles Avant-Garde type but isn’t quite the same) was adopted in 1963. Mobil merged with Exxon (itself a descendant of Standard Oil) in 1999.

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