Collection #

P 0274

Consumers Service Company
Photographs, ca. 1915

Collection Information

Historical Sketch

Scope and Content Note

Contents

Cataloging Information

Processed by

Emily Scott
27 February 2007

Manuscript and Visual Collections Department
William Henry Smith Memorial Library
Indiana Historical Society
450 West Ohio Street
Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269

www.indianahistory.org

COLLECTION INFORMATION

VOLUME OF COLLECTION:	1 box of OVA photographs
COLLECTION DATES:	ca. 1915
PROVENANCE:	Bill May 1993
RESTRICTIONS:	None
COPYRIGHT:
REPRODUCTION RIGHTS:	Permission to reproduce or publish material in this collection must be obtained from the Indiana Historical Society.
ALTERNATE FORMATS:
RELATED HOLDINGS:
ACCESSION NUMBER:	1993.0210
NOTES:

historiCAL SKETCH

The Consumers Service Company was a gasoline company that served the northern portion of Indiana in the early 1900s. They received their gasoline from the Pure Oil Company headquartered in Heath, Ohio. Most of the automobiles in the photographs appear to be the Model T Town Car, manufactured in 1915. So it is probable that the date of the photographs is around 1915, though none of them are actually dated. There is very little information available about the Consumers Service Company, it is possible that it was bought out by a larger company or went out of business in the early 1920s.

Sources:

www.heathohio.org/about/name.html

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The collection contains 10 small panoramic photographs (3 ½ x 11 ½ inches) of the Consumers Service Company. The images show gasoline storage facilities and gas stations located in northern Indiana ca. 1915. The photographs were taken in Elkhart, in Elkhart County, Goshen in Scott County, Michigan City in LaPorte County, and Mishawaka and South Bend in St. Joseph County.

The photographs are arranged alphabetically by the city in which they were taken and numbered 1–10.  Each photograph has a caption that has been transcribed here in the collection guide along with descriptions supplied by the processor in square [ ] brackets.

CONTENTS

[1] Distributing Point for Consumer Survice (sic) Company’s Products on Lincoln Highway between Elkhart and Goshen, Indiana. [Consumer Service Company’s brick building standing alone on Lincoln Highway. There is a small wooden shed next to and a gas pump in front of the building. Billboards on far left for Bower’s, Farley’s Cafeteria.  There is a sign for a wrestling champion from Elkhart [1892]. Man working in a [garden?] on far right]	OVA Photographs: Box 1, Image 1
[2] 100,000 Gal-Bulk-Storage Warehouse – For Oils – Greases – Elkhart – Indiana. [Consumers Service Company’s building facing railroad tracks. Two visible storage tanks with more buildings behind them. Oil storage railway car number P.O.X. 9162 on tracks in front of building. The railway car also reads “The Pure Oil Company.” The railroad tracks have a marker reading, “ST J 46” possibly St. Joe County rail line 46. On the far left there is a building with a sign reading “Marathon” possibly advertising Marathon fuel, the brand name fuel for The Ohio Oil Company who eventually changed their name to Marathon in 1962].	OVA Photographs: Box 1, Image 2
[3] 100,000 Gal-Bulk-Storage Warehouse – For Oils – Greases – Elkhart – Indiana. [The same scene as displayed in photograph number 2 at slightly different angle]	OVA Photographs: Box 1, Image 3
[4] Michigan City, Indiana Consumers Service Co., Sub-Station No. 8 [Photograph shows Indiana Consumers Service Co. on a street with a streetcar line. Sign above gas pump reads, “Indiana State Auto Service Consumers Service Gasoline Products [------] Garage.” Behind the gas pump there is an advertisement for Johnston Battery Service. Building has several signs, one advertises Mobiloil, the others are illegible. There are several people in the picture. One man is working on his car in front of the gas pump, one is fixing his bike in the street, one is walking down the street, two more are standing by two cars in the alley]	OVA Photographs: Box 1, Image 4
[5] Michigan City, Indiana, Consumers Service Company Bulk Storage and Station No. 8 [Photograph shows the street side of a bulk storage station along the railroad tracks. Shows three storage tanks on left side of the picture. In front of the building there is a man standing in front of a truck with spigots on the back. The truck has writing on the back but it is too faint to read. There are four illegible billboards on the opposite side of the road and a horse drawn wagon walking down the road]	OVA Photographs: Box 1, Image 5
[6] Distributing Point for Products of Consumers Service Co. in territory of Michigan City, Indiana. [Photograph is blurry, making it difficult to read any of the writing on signs. There is a man standing next to his car in front of the filling station. There is also a car parked next to the building]	OVA Photographs: Box 1, Image 6
[7] Distributing Point for Consumers Service Co’s. Products on Lincoln Highway Between Mishawaka and Elkhart, Indiana. [Consumers Service Company’s building with one gas pump in front. It is a rural area with cornfield behind the building and down the road. There are farm houses on both sides of the building, with no other businesses in sight. There are two cars driving on the road, a man on a bicycle, and another car parked off to the side of the road with a man next to it. The cars appear to be Model Ts, but the year is unclear]	OVA Photographs: Box 1, Image 7
[8] Mishawaka Indiana 100,000 Gal. Bulk Storage Warehouse for Oils and Greases [Consumers Service Company storage along railroad tracks.  There are 5 bulk storage units next to the building. On the left of the building there is scaffolding holding up large metal cylinders with piles of wood lying next to it. Possibly more storage in containers in progress. There are farmhouses in the background and a blurry image of a man to the far left]	OVA Photographs: Box 1, Image 8
[9] 100,000 gal. Bulk Storage, Warehouse or Oils – Greases, Mishawaka, Indiana. [Same building as in photograph number 8, shot from the left side of the building. Shows corn field across the tracks and close up of the piles of lumber]	OVA Photographs: Box 1, Image 9
[10] Consumers Service Co – Station #11 South Bend – Indiana. [Building in the middle of a corn field with a farm house visible in the distance. There are curbs along the street. Five cars are visible in the photograph; they all appear to be Model Ts. Two are pulled inside the station, with men working on the cars. One is parked outside with a woman sitting in the vehicle and a man connecting a hose to the hood of the car. One car is driving down the road and there is another car visible behind the building]	OVA Photographs: Box 1, Image 10

CATALOGING INFORMATION

For additional information on this collection, including a list of subject headings that may lead you to related materials:

1. Go to the Indiana Historical Society's online catalog:  http://opac.indianahistory.org/

2. Click on the "Basic Search" icon.

3. Select  "Call Number" from the "Search In:" box.

4. Search for the collection by its basic call number (in this case, P0274).

5. When you find the collection, go to the "Full Record" screen for a list of headings that can be searched for related materials.