The Go In Esso

The Esso name was primarily used by its predecessor, Standard Oil of New Jersey, after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The name Esso is the phonetic pronunciation of the initials 'S' and 'O' in the name Standard Oil. Standard Oil of New Jersey started marketing its products under the Esso brand in 1926. In most states, the company used the Enco (Energy Company) brand name, and in a few, the Humble Oil brand name. Esso Gas Stations were primarily found in the eastern United States and some states in the Midwest. By 1972, the name Esso was largely replaced in the U.S. by the Exxon brand after the Standard Oil of New Jersey bought Humble. The Esso name remained widely used elsewhere. In most of the world, the Esso and Mobil brands are the primary names of ExxonMobil, while the Exxon brand is used only in the United States alongside Mobil. The Esso brand name was discontinued in the U.S. by 1977, yet the brand name continues in Europe. Today, it is a trading name for ExxonMobil.

Note: Above, an Esso gasoline tanker, pulled by the bulldog of trucks, Mack, filling the tank at its namesake station in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1943. 

Photo by John Vachon via shorpy dot com

The Sherman Antitrust Act

The Standard Oil Company (1870-1911) was the largest petroleum company in the world, and its success made its co-founder and chairman, John D. Rockefeller, among the wealthiest Americans of all time and among the richest people in modern history. The self-made billionaire was the perfect target for government to step "in all fairness" to split the company up into 43 companies of historical confusion by the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1911. 

The 2022 chart above shows the break up of Standard Oil

Mixing Mythology With Petroleum

The flying red horse symbol was first used by Vacuum Oil in South Africa in 1911. In the same year, the Standard Oil Trust was broken up by the Supreme Court with two of its divisions eventually merging, Standard Oil Company of New York and the Vacuum Oil Company in 1931. The former brought with it their Pegasus logo, the latter brought the Mobilgas name. The company confusion began in earnest with the Supreme Court's break up of Standard Oil into thirty-three different companies, including Standard Oil of New Jersey (Jersey Standard), Socony Oil, and Vacuum Oil with some companies retaining the name Standard Oil. In many states, Jersey Standard marketed its products under the brand "Esso," the phonetic pronunciation of the initials "S" and "O" in Standard Oil. In petty defiance, other Standard Oil companies in other states objected. In those states, Jersey Standard was marketed under the brands Enco (Energy Company) and Humble. Jersey Standard became Exxon Corporation in 1972 and in 1999 joined Mobil Oil Corporation. Pegasus, the Greek mythology symbol of speed and power, became the adopted trademark of Mobil, today as ExxonMobil Corporation. The red Pegasus remains among the most recognized corporate symbols in American history.