Pennzoil is an oil company established in 1913 in Los Angeles, USA. Actually, its history started a bit earlier, when in 1889 South Pen Oil Co., which was an affiliated company of John Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, started commercial oil production in Pennsylvania. Almost half a century later, in 1960, the firm was transformed into Penn’s Oil and in 1963 it received its name, “Pennzoil”. In the seventies, the headquarters of the newly named company moved from Pennsylvania to Huston, Texas. In 2002, the company was acquired by Royal Dutch Shell. Today Pennzoil is the producer of gasoline and lubrication oils.
The Pennzoil logo has a direct link with American history. In 1751, by the Provincial Assembly of Pennsylvania contracted Whitechapel Bell Foundry of London to manufacture a bell, which was to hang in the Independence Hall. However, the bell, named later by the abolitionists as the Liberty Bell, cracked on the first strike. Having been twice recast, the bell cracked again at the beginning of the XIX century, nevertheless, it became a patriotic symbol of the independence of the United States of America and its image has been widely used by various groups and institutions.
In 1916, a drawing of the Liberty Bell with the recognizable crack appeared on the Pennzoil logotype. Its first version had the form of a shield with an inscription “South Penn Oil Co.” around it and an image of the Bell with an inclined word “PENNZOIL” in block letters across it. The graphics of the wordmark is old fashioned and very close to the commercial font Evanston Alehouse 1858 Black Round, with more rounded “o” and letters a bit condensed horizontally.
The shield had a blonde yellow colour while the bell image and the company name were in scarlet red while the trademark “PENNZOIL” was in black. The shield, the bell and all the letters had a metal colour edging.
Later, the Pennzoil logo took the form of an ellipse with the image of the Liberty Toll and just one brand name “PENNZOIL” across it. The yellow background adopted a brighter bumblebee tone with a black edging. The wordmark is written in the same traditional font and deep black colour, and the bell is scarlet red. Today, for the customers of Pennzoil, its logo is associated with unbeatable engine protection by the best synthetic motor oil made from natural gas.