Amoco/BP
and other gas station stuff

Amoco • "Death" of an Amoco Sign • BP • Union 76

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Amoco

Amoco gas stations have been a fixture around southeastern Wisconsin, the United States, and the world for years.  Even after their recent merger with BP (British Petroleum), new Amoco stations continued to be built, and many former Union-76 gas stations in Wisconsin became Amocos and BPs.  More recently though, BP plc^ has created a "new, cleaner, brighter image" that is now replacing both the familiar red white and blue Amoco image and the green and yellow BP image, and pure Amocos and BPs are now an endangered species!!  Even the Amoco brand name is now endangered, with most "bp" stations having switched to a BP-brand fuel.

South Milwaukee, WI

Greenfield, WI

Greenfield, WI

Wind Lake, WI

Milwaukee, WI

Thiensville, WI

Saukville, WI

signs @ Wolf Oil

"Death" of an Amoco sign

I came upon this sad sight on a side trip to West Bend, Wisconsin.  Although the rest of the gas station had taken on BP graphics prior to this sighting, the Amoco sign remained as a classic touch -- UNTIL THIS FATEFUL DAY!!!

BP

The "old" BP, with its green and yellow shield logo, made a healthy inroads into Wisconsin and the upper midwest prior to the company's image change.  This was helped greatly by the exit from the Wisconsin/upper Michigan market of Union 76.  Oddly, though, many of the "old" BPs became other gas station brands rather than change over to the "new" BP.

West Allis, WI

West Milwaukee, WI

former bp
Burlington, WI

Union 76

Union 76 gas stations, with their "big orange ball", had been fixtures all across the roadscape of Wisconsin for many years.  Their abrupt exit from the Wisconsin and upper Michigan market left many gas station owners scrambling to find a new affiliation.  As a result, all former 76 gas stations became Mobil, Amoco, BP, Citgo, and Marathon, with a few becoming Phillips 66 and Exxon.  By the time I started taking pictures of gas stations, 76 gas stations were extremely rare, so I was surprised to find one small gas station in Reedsville, WI still displaying the 76 sign and other graphics.

Also of note, 76 today is owned by ConocoPhillips, though the rights to the "big orange ball" are in the hands of competitor Chevron.  As a result, many of the spinning orange globes are being removed from the gas stations, replaced with a bland red and dark blue flat sign.  This has fans of the spinning globes very upset!  For more information, For updated information on the future of the 76 "globes", see www.savethe76ball.com^.

Reedsville, WI

St. Michaels, WI