Animals in Petroleum Stamps

Rhino in a Refinery stamp 

“Dig boy,dig.”

“Dig boy,dig.”

Yelled W L Lake, the engineer of The Assam Railways and Trading Company Limited (AR & Co) at the working labours.

Legend dates back sometime in 1889, when the first oil well of India (under British rule) was being dug, Lake had shouted to expedite the work. He was in the quest of petroleum while working for railway construction work in Assam, India. The place later became the maternity block for Indian Petroleum industry and was named ‘Digboy’. Thereafter the location was referred as Digboy in all references and reports. Only in 1910 onward, the name changed from Digboy to Digboi.

Welcome sign at Digboi refinery with Rhino logo

Lake worked with minimum resources but with unlimited enthusiasms. One of the resources, at his disposal, for mobility of men and machines, was trained elephants. There are other variation of the story also about the origin of name  ‘Digboy’. Some said that it happened one day when after survey work a team returned to the camp. It was noticed that the legs of the elephant, which was part and parcel of the team, were smeared with crude oil. The team traced back to the location and digging started. Whatever may be the truth behind the story, it was a fact that elephants were very essential in the early oil exploration work in the inhospitable northeastern part of India, bordering Burma (now Myanmar). There were herds of wild elephants too which would invade the camps at times. Besides, life was difficult due to presence of various kinds of snakes - venomous as well as non-venomous, many wild animals, deadly mosquitoes (causing Kalajar and Malaria etc.) and millions of bloodsucking leeches.

Flashback: An elephant performing a job

The story of early history of petroleum in India would be incomplete without reference to the pachyderms. Considering the contributions made by the elephants, they have been portrayed in Indian postage stamps of petroleum, with due respect. On 29 Dec 1989, India Post had issued a postage stamp on ‘Centenary of Indian Oil Production’. 

Elephant on a stamp

Since it was a stamp related to petroleum, an oil derrick has been depicted right in the center of the stamp. However, in order to express gratitude to the services rendered by the pachyderms, an elephant was featured in the front of the oil rig. The trees denoted dense forest that once existed in that  remote areas. It will not be out of point to mention that in 1888 when AR & T Co had applied to the Chief Commissioner for a license for oil exploration work in Digboi, the response was ‘a proposal that involves the destruction of so much timber of a reserve forest area cannot be lightly entertained’.  

Mother & calf duo on call of duty: Note the oil smeared trunk

Before we move to international arena, let us visit another postage stamp of India on petroleum. On 01 Jan 1962, the first public sector oil refinery of independent India at Guwahati, Assam was dedicated to the nation by Jawahar Lal Nehru, the first Premier of independent India. The refinery was constructed with Romanian collaboration. It was spelled as ‘Gauhati’ at that point of time. A postage stamp was issued by India Post (the then Post and Telegraph Department) in that occasion. In the top right corner of the petroleum stamp there was a picture of an one horned rhinoceros. Rhino is the state animal of Assam. 

Refinery with a Rhino

The creature was declared under Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and was classified as Vulnerable by IUCN. But it was ‘honoured’ much before through stamps in 1962 along with petroleum refinery. However, a single stamp dedicated to the Rhino was issued in the same year on 01 Oct but that’s a different story on “Wildlife Week’.

Petroleum stamps are prized possessions of the petroleum philatelists across the globe, irrespective of geographical boundaries. All paraphernalia of petroleum industry, ranging from prospecting, exploration, production, drilling rigs (onshore and offshore), refining, storage, transportation (road, rail-cars, tankers etc.), marketing, oil terminals with storage tanks, tank farms and pipelines, etc., have been depicted in various forms in stamps by different countries. Petroleum producing countries have hundreds of stamps on petroleum. Also the countries which do not produce much of oil and gas and depend largely on import from oil producing countries, have also issued a few stamps on petroleum. India depends nearly 83% on import of petroleum, for meeting its insatiable energy demand! Yet India has issued a few postage stamps on petroleum, ranging from exploration to production to refining etc.

Though petroleum is a highly technical and commercial subject from philately point of view, animals have quietly sneaked their ways in petroleum stamps. It is interesting to note that in the petroleum philatelic materials, several animals or creatures have appeared. The range is mind-boggling starting from lamb to dog to horse to lion to elephant and many.

“Mary had a little lamb

little lamb, little lamb”

Lambs and derricks

The evergreen nursery rhyme is perfect for pre-school students. But when herd of lambs enters in petroleum stamps, question arises whether it was out of context? A big herd of lamb was found at the forefront of drilling rigs in a stamp of Argentina. A wonderful combination of beauty of nature and petroleum.

Shell Philippines has a grazing buffalo in front of its refinery, from a 1960 picture. It appears that herbivores have no problem in posing for petroleum related philatelic canvases.

Locate a Buffalo!

Transportation of finished products from the refineries to the consumers is a supply chain challenge today. So it was yesterday. Use of beasts of burden like bullocks, horses etc was one of the solutions of oil logistics which even  existing today in some parts of the world. The horse pulled carts were an integral part of oil business. The stamp of Argentina ‘The 100th anniversary of the discovery of oil and gas in Argentina’ (24 Nov 2007) showcases horse pulled carts employed in petroleum industry.

Horse in front of a derrick

Horses can not fly but horses of oil industry have that 'horse power' to spread wings. We are talking about the logo of Mobil Oil. According to Greek mythology, Pegasus is a mythical horse with wings. A vibrant red Pegasus appeared in the logo of Mobil Oil in 1932 and continued till 1964. After that Pegasus flew out of radar.

The flying horse

Pegasus is one of a few animals, real or imaginary which are part of petroleum industry. There may or may not be any postage stamp to commemorate Pegasus of Mobil Oil, but their use in postal system as various stationary items are of philatelic importance.

Obsolete logo with Sea Horses

From flying horses to Sea Horses, oil philately has all. Pertamina is a  state owned oil and natural gas company of Indonesia. It was formed in 20 Aug 1968 by amalgamation of PN Pertamin (founded in 1961) and PT Permina (founded on 10 Dec 1957). Its old logo had a pair of Sea horses from 1961-1968 and with colour variation from 1968-2005. Pertamina on 10 Dec 2005, replaced its old logo of pair of sea horses with the current one having an arrow shape with the 3 basic colors of green, blue and red. 

From Butterflies to Birds to Sea Horses

This stamp of Indonesia (1997) looks like an excellent painting by an artist. At the backdrop of mountain and clouds, there are flocks of birds flying over refinery complex. Fluttering butterflies over beautiful red flowers in the forefront can not be ignored. Pair of Pertamina sea horses are additional beautification, supporting aquatic life.

A lone butterfly was found to be hovering overhead of the working personnel at the backdrop of drilling rig in this stamp of Suriname. The designer of the stamp might have combined technological advancement with environment!

Proportionately large butterfly

The First Day Cover of Bangladesh on '5 Years of Peace and Development' has dove of peace flying over an oil rig. 

A Dove of peace over an offshore rig

The snake and raptor dual behind the drilling rig of a Mexico stamp brings raptors in the petroleum scene.

A Snake and a Raptor

Sea Gulls forms a perfect constituent for the deep water drilling rig stamps of the world. 

Flying Sea Gulls

Petro-Canada has depicted Sea Gulls over deep water drilling rigs and so was Azerbaijan. 

Sea Gulls over offshore drilling rig

UAE has used both of Sea Gulls and Dolphins in their deep water petroleum exploration stamps. A souvenir sheet of UAE on 'The 50th Anniversary of the First Shipment of Oil' has sea gulls and a pair of diving dolphins, depicted in two different stamps.

Sea Gulls and pair of diving Dolphins

If animal world is there in petroleum stamps, can the King of jungle be far away? Lion and Sun motif was the emblem of Persia (1423 - 1907) which was based on astronomical as well as astrological configurations. In this stamp of Iran (former Persia), majestic Lion was found in a triangle in front of a torch.

The Jungle King

When we drill for oil in the desert region, how the ship of desert can be left behind?

Camels with oil derrick

A pair of camels, with their riders forms the foreground for this 'Hassi-Messaoud' oil field stamp of Algeria.

Dog is a man's best friend. This four legged creature has been associated with human since time immemorial. However, oil businessmen are familiar with a six legged dog which is the logo of the Italian Oil Company - ENI. Believe it or not, it was born out of logo design competition. Enrico Mattei, the founder of Eni created an 'open to all' logo design competition in 1952 for his company. The prize was whopping 10 million Lira (approx Euro 160,000). As the award was highly attractive, so was the level of competition. There were more than 4000 entries and after a series of 14 sitting of the juries, Luigi Broggini was declared winner in Sept 1952. His six legged dog was selected by the judges as the logo of Eni.

The six legged dog of Eni

There was a twist about the winner.

Broggini had entered the competition under an assumed name Giuseppe Guzzi. The renowned Italian sculptor was living in exile in Paris and Switzerland during Fascist rule. He was not willing to participate in commercial art activities. The six legged dog, since ‘adopted’, has not changed over seventy years barring little standardization in colour, background etc.

According one of the believes, million of years ago gigantic animals and plants were buried under the crust of Earth. Over long period of time, due to extreme pressure and temperature these bio-masses have converted into crude petroleum oil. The name of Dinosaur comes first when we talk about prehistoric large animals on this mother earth. Dinosaurs, though extinct today, is a part of logo of Sinclair Oil Corporation. The Dinosaur in green colour is probably the world's most affectionately hugged and kissed logo by the customers, particularly by the children. Stationaries of Sinclair Oil Corporation having green Dinosaur on them used by post are petroleum philately items.

Dinosaur as oil company logo popular among children

Shell is using shell as its logo. Though it is not an animal yet the inspiration has been drawn from living creature. Initially it was a black and white picture of a shell. In 1948, it added iconic red and yellow colours. The name 'SHELL' was also added.

Sea shell of 'Shell'

These are only a few examples. There are many more petroleum stamps where side by side of technical aspects of petroleum industry, several creatures have been featured. A very interesting combination of technology and environment, amuses a petroleum philatelist.

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The story has been published in popular philatelic e-magazine ‘Ananthapuri Stamp Bulletin’ (Feb 2021 issue). Scans of relevant pages are given below.

Cover page of the e-magazine

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Disclaimer:

The information provided in the article is for general informational purposes only. All information is provided in good faith. This is only for the sharing of knowledge of Philately with philatelist fraternity. No commercial angle, whatsoever, is involved. Under no circumstances I shall have any liability for reliance on any information provided in the story.

 

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