Texas Refinery Coatings

Texas Refinery Corp. History.  The Year Was 1922 . .
. . . Warren Gamaliel Harding was President of the United States. The world had recovered from its first great war - "the war to end all wars" - and was sure that there would never be another. In the United States, the high idealism that supported the war faded sharply. Americans, tired of facing the world's problems, turned to a new examination of their entire way of life - manners, morals, fashions . . . amusement.
The one spirit that did not fade after the war was an intense feeling of nationalism. Americans were looking to domestic products and ideas to broaden their scope of life. Mass communications rose dramatically. Radio was seriously developed as a commercial enterprise, and movies were the most popular mass culture medium.
The flapper life style associated with the "Roaring Twenties" was just making headway in 1922 - bobbed hair, short skirts, the Charleston, marathon dancing . . .
In 1922, people were big news - newspapers showed surprising lack of concern for politics and political events. Marriages, divorces, love affairs and scandals among the rich, powerful and famous made headline news.
The 1922 fashion world saw a rise in women's hemlines. While the above-the-knee skirt length of the era's flapper had not yet gained popular appeal, the heavy socks and ankle-length dresses of the pre-war period were strictly out. And gray was the color of the year in women's clothing.

By 1922, more and more Americans were taking to the road. Thanks to mass production, automobiles, which had earlier been a luxury item, were fast becoming necessities. America was now in the midst of the greatest revolution ever caused by a single device. Cities sprawled from their central core, and family life experienced important changes in work, school, and amusement patterns.
Thousands of Fords, Essexes, Chevrolets, Maxwells, Packards, and Pierce Arrows jammed city streets. Sunday drives in the country became the fad, and people started complaining of over-crowded roads and an inadequate highway system.
On February 27, 1922, the United States Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision, declared Women's Suffrage constitutional, and Mrs. Rebecca L. Felton, appointed to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Georgia's Senator Thomas E. Watson, was sworn in as the first woman United States Senator.
In Sports, two Midwesterners, Red Grange at Illinois and Knute Rockne at Notre Dame, were making football history. Rockne, the first of football's high pressure coaches, possessed a unique ability to find and mold great players. Grange, the "Galloping Ghost" turned professional in 1925 to play for an estimated $1,000 a minute.
In the 1922 World Series - the first "direct from the field" baseball broadcast - the New York Giants walloped the New York Yankees in four straight games. And Babe Ruth was nicknamed "Sultan of Swat."
Jack Dempsey, the "Manassa Mauler, " was World Heavyweight Champion in 1922. On September 5, 1922, Lieutenant James H. Doolittle flew an airplane from Jacksonville, Florida to San Diego, California in 21 hours, 18 minutes in two hops.
Just four days later, on September 9, 1922, two men with little more than high hopes and a belief in the opportunity America offered, created and chartered Panther Grease Mfg. Co., the company that would eventually become known as Texas Refinery Corp.
A. M. Pate, Sr. and Carl Wollner, from a modest beginning in Fort Worth, Texas, started a world-wide corporation based on quality products and a desire to serve people.
These two ambitious young men had dreamed of some day going into business together, and on September 9, 1922, their dream came true. The infant company received its charter from the State of Texas, beginning its formal manufacturing operation in a very informal tin barn on Northeast Twentieth Street in Fort Worth.
Within a year, the small two-man operation had blossomed. Still an integral part of Texas Refinery Corp.'s present day policy, business by the Golden Rule characterized the youthful sales organization of the early '20s. This integrity and conscientious regard for the customer's welfare were complemented by a product line that became synonymous with quality among discriminating buyers. The same is true for today's customers.
The company continued to operate and expand during the disruptive years of the depression. One of the few companies in the U.S. that managed to hire more employees and maintain operations without reducing salaries, a record which today is still a source of considerable pride.
The post-depression period saw no change in the pattern. Demands of Texas Refinery Corp. customers throughout the U.S. prompted company officials in 1934 to develop new items to add to the product line. In addition to the established line of specialty oils and greases, Texas Refinery began manufacturing a product line used in property maintenance.
Always looking for new fields of operation, Texas Refinery Corp. established its Export Division in 1939. Within a few months, business was being transacted in Mexico, Cuba, Ecuador, Puerto Rico and many other foreign nations.
The year 1948 witnessed the birth of a sister corporation - Texas Refinery Corp. of Canada, Limited, with office and plant facilities in Toronto. Due to the spiraling demand for Texas Refinery Corp. products, in 1953 an office and factory were established in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, to serve western Canada.
Another milestone in Texas Refinery Corp.'s exciting and fruitful history was reached on March 17, 1960. Because of the loyal support from Mexican customers for some 20 years, a company was formed in Mexico City to provide our friends more prompt and efficient service. Thus, Texas Refinery Corp. of Mexico, S.A. came into existence.
On November 4, 1962, another progressive stride was taken by Texas Refinery Corp. directors. Texas Refinery Corp. Inter-Continental, S.A. was incorporated with offices and plant located in Echternach, Luxembourg. This important step enabled the Texas Refinery Corp. family to better serve European customers and friends. September, 1989 marked a move to new modern office and manufacturing facilities. The centrally located plant is convenient to Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Holland and the entire European community.
The Texas Refinery Corp. trademark is well established and respected around the world.
From an unimposing tin barn with scarcely more than the undaunted faith and determination of two men, Texas Refinery Corp. has grown to become a world leader in its field in an amazingly short span of time. And yet, despite the magnitude of what's been accomplished, the past 76 years are actually only a beginning - a launching pad for even more exhilarating and prodigious achievements.