Amelia Earhart

The new photographic exhibition, “Early Travels with Union 76 Gasoline,” is on now until Oct 4, 2009 at the City of Santa Paula’s California Oil Museum. (805-933-0076, 1001 E. Main St., Santa Paula; 10 AM – 4 PM, Wed – Sun; $4 Adult, $3 Seniors, $1 Children).

Adventure defined travel in the West in the 1920s. Roads were becoming better than passable and filling stations were springing up to serve the needs of motorists. Americans were taking to the air for business, adventure, and travel. Autos and airplanes were breaking speed and distance records. The basic infrastructure of roads, signage, maps, service stations, and airports had been developed, allowing travelers to venture into landscapes they had only seen in magazines. Snapshots of this travel landscape were gathered by Union Oil Company in the 1920s as it supplied fuels to motorists and fliers. These photographs document the exuberant spirit of early travelers as they traveled the West by land and by air.

The photographs in this exhibit were taken by unnamed photographers hired by Union Oil Company of California. The images originally appeared in company publications and advertising, and are now in the collection of the California Oil Museum.