"Storing and Shipping Containers of Refined Petroleum to China, 1925-1937"

One of the most dominant American firms in China during the early twentieth century was the Standard Oil Company of New York and later the Standard Vacuum Company. This paper discusses how containers or tins of refined petroleum imported into China by Standard Oil were stored and often repurposed to be used again by agents working for the company, as well as for domestic firms, such as the Kwanghua Petroleum Company. This research questions the effectiveness of Standard Oil’s corporate and organizational strategies amidst China’s turbulent socio-political climate of the early twentieth century, and contrasts China to the experience of the United States during the Gilded Age and Progressive Eras. What new lessons could this approach teach us about the history of capitalism, business, and the historical experiences of states that struggled to develop amidst the boom-and-bust cycles of the global economy on the eve of and during the Great Depression? This paper will further demonstrate how Standard Oil’s marketing and business strategies in China reflected an emerging pro American hegemony following World War I, when the United States began to more aggressively assert itself in the foreign affairs of other countries, often with disastrous consequences. In this view, the American business model could be transplanted in other parts of the world where markets were unstable, or states were transitioning from colonial to post-colonial nations. Working within such a mentality, the Standard Oil Company of New York and its subsidiaries operated without any sense of hubris and remained steadfastly focused on increasing profits at all costs.