Oil in Texas: The Gusher Age, 1895-1945 (Clifton and Shirley Caldwell Texas Heritage Series)

Business & Money

Hinton, Diana Davids

Olien, Roger M.

Economics

University of Texas Press

As the twentieth century began, oil in Texas was easy to find, but the quantities were too small to attract industrial capital and production. Then, on January 10, 1901, the Spindletop gusher blew in. Over the next fifty years, oil transformed Texas, creating a booming economy that built cities, attracted out-of-state workers and companies, funded schools and universities, and generated wealth that raised the overall standard of living—even for blue-collar workers. No other twentieth-century development had a more profound effect upon the state.
In this book, Roger M. Olien and Diana Davids Hinton chronicle the explosive growth of the Texas oil industry from the first commercial production at Corsicana in the 1890s through the vital role of Texas oil in World War II. Using both archival records and oral histories, they follow the wildcatters and the gushers as the oil industry spread into almost every region of the state. The authors trace the development of many branches of the petroleum industry—pipelines, refining, petrochemicals, and natural gas. They also explore how overproduction and volatile prices led to increasing regulation and gave broad regulatory powers to the Texas Railroad Commission.

Book by Olien, Roger M, Olien, Diana Davids

Oil Booms

History

Americas

University Of Nebraska Press

During the great oil speculations in the 1920s, both promoters and investors became victims of their common greed. Outlining the activities of several different promoters and drawing on business papers, federal court records, and local land records, the Oliens describe the legal and regulatory responses to fraud. Their fascinating story breaks new ground in American social and business history and offers new insight into the culture of American capitalism.

Easy Money: Oil Promoters and Investors in the Jazz Age

Politics & Social Sciences

Olien, Diana Davids

Politics & Government

Univ of North Carolina Pr

Industries

The University of North Carolina Press

Traditional accounts of John D. Rockefeller and the Standard Oil Company, as well as recent best-selling books on the subject, still accept without question charges of unethical and anti-competitive behavior by the American oil industry. In this pathbreaking synthesis of cultural, business, gender, and intellectual history, Roger and Diana Davids Olien explore how this negative image of the petroleum industry was created--and how this image in turn helped shape policy toward the industry in ways that were sometimes at odds with both the goals of reformers and the public interest. By turning a critical eye on sources that have often been accepted at face value and examining the self-interests of oil industry critics, the authors produce a more balanced, complex picture of the industry than has previously been offered. Their case study of the impact of ideology offers a striking example of how business must be understood through its cultural context and offers a new approach to understanding problems of regulation and reform.

Oil and Ideology: The Cultural Creation of the American Petroleum Industry (Latinx Histories)

Business Culture

From Token to Triumph: The Texas Republicans Since 1920

Southern Methodist Univ Pr

Book by Olien, Roger M., Olien, Diana Davids

Life in the Oil Fields

Texas Monthly Press

In the 1970s and 1980s the Texas wildcatter was a recognizable figure in popular culture. Since then, the wildcatter’s role is less celebrated but still important, as shown in the new introduction to this edition of a book originally published in 1984 by Texas Monthly Press. Drawing heavily on oral histories, this book tells the story of the West Texas independents as a group, looking at their business strategies in the context of their national, regional, and local conditions. The focus is on the Permian Basin and southeastern New Mexico over the sixty-year period in which the region rose to prominence on the American oil scene, producing about one-fifth of the nation’s output. It is a story that covers vast technological change, governmental regulation, and economic fluctuation with profound implications for the oil and gas community. The new introduction brings the story up-to-date by addressing not only the subsequent careers of the wildcatters described in the book but also the role of independents in the current economy.

Wildcatters: Texas Independent Oilmen (Volume 20) (Kenneth E. Montague Series in Oil and Business History)

Biography & History

Texas A&M University Press

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Books by Olien, Roger M.