ALEUTIAN PROPANE SALES
The Discovery
In 1910 Dr. Walter O. Snelling, a
chemist and explosives expert for the U.S. Bureau of Mines, was contacted to
investigate vapors coming from a gasoline tank vent of a newly purchased Ford
Model T. Dr. Snelling filled a glass jug with the gasoline from the Ford Model
T and discovered on his way back to the lab that volatile vapors were forming
in the jug, causing its cork to repeatedly pop out. He began experimenting with
these vaporous gases to find methods to control and hold them. After dividing
the gas into its liquid and gaseous components, he learned that propane was
one component of the liquefied gas mixture. He soon learned that this propane
component could be used for lighting, metal cutting and cooking. That discovery
marked the birth of the propane industry.
The Growth of an Industry
1912
Dr. Snelling and some
colleagues established the American Gasol Co., the first commercial marketer
of propane.
1913
Dr. Snelling sold his
propane patent for $50,000 to Frank Phillips, the founder of Phillips Petroleum
Company.
1918
Propane was primarily
used for cutting metals. J. B. Anderson of Sharpsburg, Pennsylvania developed
the first propane-fueled pumpless blowtorch.
1922
The Bureau of Mines
began to keep track of propane sales throughout the United States; national
sales totaled 223,000 gallons.
1925 Propane sales reached 404,000 gallons, nearly doubling sales in just three
years.
1927
Phillips Petroleum Co.
began the research and development of domestic appliances and gas equipment.
The Tappan Stove Company began producing gas ranges.
1928
The first bobtail truck
was built, and Servel produced the first propane refrigerator.
1929
Aggressive sales promotions
and marketing pushed national sales to 10 million gallons. The propane industry
asset value was approximately $22 million.
1931
H. Emerson Thomas, George
Oberfell, and Mark Anton founded the first propane industry trade group called
the National Bottled Gas Association in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
1932
At the 1932 Olympics
in Los Angeles, all the cooking and water heating at the Olympic Village was
done with propane.
1933
A propane odorant was
developed to promote easy leak detection.
1934
National sales reached 56 million gallons, due in great part to rapid industrial growth.
1936
Twenty pound cylinders
were first introduced to enhance portability.
1945
The end of World War
II brought great industrial development. The propane industry enjoyed its so-called
Golden Years, and sales reached 1 billion gallons.
1947
Sixty-two percent of
all U.S. homes were equipped with either natural gas or propane ranges. Water
heater sales rose 261 percent, and the first propane-fueled clothes dryer entered
the marketplace. The first ocean- going tanker built for propane, the SS Natalie
Warren owned by Warren Petroleum Corp., was also launched; total capacity was
1.4 million gallons.
1950
The Chicago Transit
Authority ordered 1,000 propane-fueled buses, and Milwaukee converted 270 taxies
to run on propane. In addition, an estimated 7.5 million propane installations
occurred on farms and in suburbs.
1955
Propane containers,
equipment and appliances were exposed to an atomic explosion
at a federal test site in Nevada. After the explosion, all were in perfect working
order, and the ranges were used to cook meals for the test personnel.
1958
National propane sales
reached 7 billion gallons.
1961
Propane installations
in the United States totaled 13 million.
1962
The propane industry
celebrated its 50th anniversary at its national convention in May at the Conrad
Hilton in Chicago.
1963
The first 50,000-gallon
tank car was built, and hot-air balloons began using propane.
1965
GATX built the worldÕs
largest propane tank car, with a 60,000-gallon capacity. Chevrolet introduced
four new truck engines designed for propane.
1973
Propane price controls
were instituted in the wake of the Arab oil embargo. The propane industry trade
association, now called the National Propane Association, opened its first Washington
D.C. office.
1977
The U.S. Department
of Energy was established, and the Federal Energy Administration (FEA) began
investigating propane pricing practices, which were then controlled by the U.S.
government.
1981
President Reagan eliminated
price controls on propane, gasoline and crude oil.
1987
The National Liquefied
Petroleum Gas Association (NLPGA) changed its name to the National Propane Gas
Association (NPGA), the national trade association representing the propane
industry.
1990
Propane was listed as an approved, alternative clean fuel in the 1990 Clean Air Act and two years later was listed again in the National Energy Policy Act of 1992.
1996
The Propane Education
& Research Council was authorized by the U.S.Congress with the passage of
Public Law 104-284, the Propane Education and Research Act (PERA), signed into
law on October 11, 1996. The mission of the Propane Education & Research
Council is to promote the safe, efficient use of odorized propane gas as a preferred
energy source.
2000
