Oil for Aladdin's Lamp (revised version, ca. 1949)

[Music] [Applause] [Music] some of the Miracles of petroleum are familiar to us all we know for instance that oil made possible one of the greatest inventions of History The Intern interal combustion engine which gave us Mastery over the air meant mass transportation for the world changed the face of continents quickened the very pulse of civilization provided man with an ease of living we know too that oil is power for our factories the Machine Age which has given us a matchless standard of living would never have been possible without oil practically every metallic machine in the world world would grind to a stop if it were not for petroleum lubricants yes these are the more generally known miracles from oil but let's look at some less familiar changes oil has wrought in your daily life miracles undreamed of by aad or even by the pioneers of the petroleum industry when they first struck oil back in 1859 they were seeking not gasoline or lubricants but kerosene kerosene for lamps to replace the whale oil which was growing scarce little did those early oil men realize that this lamp like Aladdin contained a genie little did they realize that the black substance was destined to advance our standards of living in a thousand different ways about the turn of the century something new was added to the American scene and the oil business became a potent factor in the nation's new economy the Horseless Carriage made its appearance motoring was for the brave in those days service facilities were primitive roads were rough the automobile was considered less Dependable than the horse but the motorc car was here to stay and in a surprisingly short time it ceased to be a fad and became a necessity Americans were on the way to owning millions of cars driving billions of miles a year oil refineries Grew From simple little Stills into multi-million dollar factories with Acres of complex equipment and the petroleum industry besides meeting current requirements developed more and better fuels and lubricants for the powerful engines that were to come today vast Laboratories are working hand inand with giant refineries this one alone employs more than a thousand persons and represents an investment in research facilities of more than 4 million here scientists delve into the unknown in a NeverEnding quest for facts they are men and women graduates of the world's greatest universities and they carry on their research and experimentation with the aid of the most modern scientific equipment available already they have discovered that a barrel of crew F oil will yield more than a thousand products products quite different from the more familiar ones used in automobiles and other mechanisms today it is difficult for you to look in any direction without seeing something made possible or made better with petroleum and the scientists have done all this because their inquisitive minds are constantly at work on new formulas at this very moment you are looking at a film who whose acetate basee was made with petroleum you can even hear oil it's in the plastic in musical instruments chances are your day starts with oil synthetic glycerin in toothpaste or alcohol in your shaving lotion the seat cushions at your breakfast table may be artificial leather made from petroleum derivatives and because ammonia fertilizer was injected into the water that irrigated The Grove the oranges that provide your morning glass of juice are larger more [Music] delicious we have been able to synthesize vitamin E which does a great deal toward producing eggs and greater quantity for strange as it may seem vitamin E added to chicken feed not only increases egg production but also improves hatchability yes and possibly there's synthetic glycerin in the sausage skins and what's this sugar from oil well not quite but ammonia is used in refining sugar then there's the pectin in your jams and jellies there's oil in your paper it's a vital part of ink and there's a new kind of ink that makes reading easier because of its anti- smudge properties [Music] Gone without a trace that's one of the beauties of the petroleum derived decorative overlay for tabletops the plastic ashtray comes from oil so does the wax on the match stick to help grow the cigarette tobacco a farmer used DD a soil fumigant to destroy nematodes insect pests harmful to the root of the plant [Music] an accident but no harm done to this [Music] tabletop this surface resists heat as well as [Music] liquid but let's look Beyond The Breakfast Table salads for your lunch potatoes for the the evening meal here at the agricultural laboratory near Modesto California a large staff of Specialists is constantly at work seeking new ways for oil derivatives to improve your eating pleasure it's a modern laboratory complete to The Last Detail including 140 acres of land every foot of which contributes to the research program here they grow an increasing variety of fruits and vegetables study their growth and observe their reaction to treatment to conduct research on so large a scale the Specialists need a lot of farm equipment of course in this age of mechanized agriculture petroleum's part in powering and protecting farm implements is not exactly new and in addition to the protection of Machinery against friction another petroleum product comes into play Rust preventive it successfully protects tools and equipment even in outdoor storage there is aside to the petroleum industry's agricultural research however which isn't so generally known the laboratory work testing of sprays tomato canker bacteria inoculation the study of the Infectious and destructive nematode on roots and in the soil fungus inoculation in a transfer chamber these are the men and women who make farming more scientific more efficient help Farmers grow more and better food and so long before the food reaches your table the work goes on the study of plant growth under controlled Hot House conditions the trying out of new chemical compounds for control of insects and of fungus and virus diseases the running of pilot tests for new processes to stimulate the growth of plants to make vegetables more nourishing fruit bigger and juicier ammonia is shot into the irrigation water the same product ammonia has proved a great Boon to the dry farmer as well the Specialists take oil which originally came from the earth transform it into a brand new substance and put it back into the Earth again could the genie of the lamp do more a field of carrots never touched by a home a petroleum derived weed killer knocked out the weeds when the carrots were only Sprouts agricultural experts fight an endless battle against insect pests that ruin millions of dollars worth of crops a year oilbased sprays and oild derived chemicals are among their most effective weapons on many modern Farms insecticides in powder form are being replaced by oil Vapors and fogs that kill bugs fast leave no harmful spray residue the result fruit of a quality that even the genie couldn't surpass I'll bet Aladdin never dreamed of this one the plane is spraying an orchard with an almost invisible plant hormone end drop to keep the fruit from falling hold it on the trees until the best time to harvest while some of the scientists are working on methods to give us better food and actually applying them as in the case of the trees others must carry on another type of work the battle against the plant enemies and pests [Music] underground in this case to destroy rotn nematodes which can do this to whole fields of tomatoes but when oil derived DD has control the nematodes rots are clean and strong able to support husky productive plants the story of petroleum's place in food runs from the field to your refrigerator an hydras ammonia a refrigerant has its place here it quick freezes food as soon as it is packed so that it reaches you crisp and fresh but let's follow petroleum away from food and and see what else it does the weatherometer is designed to test roof coatings oilbased paints asphalt rust preventives and other petroleum products it duplicates the effect of blistering Sun snow rain condenses into a few hours the weather beating effects of 10 years thereby assuring us of protective roof coatings for our homes [Music] in addition to protection petroleum adds Comfort to our living fuel oil the object of painstaking laboratory study which results in a constantly improved product furnishes us a safe economical heat when burning in an automatic furnace in our homes and it may surprise you to know the list of petroleum products around your living room they're used in fabrics for the drapes in paint on the walls in gloss on the floors petroleum really gets around it does its work in every room it has its artistic side too a laboratory technician will cure by heat and pressure a chemical from petroleum [Music] ah there we are petroleum and still another guys a block of clear plastic every one of these plastic articles contains petroleum that black fluid has changed a lot since it came from an oil well hasn't it while we're on the subject of Art and Beauty let's see how close petroleum comes to the lady of the house Carlo Wilcox will take over the glamour Department well whether you know it or not every single preparation on this beautiful lady's Dressing Table every single thing she is wearing is influenced by oil here's a string of sparklers that have never been closer to a diamond mine than the shell development Laboratories the shampoo she used on her hair her comb the lacquer on her nails and her makeup all or in part have come out of some oil well just for one let's take away all these articles dependent upon petroleum her hand mirror Cosmetics perfume and manicure set made of [Music] plastics her synthetic silk negl her silk under oh science can go no further thanks harlo you did it without a magic lamp too now let's look outside the home there's oil in every direction look up the street asphalt which paves nearly half a million miles of thoroughfares in the United States look down artificial leather shoes made with the help of [Music] petroleum and when you get into your car you're literally surrounded by oil methyle ethyl Ketone is used on Nitro cellulose lacquer for automobile finishes and paints there's oil inside the car and I don't mean the crank case the plastic on the dashboard the windshield is made shatterproof with transparent resin that serves as a binder the synthetic rubber mat on the floorboard here's a laboratory man giving a simple demonstration of rubber being made with petroleum [Music] yes you can even get a bounce out of it so whether you're pading a vest pocket vehicle or a big sedan you can roll on synthetic rubber tires with confidence and comfort and so it goes petroleum scientists challenging Aladdin at every turn here's a trick performed by a petroleum product this plastic tube actually leads light around a curve a neat trick and mighty handy when your dentist is looking for some inside information in many other and even more important ways modern medicine is aided by petroleum its derivatives are used in making penicillin anesthetics sedatives dyes used in laboratory tests yes day in and day out the men of the laboratory work on experimenting testing discovering and the fruits of their labors are more wonderful more practical than anything Aladdin ever produced with this fabulous lamp the scientist creates his products with petroleum or natural gas by shifting and rearranging the molecular structure he creates new materials replaces old and scarce materials finds useful substances never before known to exist it's all based on the soundest scientific reasoning on formulas and more formulas it may seem somewhat confusing to the Layman but here let's EES drop on a private discourse in the labatory carbon and hydrocarbon it is now also apparent that the properties of a hydrocarbon that is its molecular construction depends solely on the arrangements of its component atoms is that perfectly clear Mr Coldwater it's all perfectly clear Dr Featherstone as I understand it it's the rearrangement of the molecular Sater force and the Kor more of Cel and you say the hydr Comin comes into the F BRS and brings out all the little high tool of Cel and the C then you said the H celer of the the r the composition going to the coming out of the set and that's why you can't for it the hyar and the Cal will PR and they'll do it to you too well it's not so important that you know how these things are done what is important to you is the story of the the Pioneer Drillers who sought a new and more abundant source for lamp oil and found a far more valuable substance a substance destined to be of tremendous importance as a servant in the home a Hired Hand on the farm a tireless worker in plant and Factory and as a means of providing the world with a new freedom of movement yes it's important too that one of the principal assignments of the petroleum scientist is the constant development of new and better products to make your car and mine run smoother more safely and more economically who knows what even greater achievements lie ahead in the incredible realm of petroleum [Music]