This 1949 photo of a driver standing beside his fuel oil truck was once a familiar sight as families prepared for chilly weather. Neither the Aaberg Fuel Company driver nor woman signing for the load were identified. Fuel oil, commonly known as stove oil or diesel was once a significant source for home heating in the U.S. and elsewhere. Its share climbed from heating 10% of U.S. residences in 1940 to 32% by 1960, with overall usage peaking in the early 1970s. Since then, fuel oil has dropped to only 4.5%, or about 5.3 million homes. Fuel oil as the primary source of heat is concentrated in the Northeast states which account for 82% of all U.S. households still heated that way. Propane heats a similar percentage of homes but is more common in the Midwest.
The Aaberg Fuel Company’s sales yard was located between East Bay Street and the Puyallup River at 1713 Puyallup Ave. in Tacoma. In addition to fuel oil, Aaberg also delivered coal and firewood to customers throughout the Tacoma area. Aaberg Fuel was originally known as the McKinley Coal Company. But after its owner, Herbert Johnson, Jr. moved his yard from McKinley Avenue he decided to change the company’s name. His first choice was Johnson’s Fuel, but the letter J was too far down the alphabet list. When searching for another Scandinavian name he came across Aaberg, pronounced Ay-berg (rhymes with Day). The double-A spelling guaranteed his company a choice spot in telephone and yellow page listings.
This Dec. 7, 1949 photo # D46496-16 was taken by Richards Studio for a full-page article about Aaberg that appeared in the Tacoma News Tribune on Dec. 14, 1949. The photo plus information from the newspaper spread come courtesy of the Northwest Room at the Tacoma Public Library.
