Ugh, you guys are STARTING urban legends...

My father worked for Shell Chemical for most of his career and was
transferred on occasion from place to place; I narrowly missed being born
as a Californian. A company history, last read when I was 12 or so, stated
unequivocally that Shell began by selling shells and other curios from far
lands. Oil came much later, though I don't remember exactly how or when.
The history is complicated by a merger of British and Dutch interests into
Royal Dutch, which owns Shell Oil, Shell Chemical, Shell Pipeline, etc. Odd
to think that one of the world's largest corporations began as a shell
shop.

The original curio company was founded in the 1600's, if memory serves,
making it the oldest shell dealer still in existence, in a manner of
speaking. Of course they don't sell shells anymore, but they do sell shell
calendar-books. ;-) As a matter of possible interest, other companies that
have lasted several centuries include book publishers (Cambridge and
Elsevier), several beer companies (Lowenbrau, for instance), and at least
one soy sauce maker (Kikkoman). Even older institutions exist, including
medieval universities (e.g., Cairo, Paris, Bologna, Salamanca), the
government of Iceland (ca. 1000), and the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox
Churches; but change is the rule.

Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA