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Initials on tin sign were hard to track I recently purchased an old Sinclair Oil Co. tin sign. On it, "H.C. Sinclair" is printed. What does the H.C. stand for? -- Richard K., Wesley Chapel, Fla. You very nearly stumped even the folks at Sinclair Oil Corp., Richard. But not quite. The H.C. stands for High Compression, a gasoline additive the oil company once produced to compete with a competitor's product. Sinclair never used the entire name, however -- instead, the initials H.C. adorned signs and gasoline pumps of the time. When it was first produced, the additive was known as Houston concentrate, says Craig Anderson, chief engineer over Sinclair's marketing department. But the marketers didn't like the name and changed it to High Compression, he says. That was shortened to H.C. before the signs were made. The details are nearly lost in history, even within the company, which couldn't come up with years the "H.C." signs were produced (the company itself has been around since 1916). Anderson credits longtime and recently retired Sinclair employee Wendell White, also a tin-sign collector, as the one who knew the answer to your question. ("Since You Asked'' is a daily feature in the Mail Tribune that answers questions from readers on virtually any topic of general interest. To submit a question, e-mail us at [email protected] Please include your name, address and phone number for verification. If you have specific questions about our Web site or other questions about the Mail Tribune, please send them to [email protected] ) Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA