A Mystery Man: Can You Help?

Sometimes a mystery item makes its way into our collection, and often we are able to provide some context with a little detective work. Usually there is a name, a date, a place – some clue that we can use to begin our search.

This Shell badge, found in a flea market in The Hague in 2007, provides very little information for us to start our sleuthing – and so, we turn to YOU for help!

The badge has a photo, is from Shell in Suez and is dated 1951. It reads “A.E.O. SUEZ, C.S. 180, DATE 23-8-51, MANUFACTURING”. There is some Arabic text underneath. AEO refers to the Anglo Egyptian Oil Fields Company which existed until the 1960s.

The badge ended up at the Expatriate Archive Centre because the finder knew of our history with Shell. We were originally founded by the Shell Ladies’ Project, to give a voice to Shell families around the world. Since 2008, we have been an independent organisation collecting the life stories of all expats, regardless of employer, from any country and in any language.

Do you know anyone who may have worked for Shell in Egypt in the 1950s, or who is related to someone who did? Can you help us translate the Arabic text? Please help us spread this as wide as possible, so that we may finally discover the background of this item in our collection. Help us to solve the mystery.

If you have any information, please contact Peta Chow, Expatriate Archive Centre on pr@xpatarchive.com or telephone +31 (0)70 427 2014 during office hours (10am – 3pm, Monday – Thursday).