The historic photograph on the cover shows King 'Abd Al-'Aziz (looking up, center) with Floyd Ohliger (in Ghutra) and driller "Doc" Whitney (in hat) at Abu Hadriya Well No. 1, during the King's visit to Aramco facilities in 1939. Crown Prince (later King) Sa'ud and two young princes are at left. Photo from the Don McLeod Collection.
Traveling with Aramco pioneer Max Steineke in northern Arabia during the 1936 exploration season, geologist J.W. "Soak" Hoover took this photograph, identified in his notes as "Shammar tribesmen summering at Umm er-Radhuma Wells, May 4, 1936."
Annuitant Dorothy Miller photographed the slipface of a dune deep in shadow cast by a setting sun. Early Aramco geologists marveled at Arabia's desert landscapes.
Nomadic Aramco annuitants found a cool oasis in the garden lobby of the Hyatt Orlando Hotel.
In the early 1940s the late Clark Cypher worked at Aramco's Jiddah office, shown in this photo from geologist Max Steineke's collection.
The Bedouin and his falcon, photographed in the Rub 'al-Khali in 1967 by the late Brainerd Bates, is from the collection on annuitant Lois Wolfrum.
Donkeys trudging back and forth on inclined ramps to lift water into irrigation channels were a common sight in the oases of the Eastern Province 50 years ago.
An oasis reunion, stately palms and cooling waters.
Backed by his royal guards as he surveys the scene at the Dhahran Tennis Court on January 25, 1947, King 'Abd al-'Aziz is flanked by Aramco executive James MacPherson (left), by T.V. Stapleton and American Consul Waldo Bailey (right).
As intrepid Aramco travelers know, nearly every town in the Kingdom worth the name has a gold suq worth a visit. The salesboy in Riyadh was photographed by Dorothy Miller in 1975.
I remember how strange Ras Tanura looked the first year green trees began to poke above the roofs all over town, throwing circles of shade onto the ground and softening the skyline.
Lester Hilyard worked in Saudi Arabia from 1937 to 1945. After a very brief stint in Venezuela - and 26 years of service with Standard of California - he look early retirement in February 1947.
The Eighteenth Aramco Annuitants Reunion was held September 2 - 4 in Pinehurst, North Carolina, in the Pinehurst Hotel, now approaching its 90th year.
Since annuitant Dorothy Miller returned to the U.S. in 1977, she has averaged about four hours a day, three days a week, in her photo lab.
Mary Norton tells how artist Lenore DePree drew on Persian miniature art to paint her stylized scenes of life in Arabia - and the patchwork fields and hills of Appalachia.
"The shopkeeper lifted the lid of the chest and motioned for me to sniff; I dove into its depths and sniffed."
Mirage in the desert. In Las Vegas, a tropical garden and cascading water greet guests in the atrium of The Mirage.
The most logical place to find Wilma and Barton Haggard would be somewhere on the Mediterranean coast, surrounded by fun, sun and multilingual banter.
Clockwise from top left, Roger Ward, Floyd McGinnis; Cy Koryus; Jim Stroud, Carolyn Layton; Clinton Hern; Irene Hendrick.
We were pleased to learn form the Winter 1987 issue of Al Ayyam Al-Jamila that another branch of the "Aramco Brats" has gotten together and held a reunion.