Oil for the Lamps of China

For the business catchphrase, see Freebie_marketing#Standard_Oil

Oil for the Lamps of China is a novel by Alice Tisdale Hobart. It was originally published by Bobbs Merrill (Indianapolis) in 1933, and reprinted by EastBridge in 2002 (ISBN 1891936085).

The novel, which became a bestseller in 1934, describes the life in China of a young executive from the early 1900s through the Nationalist Revolution of the 1920s. The young protagonist, Stephen Chase, is successful in understanding China and building business, but in the turmoil of China's Nationalist Revolution of the 1920s, he is betrayed by the company and by the new China which emerges. The author's husband was an executive for the Standard Oil Company.

It was the basis of a 1935 film by the same name starring Pat O'Brien.