WALLACE, James Purdom (1886-1949) was the staff architect for the Supertest Oil Company of London, Ont. and it is to him that credit may be given for the design of dozens of Art Deco and Moderne style gasoline stations in Ontario and Quebec erected between 1928 and 1949. Born in London, Ont. on 20 July 1886 he was educated at London Collegiate and studied at the Detroit Technical Institute and the University of Michigan from 1904 until 1906. He worked with John Stahl of Detroit until 1909 and then entered the office of Spier & Rohns in that city and remained there for two years. Wallace worked briefly for Smith, Hinchman & Grylls and returned to London in 1912 to join Watt & Blackwell where he was employed as chief draftsman until 1928.
In that year he took a position with Supertest Oil in London and served as the Chief Architect for the company until his death in 1949. Wallace adopted streamlined and simplified forms for many of his fashionable station designs, using white stucco, stone and metal to heighten the visual effect needed to catch the eye of passing motorists. While many of his works have been demolished, the few that remain can still be found today under new ownership after the Supertest Oil Company was purchased by BP Oil Company, which in turn was absorbed by the government oil company Petro Canada in the early 1980's. Wallace died in London on 30 September 1949 (obituary in London Free Press, 1 Oct. 1949, 3; inf. Ontario Assoc. of Architects).