Sunday, December 29, 2013

Louisiana: Doodlebugs

"Exploring for Oil in Mississippi Delta. Doodlebug crew in swamp setting shot line." Credit: Chevron Retired Workers

I have a feeling that as I learn some Louisiana terminology, I'll get myself into trouble sometimes, but that's part of the learning curve.

To say that oil is a big part of the Louisiana economy is an understatement. Its exploration, harvest, processing, and transportation permeate the Louisiana culture. 

So, doodlebug. The word isn't so much Louisiana-specific as it is oil-industry-specific.

(In one context, a doodlebug is what we in the Midwest call a rolypoly, you know, that bug that curls up when you touch it.)

But a doodlebug is also
.... oilfield workers know this term as describing a person who is in the oil exploration business. Mainly seismic crews.


Related to oil exploration, a doodlebug is a device (as a divining rod) used in attempting to locate underground gas, water, oil, or ores. 

Doodlebug Days. Credit: Amazon

From the book Doodlebug Days: An American Family's Ups and Downs as Middle-Class Migrants, written about the Depression-era oil exploration industry: 
Between 1900 and 1936 California led the nation in petroleum production. Oil companies, certain that great reserves of oil still laid hidden, sent exploration crews - called doodlebug parties - out to find them ... 

Doodlebug (tanker) 1935. Credit: Chevron Retired Workers

Here's a song about a doodlebug who used a divining rod to find oil:



  1. Fascinating information about a profession that I never hear of before. Thank you for opening my eyes.

    1. As mine were opened - who'd have thought? Doodlebugs! Thank you for stopping and commenting!