I love old gas pumps, signs, and buildings as much as old fords. Were I live there's no old buildings around so I had to build my own in my yard. Frank.
hi guys take a look at this post for me and keep your eyes open http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7295915#post7295915 Thanks Tim Jones
A few pics of my Wayne 39 pump. The face has been re-done but the globe and red body are 100% original equpment, I couldn't bring myself to strip that weathered paint off it!
Had so many gas pumps lined up behind the shop my wife told me I'm the only person she knows that uses gas pumps as a privacy fence.
I have an old Gilbarco pump in my backyard, the boss just gave me the "OK" to put a few signs on the fence!
This quart of oil and road map are the only things left from my great grand father's Signal Gas Station that was in Oakland California. The oil can has not been opened. I think that the can is from the 40's, anyone care to clarify more information on the oil can?
Generally it doesn't hurt the value to drain the cans. Especially composite cans. I use a church key and drain them from the top. Some guys drill two 1/8" holes and drain from the bottom. If you have metal cans with good graphics don't drain them.
The early days of ebay were great for buying petro stuff. Ebay is so loaded with repro crap now that I don't even look there any more. It's been several years since I even saw anything petro related in an antique shop with a realistic price. The best places to buy are the petro swap meets and specialty auctions like those Dan Matthews conducts. Do a Google search for Matthews Auctions. Yes, some prices are high in those venues, but there are many bargains to be had. Attend as many of the shows and petro auctions as you can. Network with other collectors and dealers. Besides items you want to add to your collection buy a few items for trade or resale. With some careful shopping you can sell or trade to better your position. Most new petro collectors will buy anything petro related. After awhile they decide to concentrate on specific things like a certain company, or just signs, or cans, or even just stuff from companies from their home state. I use to collect a little bit of everything. Over time my collecting taste became more refined. I concentrated on Standard (ind) items, 1# grease cans, anti-freeze cans and quarts. I now collect stuff from Sinclair and it's affiliates and globes from about any company. I sold off most of my quarts, signs, 1# grease cans and my anti-freeze can collection to fund my globe buying. Once you start specializing expect to pay up for the better stuff. I've built a respectable globe collection on a moderate budget. Don't expect to build your collection overnight. It takes time and effort. When you go to shows and specialty auctions talk to veteran collectors and dealers. They're a wealth of information and can help you recognize the increasing number of unmarked repros.
Anybody got an "Zephyr gas" stuff? I have a Butler visible pump that I'd like to do up in Zephyr gas colors to go with my 37 Zephyr. I ran across one original globe a few years back and it sold for $500.....ouch.
$500 might not have been a bad deal. There were two Zephyr companies. One was based in Michigan. Their logo looked kind of like a triangle with rounded sides. There's not allot of collector demand for stuff from that company. The other Zephyr was based in MO. Their globes have a diagonal band with Zephyr on it. Their globes generally have "speed lines" coming off the letters. Their older globes used red ripple bodies, with fairly plain red and white lenses. Those lenses are worth $400-500. The red ripple bodies...$2000-$3000 if in very good condition! The newer Zephyr globes were oval with plastic bodies. Dark blue background, white diagonal stripe, red lettering with speed lines. In very good condition those globes will bring $550-$750.
Signal stuff is very collectible and yours looks really nice. Probably worth a little research. There's subtle differences between similar cans that can greatly effect value. I don't know the differences but have seen some expensive Signal cans. A rule of thumb for age: soldered side seam is pre WWII crimped side seam is post WWII
vividlyvintage, That's a nice can. What markings does it have on the top? If the seam is soldered without crimps it could be from the 30's. If it's soldered and crimped it's likely newer. Later cans have folded and crimped seams, or just folded seams. The markings on the top and the type of seam are strong clues to the era it was made.
Im not sure exactly what you are talkling about so I took pictures. Thanks, "Skrach" My Vintage Blog: www.VividlyVintage.com My 55 Chrysler Worklog: www.Pop's55.com
On this site: http://www.oldgas.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=108375&page=all It says the can I have is the first quart cans that signal put out. And is from somewhere between 1931 -1947 Thanks, "Skrach" My Vintage Blog: www.VividlyVintage.com My 55 Chrysler Worklog: www.Pop's55.com
This is a 1930's can , has a date of 32-2 by the soldered seam . Found / bought Turlock Swap Meet , 1993 ..................
Vividlyvintage, I'm very familiar with that site. I used to be a moderator/admin there. Yes that's one of the first cans from Signal. If it has a seam like the Signal Penn can 32 barn car posted it's more than likely from the 30's. 32 barn car, That's a great can too! I'm not that familiar with Signal cans. That probably is a date code, but on cans from some companies there are production codes so you can't always date a can by those numbers.
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