Well, I was going to go to the Mike Rhein collection sale in Minneapolis, butm the weather and a phone call held me back. A close friend of mine has slowly been dispersing his collection, and he calls me whenever he's in the mood to sell! Friday was my day and I was able to buy some pretty nice signs! The picture has the signs in the condition I received them, and I just finished cleaning up the first 2 and they look great! The Phillips shield is as close to NOS as you can get and actually came from Devils Lake in the beginning! Bonus when you get something from the home town!
Awesome buys there, Kevin. I finally got back to MO yesterday and a friend of mine gave me a lead on an NOS Phillips sign. Going to check it out tomorrow, hope it turns out as good as yours....
Thanks KZ! I did see that one...It is different cause it says brakes equalized + testing station. I searched and only found that version...Still havent seen another like this one... Here is other side...I love the 1920's spoked car wheel!
I got this Carter Carburetor display awhile back. Finally got it filled with carburetors. Also picked up this early Texaco map holder from a fellow oldgasser.
Here are my buys from the Escalon show. All in all it was a great show with more than 30 vendors. I picked up the signal, and the Richfield from fellow oldgassers. The shell is rough, but I love it.
48" republic gas and motor oil sign dsp. Welcome to america the home of the brave. On a side note i got this at an antique store in a town of 250,000 people its also where i bought my doughboy last year. Dont over look the stores with booths sometimes next to the barbi dolls is a smokin sign. You just never know where this stuff will turn up.
Anthony love the shell thats an early and nice sign. I have a sign that says chasis on it and treasure that word being on the sign it says old to me. And the signal well its says signal on it What more can u ask for.
Bought this a couple weeks ago at an auction, not the one on ebay that was for sale. Found a gasket set and cleaned it up. 1927 or earlier piece. Model T era.
Items I got at the Mike Rhein collection auction. Mike had some clean great items and his wife ellyn let me know she will be going to Iowa Gas with more of Mike's items per his wishes so please stop by and give her your best when there!! First time I have ever come across an original Pure Oil pride tire and Mike had one new in the wrapper. Wish I could thank his for the great items!!
I had a great weekend. I sold a large pile of stuff at an auction out of town on Saturday and spent all of the money made on just three items. The Buffalo tin bought at the auction was darn expensive and filthy but after 6 hours of cleaning it was worth it. Also happy with the two other items bought separately from two good buddies. The William Penn one pound grease is an upgrade to the one that I have had for about 20 years. I just never see them and this is one is new old stock. Cheers, Don.
I use a number of cleaners depending what sort of results I am getting. I did put some motor oil on to soften the caked on oil, letting it sit overnight. Also worked on it with WD40, Citra-solv and white hand cleaner, but not the stuff with the grit in it. As soon as the cloth gets soiled you have to use a clean spot on the cloth otherwise you could be working the dirt into the paint. I believe that most of the old tins were top-coated with a clear varnish over the litho paint and that protects them to a degree but over time this can wear off or even disintegrate leaving just the paint layer. With enough rubbing you can get a nice shiny metal can with no paint at all! Each can is different depending upon how good the paint layer is and what sort of elements it has been exposed to. I have had a paint layer wipe off with just a bare clean cloth so you really have to experiment to see what works and what doesn't and what to leave alone. Cheers, Don.
Just picked up this 541 this weekend. To cool the way it is. It will be cleaned and detailed and given a satin clear coat with new door glass and new face plates from Scobie. And the lights work!
Wow, I really like that flange sign. I picked up one Moto meter a couple months ago. I'm not really a collector of them, but it looks cool on the shelf.
had a good week. first, the beast, got my first Clearvision 705 twin with blue cylinders! it's awesome and surprisingly, not too heavy. then, some Firestone neon letters in great shape, and my first Duplex 5 gallon in great shape! Last, just found an early "ladies entrance" sign, been wanting one of these for years. it's backlite with milkglass and neon goes around the outside!
forgot two. probably the nicest condition early poster i've ever found. Samson tires, 1901. found in shipping box, about 5 ft. by 5 ft. and a killer Stewart Warner "write it yourself" neon countertop display. I guess this could be considered "not" petrolia, but I imagine it in a Texaco station, so i guess it is! neon works perfect. chuck
Picked up the plate to the left last week. It is dated 3-42 and has Made in U.S.A. on the left and is a thick heavy sign. These are the small pump plates 8 by 12. The one to the right is very light and thin and has P&N 3-64 on the lower right corner. It is also a little brighter white. I picked this one up last year.
You can see other slight differences between them as well.