Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Accumulations, Collections and Collectibles

It's almost 1:00 a.m. and I always get creative at this time in the morning.

I want to start a discussion about where we are going with all this stuff we have out there in the garage or whatever.

I will start with the last thing I posted "Collectibles."

When it comes to the collectibles, these are things that make us remember our past. They can be the things we collect, but they can also be anything that takes us back to what we want to call the good old days. So we look for them, and possibly add some of them to our collection. If you picked Lunch Boxes, and have a room full of them, you lost money, you picked the wrong thing, the bottom fell out of them years ago. Model Ts and Model As are selling for at least 30% less than I was paying for them 30 years ago. It may be a collectible today, but will it be a collectible 10 years from now?

So....you are sitting there and asking yourself, what "so called collectible" should I buy. I'll give you the biggest mistake I ever made: Around 1995 I thought that scratch off lottery tickets would be the next greatest collectible. By 2008 I had 50,000 of them. I put them on Ebay for $50.00 and no one was willing to pay the shipping to get them. They went in the trash. If you are looking for something to sell to put your kid through college you have to be smarter than me.
So again what I am trying to say is we are into collectibles, and we are trying to predict what is the next collectibles. But what I have observed is that what is hot today, may not be hot 10 years from now.

The next thing is "Accumulations." This is what I have said for years is what we all have. I have sold every globe I have ever found (I don't like them, they break). I have a few gas pumps, I have some maps, same salt & peppers, some signs, etc., this to me is an accumulation, not a collection.

Now, "Collections." This is the tough one to describe. For me, I once had over 600 handy oilers, this is a collection. If the only thing you look for when you go to a petroleum swap meet for is salt and pepper shakers, and you have 100s of them, you have a collection. As many of you know I fell in love with literature and have 41 drawers of petroliana related literature, I think I have a collection.

So...lets take a look at the weekly "Antique Roadshow." Someone comes on the show with a ring, they tell them it is worth $60,000, and the response you hear is "WOL." What you don't hear is the next question, "where can I find an auction to put this ring in so I can send my son/daughter through college." That statement that "we are going to keep it in the family" is BS. The ring may have been your grandmothers, but 20 years from now, the kid who finds it in the box has no idea who your grandmother was and gives it to his girlfriend, so if you are smart you sell it now.

Dick Bennett has many times said that we don't own any of this stuff, we are just holding it for the next generation. Yes, but will the next generation have as much interest in what we have as we do?

When I came into this hobby, I told my new wife Cindy (I collect wives also), that everything we found was for sale (actually when we got married we were both broke and we had to get out of this hole). We started buying and selling petroleum items as fast as we found them. At any given time we had a great "Accumulation" out there in the garage, but a year later it was all gone, and another pile replaced it.

So, where am I going with all this? What I am trying to tell/ask all of you is that what is worth $1000 today and you think this is a great investment, may only be worth $500 a few years from now. Remember, Jay Leno asks guests who Bush's vice president was and the average 25 year old doesn't know, so how can you expect someone a few years from now to know who Veedol was?

I have just reread the above and it sounds negative, I don't mean it to be, I just want all of us to really take a look at what we are taking our "very hard earned cash" and investing it in. If you don't have a 401K, but you have a garage filled with ????? that is where you have invested your money. How long should we hold on to this stuff, will it still be worth what we have in it when it is time to send that kid to college?

After again rereading the above, what I want to ask is, what should we be buying that will be at least worth what we paid for it when we decide to sell it?

I do want to add this: My wife once said that she is going to throw, all that stuff in the garage, in the hole with me when I die, maybe I can sell it where I am going since I can't sell it here.

Positive answers only (nah, I'm only kidding).

Jack Sim
The old man of the hobby.

Jack, I must politely disagree with you. I think ALL collectible markets were/are going through a price adjustment period. Some years the Model T's were extremely "hot" and pricing reflected this. Now the prices are leveling out. Same with muscle cars and just about everything else. This collapsing econmy is accelerating price adjustments also.

One should also collect ONLY as enjoyment, not as an investment. I never buy anything because I weigh the future investment of it against a current price. I buy it because I would like to add it to my collection. It's nice to know that our items do appreciate in value but that is secondary for me. The thrill of getting a new item and displaying it for my enjoyment is priceless. If one could predict future collectibles, he needs to work on Wall Street. I think our hobby is doing well for now.

Last night, my wife said something about if I were to lose my job, I could sell just a few items a month from my collection to keep us going. That is not an option!! I told her she would have to get a second job. LOL

Well i will add to this. You have to buy what you like! It might be gas and oil... lunch boxes, star wars, hot wheels and so on you get the picture. If it's worth a lot later down the road great... if not you shouldn't worry about it at least you have something you are enjoying. I have invested "x" amount in my 401k and have less than half now. At least with my gas and oil stuff... i still have it even if my Kan-o-tex Aviation globe is only worth $100 at least i still have it to enjoy.


I don't buy my gas stuff as an investment... some shouldn't look at this stuff as an investment. If you buy some stuff and sell it for a profit great... but to buy it only to hope in 10 years you will be able to retire or buy a condo in FL you might want to find somewhere else to invest.

I have over 20 computer that I call stock.
If you bought for an investment it is stock.

I look at kind of like Jarvis and Gary do. I buy this stuff for me not my future. I will also say that it is our job as a person who collects no matter what it is is to teach people about the hobby, thats how it keeps going. People dont always have to relate to the hobby to like it either. I know alot of guys and girls collect that was for you Tara, because of their intrest in muscle cars. I never have been a car guy and propbably never will. I got in this strictly by chance and it just kind of took over me. I will also say that I hope my investment holds its value, but if it doesnt at least i got to enjoy it.

I collect primarily because of my years as a Marathon dealer and auto tech, it's just an extention of who I am. I only collect Marathon, so I don't know if that's a collection or accumulation according to Jack.
I do try to collect the items that are in better condition and try not to buy lower end stuff. At least that way my family might have the opportunity realize some benefit after I'm gone.
In regard to where the market is going, I have always believed it and still do: the higher quality stuff more times than not is going to hold it's own. I've met some in the hobby that primarily collect mediocre to poor quality items. Unfortunately those items don't seem to sustain value in a down economy.
Having said that, if you're going to collect with recouping money down the road, buy the better stuff.

I agree with the above posts and Ohio Oil is an example of "collecting" because of memories, childhood, etc. For me, I never paid any attention to this stuff and still don't remember globes, visible pumps, or signage...except the Sinclair DINO because I liked dinosaurs. LOL I'm sure a lot of this stuff was still around in the late 50's-early 60's but there visibilty went in one ear (or eye) and out the other.

Then one day I went to the local Harley Dealer and there was a restored Tok 39 sitting there. I fell in love with it. I couldn't exactly recall seeing one nor did a flood of childhood memoroes come flooding back to me. But it WAS neat and I loved it. Not long after that encounter, I owned one and as we all know, things "snowballed" from there.

So you may remember these items or not. They WILL hold interest for some and will continue to do so in the future.

Jack, I've been around a full 60 years and I have to agree a lot with Gary! When any hobby or collection starts to get into the areas of "big money" (a relative term), it seems to draw the attention of people with a lot of excess money available to spend. They seem to enjoy playing on a playground that is familiar to them and consequently they have dabbled in petroleum collectibles for a number of years!
At any time when the economy suffers and that excess cash suffers, the first thing to go is the toys, hence a time of adjustment in values within the hobby! We are currently experiencing this phenomenon and I have to believe its nothing more than a reflection of the economy and really not to relative to the state of collecting gas and oil collectibles!
This brings up another point that is looming in the horizon and that is the interest in this particular hobby for future generations! If you're collecting as an investment, then this should be of consideration to you BUT if you're collecting as I am, and its to enjoy and preserve a bit of my past, then the relative value of the items is secondary. I often get a real bargain and sometimes pay WAY too much, but those items are on the walls of my shop for me and others like me to enjoy!
Hopefully, my heirs will be able to recoup most of my investment or even make a profit but I will be the only one that could answer that and I will be gone! My greatest wish is that there will be a large group of people at my sale with the desire to own a piece of history that the departed had collected in his later years.
This brings me to the direction that I believe I have taken with this hobby! I truly believe that I have been rescuing gas and oil artifacts from the scrap heaps of the world in order to get them into the hands of those that would preserve them for the future generations to enjoy, lest they be lost forever!
This brings up the question of desire for the future generations to continue with collecting things from an era of life that transpired before they were born! Will they even have the desire to continue with the legacy that I left behind?? I truly believe they will because I find myself searching out the really old and unusual items that came from an era that I was too young to participate in. My heirs may not be the ones with the desire to continue this legacy but there will be some younger individuals out there somewhere with the same burning desire that I have and hopefully they will all be standing in my yard bidding on the items I gathered and left behind for future generations to be able to enjoy!
I truly believe that the this hobby is in a healthy position for many generations to come and will certainly experience price adjustments from time to time as the economy and other factors may dictate, but the collecting of true gas and oil artifacts will probably go on forever, given the durability of those items that we are collecting.
Enough rambling for now, I hope you were able to get some sleep after all thos thoughts that went thru your head! I know its hard for me to sleep when theres something troubling me! Maybe putting it in print helped you sleep!
My opinion--nothing more----KEVIN

Jack, I was collecting stuff bout the same time Wayne Henderson started collecting . Hey we both grew up here in Richmond Va. I wanted a Gilbert and Barker -T 176 in the worst way! Ive had to sell most of what I finially was able to acumulate in Dallas years ago during the eighties when the economy went to the "Southern " tip of South America. I only kept a few maps and a few oil cans that were used during 1953 as I still own a 53 Ford Panel Delivery. With things going the way they are currently, I may wind up selling the truck too. I do what I do for my own enjoyment . If it turns a dime , fine if not , oh well. The Yuppie speculatord that ruined this hobby along with model kits discust me no end and personally , I hope they rot in ya'all know where ! Ed Shaver

Interesting discussion!
To me the term "collectible" conjures up images of those Franklin Mint pocket knifes, or Avon bottles. Maybe it's a regional thing.
To me, a "collection" means that you've taken time to learn about the item in question--who made it, when/where/how it was used, what makes it different than other similiar items. Also, a real collection has an inventory. You know what you have and can find a specific article in it quickly.
An "accumulation" is a bunch of vaguely interesting stuff. My maps and postcards are collections, our advertising matchbooks are an accumulation.

Values?
I'm painfully reaching the conclusion that my maps will probably not have any value to my heirs. I'm hoping that the documentation I have with them might at least save them from the dump. I do think that my postcards will increase in price as it's a >100 year old hobby.

Right now I think people are a lot more worried about their job security (or if retired, their traditional investments) than they are about increasing collections. It's certainly not a buyer's market becuase no-one is making it a seller's market.

Well....ED,
Wayne and I are the same age. Once he showed me a pic of him as a small child w/ a toy garage and some oil cans.... you been collecting a long time !!!!!

I would have to say I feel very fortunate to have started messing with this junk as what I still think of as the "golden age". Wayne and I did a lot of trading back then. A poor guy like me could afford to buy all I could carry home in the truck, with a fry on top !!!!...$100.00 FRY pumps, $25.00 A-38's $25.00 36-B's. 3 trips with 2 trucks to pickup $5000.00 of stuff on 99 9/10 a gallon gasoline...THOSE WERE THE DAYS!!!


I have a 22 yr COLLECTION of OBSOLETE Computer parts.....
Maybe the biggest of anyones...LOL

I let one question determine whether or not I pay the asking price for an item- "Can I get that amount of enjoyment out of owning, displaying, and sharing this item with others?"

If there comes a time it is worth many times more than I paid for it, I may consider selling it. If there comes a time the "market" deterrmines I was a financial idiot to buy it, what do I care-I have my original premise to fall back on.

My shop full of stuff investment versus my retirement funds over the last 18 months makes me look like a financial genius and my fund managers look like blithering idiots.

Personaly, my collection is based on the "WOW" factor. When somebody looks at it, and says WOW, I feel that I've done good. I collect CHEVRON stuff, because I worked for two CHEVRON dealers. The stuff I sold there was the post '71 logo, yet the stuff I tend to collect, is pre '71. I dont really know why.

I also have two, Model Ts, a bunch of coffee mugs, 1/64th scale race cars, two old cash registers, enough "vintage" office equipment to set up an "old office, model airplanes, some old "colectable" cards, more than 50 144th scale tanks, (complete with gameboard) antique kerosene lamps, a 60s era Coke machine, Lledo trucks, Matchbox cars, model trains (three different scales) wood planes, old candy machines, two windmills, a sleigh, old milk cans, skeleton keys, a bunch of old bikes, glass insulators, antique hand tools, numerous books (many signed by the authors) photos of airplanes & pilots (also autographed) and some stuff from the Viet Nam War, including a 3.75 folding fin rocket, I even have a Gandy Dancer. None of it, was purchased with the intention of any hopes of increasing value. I bought it, only because I wanted it.

If anything, that I own, is an investment in the future, for my family, its my business. I mean, of course, my company. I will gladly work, the long days, the hard jobs, in the miserable weather, so that my Wife & Daughter, wont have to. The pumps, oil cans, signs, maps, and everything else, are for me.

I also hope that none of this sounds negative. I just picked it up, because I WANTED it.

I think that I need a lunch box or two.... Or maybe just a Silver bullet.... I'll be back later.

Well I agree with this 100% & would of said it like this myself. I also agree with the 401K statement. OUCH & thats all I got to say about that

The pieces that I have acquired, unless I know I am going to do a spec pump, are for me to keep. They are to allow me to feel good about myself for obtaining them and doing with them what I want in case I want to "restore" something. I don't need the rarest pumps, signs, globe lenses, etc. to be happy for my efforts. I want items that have meaning to me. I've told my kids that they can do whatever they want with the stuff when I'm pushing up daisies. I don't have the expectation of making money on any of them. In the financial world and elsewhere, when there is a lot of money being bandied about to get an item (heightened demand), the price is likely to rise. If the interest is not there, the price may fall. Witness the run-up in real estate prices until a few years ago. Who knows if any petro items will see increased demand and increased prices in the future. To be so wrapped up in how much the stuff might be worth in the future as the primary consideration takes all the fun out of it for me. Dave Folck

Great discussion. I got started because I had no pictures on the walls of my den. I found a 36' inch conoco sign for 75.00 and away I went. I have NO memories of any of the gas pumps I have or the signs I own. However I truly enjoy them! They make me happy, so I can't imagine selling them. Will they hold their value? Doubtful, but that matters not to me. I wish prices would actually go down so i could buy more! Prices have been riding a big upswing these last few years so a correction has to be coming. I just hope I have some cash to pick me up some more happiness when that happens.

I buy Texaco items because I like it and don't think too much about resale. But, like most of us, I hope to buy at a fair price. I have also purchased non Texaco items becasue I have liked the item or thought there was a possibility to make some $$$ so I can use that money to buy more Texaco. I bought a case of Texaco Marine Quart cans and the guy was firm on his price. They cost me $25.00 a quart. I kept two and sold the other 10 and bought a couple of Wayne 70s, Wayne 100 and a Bennet 76 and a Wayne 40 with the proceeds. I sold the Wayne 40 and I redid the rest as Texaco pumps. The proceeds fromthe Wayne 40 paid for lots ofpaint. I would like to keep them...but who knows. When my son and I were moving them into the house we were "horsing" them into the basement and I said that these pumps would probably be his inheretence. He said, "Gee, they are kind of heavy...how am I going to move them when you're gone?" I said, "Not my problem." We had a good laugh.

To me, if you collect to save, or restore, or sell or just bug your wife....do it, enjoy it and have a good day.

I buy what i like when i get more than one of something i resell the extra. If i make money on it great if i dont or brake even no big deal. Because i kept the one i wanted. On the other hand i buy and resell other antiques not counting gas and oil.I do that for a lil extra cash not to get rich or retirement. Plus i injoy hunting for a great deal then selling it to someone that just has found that ONE piece. Makes me happy to see someone so happy. But if your looking for that then buy furniture,because at some point every one will want it. In my opinion.

Well I guess that a couple of cents from me will be added to this thought process. I too collect because I am like to find and fix things up. It is my greatest joy to make something, anything look like it once did. I enjoy looking at it when completed and knowing that it was once a new item. We are just the custodians of many things, and in this case we are helping to retain and restore the past. I like things that light up and restoring them with my son is great initself. If they are worth more when finished then great, even finding them is exciting. We are going through some tough times, and when the money or other items that we have are not as shinny as they once were, I can still light up the neon and get a good feeling. Wish you all good health and happiness, and may fun will continue for awhile.

My accumulation is slowly turning into a Collection. I collect mainly Marathon / Ohio Oil items. The fact that I have worked for the company for over 24 years might have something to do with that. I like the old Service Station give-a-way items from the 30's-60's, and anything that was related to our transport division.
For me though, it is the thrill of the hunt for things that were put out by the company that I have never seen, and putting together pieces of a puzzle that I enjoy most. Like finding a copy of the ad or company promo sheet, that may have been put out for a piece that I have.
I know I have paid more than I will ever get back on some items. But, like others I get a lot of personal enjoyment out of it.
Hopefully someday one of my grandkids will find enjoyment in these things and want them. Right now, at 2 and 3 my grandson's just want the Toy Trucks... I realized one day the those trucks are not going to see any real value, so I broke out a box of duplicates and now they run for that box when they come over.
I find even greater joy watching them play with them, than the ones setting on the shelf. If they get broken, no big deal.
I seem to recall I broke a few toys in my younger days.
Chuck

I collect gas pump globes from lots of different companies and anything from Sinclair.
I add Sinclair items to my late son's collection. When I buy a Sinclair sign I can imagine Jeff saying "that sign is way cool". If you havn't lost a teenage kid I don't expect you to understand.
I buy globes that I like. Many are from certain compaines like Standard and Pan Am. I collect globes from Kentucky and Ohio because that's where my parents are from. I have bought globes for resale in the past. Always with the intention of selling them quickly to raise money for my collection. As my collection evolves I sell globes that no longer fit the theme of my collection. In some cases I've sold globes I would like to have kept because I needed the money to buy globes that were more desireable to me. Like everyone else, I like to buy at lower prices, but I'm not afraid to pay top price for an item I really want. The Oco Pep globe I recently added to my collection is a good example. I wanted that globe because my buddies and I used to hang out at the corner Owens station when I was a kid.
My suggestion is if you're looking to make money on petro items is to turn them quickly. There is no guarantee that what we collect will continue to increase in value. Low and mid range globe prices are way down right now. If I were to sell my collection now I'd lose money on many globes. I don't plan on selling now, or ever for that matter. I see the low prices as an opportunity to buy more globes for my collection. I do think prices will eventually increase for awhile. Maybe for another ten years or more. But as petro collectors age and sell their collections to fund their retirement, or their families sell their collections after they're gone, prices will drop because for the most part there aren't young people entering the hobby...and staying in the hobby.
I agree with Judy that "collectors" in the purest meaning of the word try to learn as much as they can about what they collect. Unfortunatly I fall somewhere between an accumulator and a collector going by Judy's thoughts that a "collection" has to be displayed or easily reached. Due to lack of space I only have 60-some globes on display. Our long term plans include a new house which will have plenty of space to display our collections.
So what's the next hot collectible? I certainly don't know, nor do I care.

I'd say your globes are a real collection. You know all the information about the ones you own.

My guess that the next hot collectibles will be from the 1980s. Maybe the Jelly Bean Taurus will be the hot car. :-)
It's the first decade designer stuff became such a big deal, so I think the collecting fad will be connected with that.

If I was to start collecting something else, only thinking about returns, I'd say LPs from the 70s and the early 80s. Not going to do that, though.

I had an entire collection of John Lennon Albums. ONCE!!!
My EX-wife, sold them at a yard sale - all for $5.00.
Yes, she is still alive, No, that wasn't the reason we divorced...

Over the years I have read collector postings on what they collect. Inherently, the most common answer is "my dad, grandfather, Uncle, ran one of those stations" Or, I use to live near or frequent a place...." You get the idea.
I don't foresee that idea changing. So what do kids today, 15 -30 years old, associate with, that may be gone in 10 - 20 years?
In 25 years we may all be driving electric cars. My son's would say, I remember those Old plastic oil bottles... as they shell a $20.00 bill for one... Who would have thought, we threw all that stuff away. And it is the last sentence that makes things valuable.

I have saved all my Marathon Ashland stuff. Couldn't get a plug nickle for it right now... But, the name Marathon Ashland was only out there for 5 years. So maybe someday???? Who knows.
(O.K. kids, who knows what a plug nickle is? LOL... I should have saved some, getting hard to find, they are all plastic now.)

I remember my first collection at age 8 when my Dad was a State Park Ranger on the north shore of Lake Superior....We had many tourists from all over the country & and i needed to collect something & the only thing that came to mind that was free, was license plate numbers.... nobody else could duplicate this collection & i had something nobody else had....So for the next couple of summers i kept a notebook & pen with me at all times & wrote down every license plate number, state it was from & the year..It doesn't sound like much of a collection but i had the disease very early & it has never left...

when i first got into this i have to say that i thought it might be good as an investment,but quickly found out that probably wouldnt be the case. as i learned more it came down to buying what i liked,and not worrying as much about it as moneymaker.yep,everyone wants to get a good deal,and i have been pretty lucky on some things i have found,and made a few bucks.hey then i was able to buy a few more things i liked.way i look at it now,when the day comes i am no longer here,i would like to see various relatives and friends who enjoy this kinda stuff receive something to remember that whacked out guy mick who collected this cool old gas stuff.the money part is sureley seconday to the enjoyment factor!!

The definitions are "bang-on-the money". I have an accumulation because I like it all, but I have been working on 2 collections since I've started to gain direction and passion.

I started for several reasons. I just plain enjoy hunting and collecting things, especially old things. I like history a lot and for me this is like being a part of history. I get to preserve a piece of it, learn about it, and talk about it. I'm my own museum so to speak....we all are for that matter. Prices may go up and down, but there will ALWAYS be people interested in a "time that was" and that will always lead to people who accummulate or collect. The amount of people at any given time interested in those items will determine prices as a product of that interest.

I however look to the future of my collection in a different way. I WILL retire someday. That is not an option. I have taken up interests today that will keep my retirement years fun and fullfilling. Retiring with nothing to do after a lifetime of working is practically a tragedy. So for me, as I save and invest for tomorrow financially, I also invest my time in interests that will make my tomorrow interesting and fulfilling. My interests in woodworking and tools, antiques (especially petro), my new interest in my wifes' first love of horses, gardening and who knows what else will catch my attention in the future are going to make for a very exciting retirement!

Jack, you are quite the thinker!! This was an interesting topic for me to respond and enjoyed it. Keep up with the late night philisophical side!

Lordparaffin.... What a pleasure it was to read your input into this subject. I, for one, appreciate your inputs into subject like this.

I failed to mention, that we, like you & yours, also collect animals. Eight of which are horses.

But I like the comment about your "own museum", I guess thats part of why I do, what I do. In growing up, in Southern California, I lived between, many of the major oilfields.

But its also about, the comment about, investing time in interests that will make my tomorrows interesting and fulfilling.

For me, that comment pretty much sums it up. Thank you.

To Lastgas:
Sorry for your loss. I know where you are. I didn't lose a teenager but I did lose a 28 year old. He had bought a 67 Ford Galaxie to restore a few months before we lost him to a car accident. I have since restored it for him and I find myself buying different signs for my collection that he had suggested that I buy, also.

He collected tobacco and liquor signs and bottles and I now have those displayed with his car as well as some of my signs.

I started collecting old toy trucks back in 1990 and in early 1991 started my petroliana collection as well. I started out just to collect a few oil cans to go on a shelf in my shop, but that soon turned to a sign to display with the cans. Then I thought it would be nice to have an old pump, then a globe or two, then.....you all know how that goes.

I like collecting the items just for pure enjoyment, although I do buy things occasionally for resale. It seems as though you have to do something to help support your "habit". I also buy these items as a means of retirement sales, if I make it to retirement. I have been in business for myself for almost 35 years and as you know there are no 401K's for the self employed. So, in my "Golden Years" maybe my collection will be a source of something to do to help supplement my income as I sell it off.

Thanks for starting this, Jack. It helps to see that others are planning to do the same as I..... Dale

I'm an old fart. Years ago I don't know who, someone one told me if you had one of something "oh well it's just one." If you had two of something "who cares it only two." But if you had three of something "Wow that made you a collector." Well I'm a collector of lots of things cars, jukeboxes, pinballs, beer mugs, pumps, globes and cans. When friends come over I warn them I live in the past. When I feel down I can go participate in one of my collections and feel great. That's what its's all about for me. Since I retired a lot of you have met me at Vic's, Iowa Gas and Columbus. A few know me but I'm fairly new on this site. Bottom line is it's fun. Mitch

Thunder---Thanks

Mitch-----Amen brother

To all:
I started in this hobby with my father when he was a jobber and owned 3 Texaco stations (1959). Went on to engineering school 1968, he kept the stuff as he was interested too. When I came back to the hobby along with Bob Pettigrew (Arlington Heights Il (Mr. Sinclair) along with Jackie Knot)it was 1980. My father was right there with me. I like Jack moved tons of pumps GIVEN to me because my mother owned four farms and I could get past all the farmers. I loved the cash I was getting and also the rare pumps. Also at that time I again started collecting cars antique and muscle. Now this is where my story differs.

My son that is 26 now and daughter that is 24 are both in this car thing hard. She drives a 650 hp 99 Pontiac Firehawk (top tier trans am) he drives anything from a pro stock drag car to a rare 1991 GMC twin turbo Syclone truck. I drive my never out of the family 33 coupe with 25,000 original miles to the Univ out of our collection of 20 or so autos and maybe one of the other of 20 or so cars we are frtunate to "be keeping"! I could see times changing, them growing, built a very large 2 story garage 110 ft by 40 for the collections and put these two kids, me, their friends and our hobbies together. Thanks to doing this, I have my kids very interested in "watching out" for things dad likes and yet me being an old car guy from the 60s drag racing scene keeping them going in their hobby and being part of the pit crew for my son on the weekends racing. My biggest enjoyment out of all this at 58 yrs old is that my kids and I have something in common. (They even talked one night "who is going to get the garage and the "stuff" when your gone? I said JUST A MINUTE! Anyway for us it is not the money something ( I use to be like that) but the commaradary. To all whom have lost someone I am truly sorry and did not mean this post to harm anyone as I can't imagine that happening to us. I just saw my Amateur Radio hobby go down the drain with a bunch of old men and was bound and determined to get my whole family involved. Satellite radio , HD in the garage, other kids come over not in bars (we are in a college town) refrigerator filled with vitamin water (Don't laugh Tara and Lastgas) pop ect and maybe I am staying younger. As my mother and father always said to "we are the keepers for now, we are NOT the owners.
For those that just got the Matthews auction flyer about Don Fiedlers auction in Cedar Point Il (Lasalle) May 1st, here is a perfect example of what can happen. He has a successful business powder coating (House of Powder). Got divorced 25 yrs ago, his kids got mad and have not talked to him or sent him a card since 925 yrs) nor have ever come to see him in all that time. Now he has diabeties very bad, has a person drive him in his truck always. He told me in his truck the other day, "I thought my kids would want the collection Rob but they don't". Look at that flyer and imagine turning all that down and the good times those kids could have had with him and rememberences. Yes ,Don I understand and the unfortunate thing is they will be there for the money after your gone. Again, we are the keepers, my high is sitting out here in the garage at one of the computers with both of my kids, their girl and boyfriends (like right now as it snows like heck outside) and realizing what money won't buy. Take care everyone as my wifes sister at 45 has a double blood clot on her lungs tonite in an ICU ward in Charlotte amd was in what seemed to be perfect health yesterday. Enjoy what you have and your situation NOW as it could be gone tomorrow, it took me a long time, heart ache ect. to get to that conclusion believe me. Take care fellow "collectors or whatever we are. Rob

Great story Rob. Having such a special relationship with your family is the "wealth" some will never know. Material things can come and go...memories last forever. You must be doing something right.

Kurt

The way this uncertian world sits right now, I would say do what you want, because the bottom could fall out of anything at any time. However, I do not have kids as of right now and I'm really not for certian if I ever will. I do what I can for a 29 year old as far as my future goes. I do have a 401K through my work and I invest with an insurance company that a high school buddy works for. I also have a house full of items that are far more enjoying to look at than the rise and fall of my portfolio.