Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion How many years collecting?

Been into Mustangs since early 80's but I didn't start to think it would be cool to have an old pump outside the garage until 97/98. Saw the ads for pumps in the car magazines and started to collect price info etc. Also started to search the web and found Oldgas...lurked for a while and became a member in y2k.
Bought a couple of pumps that were already sand blasted and primed, with new rubber etc for a good price in 99, and got the ball rolling. Decided to go with Mobil because of the cool Pegasus.
Gotten a new pump every now and then, my latest one is a Gilbarco 396 - rust free, just alot of paint.

I kind of fell into it by accident, really. I used to collect toy vehicles of all kinds.....what ever caught my eye but no real passion or knowlege. After buying an old china closet for diplaying in, I got the idea to add some small cans and things to add some charachter to the display. As I started focusing on finding interesting smalls, I started to notice other things and it started to take hold. I don't even buy the vehicles anymore. I'm focused like never before and truely enjoy all aspects of this hobby. I have always been a collector of things, but really never found that real interest. I only wish I could've started all this much sooner than I did. After finding Oldgas, my knowlege base gained momentum as well as contacts.

My most memorable moment was the day I inquired about an extremely rare (although I was in the dark at that time) Chevrolet oiler and I got an email from a gentleman wanting to trade for it. It was problably the single most influential moment in my collecting "career". It really sealed my interest in Petro. Other people REALLY do this and REALLY take it seious. My kind a people! I've made several good friends since along with some great memories.

Started collecting around 1992. Every time I smell old gas brings back a flood of memories. A good time was when I would go to Richfield Ohio for 2 weeks then back home for a week for work. Any minute I had over there I was gone driving and sniffing (i think I can smell old gas)Cut the support pipes on a National Simplex and rammed it in the trunk of a rental car at Pat Gillies? met Bob Hall and a bunch of other people who's names I have forgot. Drove into Michigan down to Virginia into Kentucky, Pennsylvania and New York.Saw a lot of differant collections. This lasted for 2 years off and on.My wife has always said she was a single parent and I didnt know why untill I started thinking about this.When I got home I would be off driving around here (Spokane) looking for pumps. I apologized to her this morning because she really was alone alot with the young kids working herself.

i started around 1989 as a picker for other people and got hooked on soda machine
which i still have alot of and then i figure i keep the gas pump that were neat to me
so now they are multiply in the last few years iam glad i save the ones i like they seems to be poplar pumps

I still have the first oil can I "picked up" as a kid during the early 60's(the Oilzum can). Collected,traded and sold most of my items during the early 80's. Didn't start collecting and displaying items again until the late 90's. Driving from Sears Point to PIR and SIR across to Daytona and Sebring a couple times each season, it was unbelivable how much "stuff" we used to pickup and trade for repairs on the cars or for other "stuff" we traded off. I would have a pretty nice collection if I just knew that it was going to be worth something and not given and traded it all away. No wait, that's not true, I just would have gotten rid of it all anyway, lol.

i was in a antique store in 1987 looking for primitive wood pieces when i spotted a small texaco handy oiler,,i bought it thinking it was a neat old can and then the obsession took over me!! maybe i need another one so i started looking at a hemmings book then i saw a ad for pc and check the oil magazines..i started getting them and i got into the network with guys like:: NORM PENNIE--DON RALEIGH--BOB PEPPING-BOB LOWRY,,LOOKING FOR HANDY OILERS MAINLY..then i saw my first flying -A- LOGO and i was really hooked and its been a obsession ever since..went to my first IOWA GAS in 2000 and was so over taken by it i went nuts and bought 73 oilers not even thinking about all the other cool stuff there..i`ve since settled down in buying and trying to get nice original pieces i have over 1,000 handy oilers--250 pieces of tidewater -associated oil co-- 4 other oil co`s,thermometers from seed-n-feed and oil co`s and seed dealer signs..i`m around 1500 pices in my collection... so i`m obsessed to say the least..when i found the old gas site a few yrs ago,,i`ve learned a lot from all the old gassers and enjoy it very much!!! i`m always on the hunt to find that special piece to add to my collection!!...on a ending note I always remember my wife asking me when i bought my first oiler,, what in the hell do you need that piece of junk for???? txs alan

It's all Wes' fault!!!

oh sure!!blame your husband!!!!LMAO

Veedol_AL1

You purchased 73 oilers at IG in 2000, was that the year I set up in a hotel room and sold my 600+ handy oil collection? Can't find the pictures to get the dates and I can't remember what I did yesterday.

Jack Sim

jack--i think it was ..i remember buying a bunch in one room.. i bought a bunch from don raleigh also...i had no clue about the old gas site at that point..i was like a kid in a candy store and out of control!!! alan

Let's hear some more stories.

Here's one my wife and I like to laugh about. We took a family trip to Yellowstone.Did pretty good and had the back of the van full: Oil cart and a bunch of displays with the parts still on them and the wife and kids were happy also. We were suposed to be camping to save money but ended up in Bozeman Montana and the motels were too expensive so someone gave us a GREAT tip. A cheap motel in Whitehall. We drove what seemed like half the night to save $20.00 from the Bestwestern price.First room had a pack of coyoties next to us bouncing off the walls and some old handycaped lady left out in the pickup yelling at the people in the room. I went to complain and the old bag running the place told me to call the cops. I said just give us another room. So we are all tucked in and beat when all the sudden one of the kids lets a LOUD fart. My wife asked who did it and every one denied it.Well it was the trucker on the other side of the cardboard that was called a wall, that had a blow out. The next morning there was a strong smell of propane and my wife was afraid the room was going to blow up. After airing the room out she had to pay one of the kids a quarter to stand there and hold the curling iron in because it kept falling out of the outlet. All so we could save $20.00 and drive half the night to do it. THE CHIEF MOTEL what a memory

About 21 years A guy called me and said that he had a Wayne three light visible pump that was a Rainbow gasoline pump. He wanted an amount that at the time was very high for me and I couldn't afford it. I told him that I was making a trip to Idaho to pick up some other items and on the way back would stop to get a picture of it. When on my way back loaded, and with my 1984 Mazda pickup with no radio and my son that was 8 years old we came upon this. Told my son when I saw this pump that somehow we were going home with this. Introduced myself and son to the gentleman and his dog and wife, and I will make sure that I included the dog. We spent two and a half hours watching this dog do tricks, walking up a ladder and other things. Finally he went inside to ask his wife if he could sell the pump to me at the price that he asked. Her responce was " Honey its your gas pump" and that seemed to sway him. The money jumped out of my pocket and the deal was done. We got pictures of the gas pump, man, my son, and of course the beagle dog which was the entertainmemt of this whole thing. Unloaded a Mazda with four gas pumps already in it and layed all down flat because my little four banger truck could not go over 45 with everything standing up. I still have the pump unrestored with the original key, no globe though, pictures in which I can try to scan, my son who is now almost 29, and no Mazda. Great time and story that we both remember. Thanks for listening.

When my parents bought our family farm back in 1973, patching holes in the barn floor were two of the Sinclair Aircraft rounds. Luckily even then my Dad had the foresight to get them off the floor and on the wall of our shop. So as a kid, I remember hitting the signs with my fist, making them sound like a big "gong". My Dad worked at a Sinclair station back in the mid 60's, so when I went shopping for Dad for something for his Birthday, I'd generally grab something gas/oil to decorate the shop.
About 2 years ago, I decided "WHY am I buying all this stuff just for Dad!?". I had always liked the Petroliana, but always bought it with him in mind. So here I am 2 years later, with hundreds of Mobil items in my collection now. I had always liked the Pegasus design, feeling it was and is an iconic sign of Americana. I am one of the young ones of the hobby at 33 years old, but I think when you grow up with the stuff, you might have an extra appreciation for it.
By the way, Dad still has one of the Aircraft signs. He traded one years ago for a enamel paint job on his '49 Ford 2 door. I hope to have the sign one day, not because of it's value, but for the memories I have attached to it of growing up with it, and a hobby that I have shared with my Dad.
Have a good day all,
Darin

Neat story! sure would be nice to hear more. EVERY ONE HAS A STORY