Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion What's the difference?

I dont want to offend, but with the Petro Books out there - what's the difference in them? What would you all consider the petro-bible? I want to buy one of the books and I want to support "one of our own" but I dont want to buy 3-4 books and have all the info be the same. I see Jack Sim refer to pages from his book and I think a good book will answer a lot of questions I have... lay it on my boys - what is "the book" I need for this hobby?

thanks in advance!

BIGTOM

Depends on what you collect. Jack's book is definitely the pump bible. There are can books, globe books, and sign books as well. I'll let the other guys chime in on the best ones.

BIGTOM:

It all depends on the direction of your collection.

Do you collect pumps, cans, globes?

If it's pumps - you need Jack's book (buy it from him directly).

If it's globes, get the Globe CD's from Benjamin/Henderson when they become available (through PCM).

If it's cans, smalls, signs - well, there are a bunch of books that cover those. My suggestion is to get the latest printed reference books you can on the items you collect.

That being said - most of us have dozens of books going back years-and-years. There will always be 'new' books with current prices (at the time of printing, that is), and you can never have too much information.

Later . . .

Jim

Tom, all of the books out there have their inherent weaknesses . I have both of Jack Sim's Gasoline pump books with the fist copy so - dogeared it's virtually useless. I build scale models of gasoline pumps so my stand is , ya can't have enough pictures of one peticular pump. Then too, Jack never mentioned Rheem visable pumps in his first book. Still, I had pictures of one in use I took in a orchard in Northern California back in 1974. The second book did give it a mention as well as many other pumps that are very rare .

Meanwhile , If it's signs , The first and second book Rick Pease and my friend , the Late Mitch Stenzler did for Schiffer publishing are nice .

As T- Way Jim mentioned , pick yer poision ! Ed Shaver

Bigtom; Myself I want all the information I can acquire. Right now my "little reference library" has over 50 books that relate to the hobby. And I am always looking for more, especially the older books, long out of print.

If you are a globe man and you are out there looking for globes and someone offers you a sign, what are you going to do. You may be so far from home you won't be able to come on this site and look for information.

I always used to kid people, telling them they needed three copies of my Gas Pump book. One for the office, one for the truck and one for the bath room.

I realize you cannot take all these book along with you when you set out on your hunt, but if you read them often enough, things begin to stick.

My wife and I used to work as a team when we went out hunting or to an auction. She knew pottery, china, glassware, dolls, silverware, I knew petro, antique cars, illustrators, artists, coins, and we both knew a lot about history, she even has a masters in history.

While looking for a globe, you might find a sign that you can sell for enough to buy the next two globes you find, if you know enough about signs.

Jack Sim

I am just starting what Jack is saying. I find something I am not interested and pick it up to sell to fund my sign collection. Pick up several books on petro and you will not regret it. I refer to mine all the time for photos and info. The more the books, the more the info. This will help you on restoration, modifying, what is authentic and what is repo. That is why the old books are good to have too. You can see originals before the repoping started.

What kind of info are you wanting from the books? Pricing info? Company history? Dates certain signs, globes or cans were used? Company affiliations? Pictures of known originals to compare what you find against to make sure they're not repros?

Any prices you find in a book are going to be outdated. The most useful books I have are the globe books. Not just because I'm a globe collector. The globe books have a lot of info about company histories, company affiliations, info on dates that different logos were used. I've used the globe books to accurately date signs and even cans.

The next most useful book I have is the Guide To Gas Pump restoration. I'm not into restoring pumps, but the book has good info on pump plates and when they were used.

The two Oil Can books by Miller and Sonewald have some good info on dating cans.

I'd suggest those 5 books plus the two Gas Pump books if you're a pump guy.

As far as I know there isn't a great sign book.

In addition to those books the Matthews and Aumann websites are a good place to see what things have sold for by searching their auction results.

Well, at this point - I am a noob and can just about find my butt with two hands with regards to this world. I have one pump, and will get another when I am done with this one as my wife is results-oriented and must see a finished product. So, I am all about the pumps right now and the restoration guide.

Signs - like them, but since I live in a subdivision, I cannot just add a metal building or a shop and put stuff up everywhere as I am limited to my home office area so I have to be selective due to size restraints.

I have one can, just because it was $10 and in great shape. I like the cans, but not wild about 'em.

I dont know what "smalls" are - I am guessing that would cover greasers, air pumps etc. Like 'em, but I just dont have space for more stuff.

So, I guess I am a pump/sign/one can guy LOL - that is a weird little hybrid. I think right now the pump book and the pump restoration book will do it. As far as the signs are concerned - I will run it by you guys and occasionally trust my gut.

The moral of this story? When we had the choice of this house in the subdivision or the house on 2 acres for the same price, I should've snagged th acreage... oh well. When all is said and done, I will be able to assist anyone who is restoring a pump entirely in the garage and on a budget. THUMBS UP!!!

thanks guys as usual, the wealth of knowledge never disappoints. Mr Sim, get ready for another sale and check your PM

BIGTOM

BigTom, Jack doesn't use his PM feature, so he won't get a PM.

Also, one doesn't need a large property nor a large house to own "a lot" of gas and oil items. If one is married or living with someone, then one does need a partner that will "be understanding".

I have a small house, less than 1000 sq ft. My garage is a single car.. Yet I have a pretty good collection of "smalls".

Once you discover smalls, a new world of collecting opens up.