Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Pump Brand vs Gas Brand

I am a rookie in this hobby and I apologize in advance for asking what may be a stupid question. I do have a lot of years in car and motorcycle restorations and I have found that these forums are the most valuable source of great information. My question this time is about pump brands. Did the oil companies tend to stay with the same brand of pump for their products or did they use all different types? I would assume that franchise dealerships might have used many different brands, but I am not sure. The reason for my question is that I am shopping for paint schemes for a couple of pumps that I am working on. When I look at my books, I tend to find certain types of pumps shown with certain gas companies. I am not planning to sell any of these pumps to a museum, I just like to have stuff that is faithful to it's history.

Thanks,

Doc

To answer your quertion,I think the answer is yes and no.I think some did while others did not.For instance,M&S was owned at one time by Mobil,Conoco and Sunoco as I remember while local jobbers around here used whatever.

Also,please remember that as a station rebranded a pump might have been repainted several times to new company colors.

I share your interest in trying to display an item "faithful to it's history". With that in mind,since there are so many pumps and so many companies covering the time frame from the early1900's to today,I think it would help us to respond if you tell us which companies and eras are of primary interest to you.Any preferred colors?

Esso was a majority owner in Gilbarco...

I don't have a favorite brand of gas at this point. As to my pumps, two are visible and two are M&S tall top electrics with a globe mounting. I would like to restore at least one of the M&S pumps to go in my garage. I have been lucky over the years to collect a few Triumphs and BSA's from the sixties and two old Corvettes from the same time period. Now that everyone has decided that those things are made out of gold, I have been priced out of both markets. That is one reason for my interest in pumps. I would like to make the pump something that would fit with the 1960's. I live in California, so it should be a brand sold here. Thanks for the advice and information.

Doc

Do the pumps anyway that you are going to enjoy them the most....after all this is about having fun!

Gulf had some Erie pumps that were exclusively Gulf only. Mobil & Fina had some as well. These exclusive pumps are not all that common and are from 50's-60's.

When I restore pumps I don't worry about the branding but more about being period correct. I try not to do a 50's pump (short electric pump) in a brand that was bought and eliminated in the 30's. Or use 50's graphics/signage on a 30's pump.

As it has been stated here, a few Company's had specific pumps manufactured for them... The Most notable were Gulf and Tydol...

As to the correct time period for a pump, for the most part ... that is non-existent...

While on average, Oil Company "owned stations" did rotate to newer, more modern pumps much more often than the smaller owner/operators and Independents. Most of the time those pumps were not scrapped. Quite a few of the pumps went right back into service at a variety of different locations. Among them, Country Store/gas combinations, rural stations, older stations looking to upgrade from the pumps they have, etc...

I own a pump that was used continuously for over 30 years... It was removed from a station for a more modern pump and it replaced an older pump at a small country store... Once the store closed, I picked up the pump in still working condition....

So a pump from the 30s, could and might possibly have signage from the 40s,50s and into the 1960s.... Same with pumps from the 40s,50s and 60s could be found operating on a daily basis into the 1980s.... In the 1980s, the EPA cracked down and most still working older pumps were replaced to meet new Environmental Requirements.....

I may need to clarify what I said?

If one has a 1950s pump(s) then 1930s/40s signage would be wrong... If one had a 1930s pump, one possibly could have found 1950s signage on it.... I'm hoping I cleared that up, that is if I "muddied the waters", before?

Doc, to try and answer you're question , uh yes oil companies tended in many cases with one or two manufactures, well in the east and south . Cities Service tended to use Bennett, some A O Smith stuff and an occasional Erie . Sinclair again was Bennett,only after WWII. Prior to the second war, I would see National and Tokiem . Esso- Enco generally used Gilbert and Barker as they owned the company . Crown Central used Bennett, sometimes Erie and Wayne. I would suggest getting a copy of gas Pump restoration , right here at Old gas . That second volume has a lot of terrific information in the colors , the manufacturer trends and so on. Ed Shaver

I would like to correct a couple of things that were stated above.
Gulfiend stated Esso was a majority of owner of Gilbarco. Maybe, but before gas pumps, Gilbarco made lights for homes, but they did not burn korosene, they burned gasoline. Gilbarco was responsibe for purchasing so much gasoline (remember, very little gasoline was being used in the 1890s, kerosene well outsold gasoline) that Standard Oil bought part of the Gilbarco Company. When Gasoline became popular 1910-1920, Standard was using Gilbarco pumps for all of the company owned stations.

Bob Richards,
Yes, Gulf had pumps they designed and had made for them. Bowser is about the only company that I know of that didn't make a pump for Gulf. Companies that did include: Bennett, Dayton, Erie, National, Southwest, Tokheim and Wayne, but remember all these pumps were of similiar design.

For whatever reason, during the late 1940s into the 1950s, Bennett sold a lot of pumps to Sinclair.

This is all technical information, what really matters is enjoy your pump. If you uncle worked in a Shell station restore it to Shell, etc. The pump police force has been dispanded due to lack of funding.

Jack Sim

Thanks for all of the great advice. I do have the book on restoration and that is where I have been looking at brands and colors. I also agree that this is supposed to be fun and I will try to not get too caught up in the details. Having been in the Corvette hobby or years, I can attest to the degree which some folks will go to take all of the fun out of collecting. Thanks again, I will put up some pictures of what I come up with.

Doc