Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion SHELL AIR -- Please read, please help!!

Dave,
Quit using a 2# Rubber Mallet.
Send me your signs, I'll use my Foot!
You must be the guy on Right in your avatar picture!

...I've seen the photo of these signs on the roof, but I couldn't find it...

...I find the idea that these signs were used as shingles more plausible, than someone made a bunch of fakes, shingled a roof with them, tarred the roof, dismantled the whole thing and sold them as original...just sayin'...

Very creative & resourceful to use as shingles on a roof.
employee helped the company by hauling them away & saved himself the expense of buying long term roofing materials.
I remember seeing the B&W picture also Mark.

thanks everyone so far for the replies and information. this sign is certainly a monkey on my back. I am going to continue to dig for info. I really don't think now they are fakes but i really want to know the true story. they all seem to be coming from the same 2 guys -- some of you know who I am talking about. I don't think they made them. I think they did come off a roof, aside from that I got nothing. I have their contact info and am going to try find out more info. Hoping to get more posts....

Ask them for pictures of roof when found.

Back in the day. The other guy was is my dad. He passed away in 2010...1st Air Mobile Division(1st Cal) and 187 Airborn. Korean war and 2 tours Nam, but couldn't whip lung cancer. Tough guy. We wrestled that 71(?)off a farm outside Montgomery, Al. LOL Dave
PS I've done all kinds of roofing...steel, asphalt, built up, cedar shakes, etc. I'm sticking to my guns on this shingle thing. It would be a tough way to roof a house and you would have to hang them upside down without adding additional holes.It would be a heavy roof also, but not excessive. Dave

The guys you are talking about are always at our local flea market in town selling, seen the air sign around five years ago and had same story about the roof deal ,he had a photo album showing pics of roof they were taking off but wasn't very clear pic to tell what was really going on, been a lot off debate on ther oil bottles and the 24 inch shell motor oil sign that comes from the guys.

I say we give them a Georgia polygraph exam. Duct tape them to a longleaf pine and pour a coke bottle full of no lead on their heads and show them the bic. Works every time. Dave

Here is one of the ones from Ohio as well as a gasoline sign from the same source. Nice to be able to have two odd rare signs for sale on the same day and another a few rows away.
Nice professional Allen Morrison Sign Co. dating job, very crisp and clean like the thousands of other AM signs they made and dated.

Don't forget all those Shell jars coming from Ohio as well and the Hudson's.

Makes me want to buy a Shell Air with a little tar on it from Ohio.

I guess by 1954 Allen Morrison Sign Co. had gotten a little more professional at dating their signs. Amazing they stayed in business for 70 plus years with such sloppy signs as a Shell Gasoline.

I just recently saw one of these signs at a show here in Canada, the guy had it priced at $3000..

Were they owned by the Hatfields or McCoys?

The AIR sign these guys had were clearly of better quality and made by someone other than the manufacturers of the other jinky Shell repops they had. As well as 90%of the rest of their stuff. When they were first"found" a few years ago, I was on the verge of buying one off ebay, with the grainy picture of the guys on the roof. (personally I dont think it would be tough at all to use for a shingle. they were never flanged -No harder than a slate roof) Anyways, I got talked out of it then. Then at the last two Mich. gas, these "gentlemen" had one. I held it in my hands and it felt and looked really good to me. Julie (my woman) was looking over the rest of their "merchandise" and convinced me I would be foolish to buy anything from them. Still when I was walking away, I felt like it might be a mistake to leave it behind...

Jim - Take Julie out to a NICE dinner my friend She (and your gut) saved you 5-1k Its not fun hanging a sign with the "voodoo" on it...you'd always question it. And you are right...quality "appears" to be there... If you're looking at coughing up serious dough on a sign and you get gut rot while looking at it...BALE!