Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion WHAT WAS THIS USED FOR??

I THINK IT WAS FOR FILLING OIL BOTTLES?? IT SAYS ON THE TOP "MADE IN RICHMOND,5-GALLON
LIQUID" ANY IDEAS??? FRANK..

Frankie, I've seen some similar cans (not exactly like your photo but close) that were used by dept. of weights/measures. They'd dispense gasoline from a pump into the container to see if the pump was pumping the exact amount. The pour spout would then be used, to pour the gas back into the tank. Hope this helps.

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Don "oltoydoc" Sherwood

I think so too, especially you sometimes see them with a float and guage to tell how much over or under you are, FM

I agree with Frank. It definately is not a test bucket. All proovers have a straight chimney throat at the top with a scaled & sealed sight guage in the middle of that stack. Product is dispensed into the bucket usually by the reading on the register. Then the + or - delivery on the sight guage is corrected by adjusting the meter calibrator. The strange thing about the container in the picture is the taper to the pour spout. You would think that this wouldn't let air in enough to allow a smooth pour, but rather a sloppy glug glug. Greg

I HAVE SEEN THE "CALIBRATORS" THIS IS PROBABLY NOT ONE.. I WAS AT THE FLYING J LAST WEEK AND THEY WERE USING ONE, IT HAS A CHIMNEY TOP AND A SIGHT GUAGE TO CALIBRATE THE PUMPS AT FIVE GALLON INCREMENTS. I COULD BE WRONG, THATS WHY I ASK YOU GUYS.. THANKS FOR ANY INFO... FRANK..

Frankie:

I've got one similar to this. My understanding is that they were used to transfer the oil from the bulk delivery truck to the lubsters, or for storing oil above and beyond what the lubster could hold. If for storage, the can would have a top that would seal the oil from contaminates.

Remember, the lubsters were located inside the gas stations and the glass oil bottles were filled and taken out to the pump islands or the front of the office for display every morning. Lubsters sat directly on the floor. Once filled they were too heavy to move around. Even with only ten or so gallons of oil.

I have only seen one lubster with a caster base for it to sit on - and I own it. It is a cabinet-style with a roll-top that was originally used by Consumers Power here in the Detroit area. They rolled it around and dispensed oil onto the bearings for the water-driven turbine generators in days gone past. A friend of mine worked for them and procured it for me when they were tossing it out.

I'll shot a digital picture of my transfer can and post it this weekend for reference.

Later . . .

Jim

FRANKIE..... If you get a chance you might want to sniff around the Flying J... alot of them used to be Husky truck stops.... good luck...

Frankie:

Here are the pictures I promised you.

This first one is of the overall can.


The next is of the printing on the cover.
It reads:
The Davis Welding & Mfg. Co.
Pat. Jan. 27-20
Aug. 27-23
Nov. 24-25
Cincinnati Ohio


There is a brass tag on the side of the top of the can that reads:
5 GALLONS TO LIP OF MARKER INSIDE


Here is the 'Lip' inside.


And finally, here is the SOCONY letering on the topside of the body.


Your can should have some way to identify the volume inside. If it doesn't, it may be a milk can or a can for another use. All the 'Oil Cans' I've seen have some way to identify the amount dispensed into it from the bulk delivery truck.

Later . . .

Jim

Edit to make image appear
(Brass_Tag.jpg instead of Brass Tag.jpg)

[This message has been edited by Oldgas (edited 03-24-2003).]