Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion A thought to always remember!

Desirability has a lot to do with worth, not just age. As such, supply and demand plays an important role in this. Desireable things in short supply bring more money. If you have a one off and nobody wants it its really worthless. Just a few of my learnings in my years of wheeling and dealing and basic economics.
Jeff

YES, and rare does not always mean desireable!!!!!!

DESIREABLE<<<<<<<<< key word!

kaiser cars are cooool & rare! park a 55 chev next to a 55 kaiser, bring in 100 guys & see who really wants which one!

same with gas pumps themselves, line up 30 different 6 foot electric pumps & bring in a guy off the street thats never looked twice at a gas pump & tell him to pick the 5 out that he likes the best. --- its usually self explanatory. ---
i know absolutely nothing about old coke or pepsi machines, only that id like to have one someday. line up 20 different 10 cent machines, ill pick the one out i want!!!

but then everythings good!!!!!
collect what you want!
nomatter what it is, if it turns you on its a go!!!!!!!!!!!
if your going for the investment thing (PAY UP MAN!!!) shoot for the top shelf stuff!!!!
as far as what the future holds.....is anybodys guess!

Gotta go with Midway too...I also think that the early days were a time to remember...and today's kids will be nostalgic for things from their time...maybe. I say maybe because we, that are in our 40's to 70's, lived in a special time in history and many of us have the resources to collect...some have so much money to work with, it would truly blow the minds of those that actually worked at the service stations back in the day. I don't think anyone in the 1920's collected late 1800's horse shoes, but I could be wrong.
I think in the 1920's they worried more about basic things, like eating and staying warm.....

Send me those cardboard signs,plastic bottles etc and I'll put them down in the barn next to the square Coke-Pepsi machines.My grandkids will need a little cash some day.
I peddled for Cities Service 30-some years ago and it's all desirable now,EVERYTHING

I will have to disagree with Midway. I do not remember any of this stuff. I grew up with the T pumps and convience stores. Never saw a pump with a globe on it ever. However, I like all this stuff including visibles, electrics, signs, cans, globes, ect. Does not matter how old it is as long as it is not new. I have a brother 5 years younger than me who started collecting this stuff when he was in high school. He is only 29 now and still going strong. I bet there are other guys out there just like me. How about Aquaelvis?? If this stuff is not going to be worth anything a few years down the road you guys better start dumping it and I will be getting it!

Several years ago my nephew went to an auction with me. On the way home we saw a 71 Chevelle parked on the other side of the street. Larry said "thats a cool "OLD" car. I did a double take and asked what "old" car. To me it wasn't old. It was a car from when I was a kid. Tom is right. The good stuff has always been good. It will likely be good for quite some time.
I grew up when "T" pumps were in use. They don't do much for me though. A Bennett 541, a Wayne 60, a Tokheim 36, now those are cool! The old visables and clockfaces are just too old for me. I can't relate to them. What will the hot petro collectibles be in 20 years? My guess us veteran collectors will still like basically the same things we like now. The guys that are 15-20 now will be getting to the point in their lives where they can really afford to start collecting seriously. I don't they'll be collecting plastic oil bottles. I think they'll be collecting video games, computers,dvd's. Some will collect aluminum baseball bats (they'll be using composite bats in 20 years), inline skates and the like. I don't think the future collector will have much interest in T pumps or plastic oil bottles, or even most of the stuff we find cool.
Bob

One thing no-one touched on is matching a pump to a vehicle. A T pump would look ok with an 80,s car a visible would not. So people that work with and display a certain vehicle usually want the pump era to match the cars. A visible just dont look right with a motorcycle, but looks pretty good with a model A. Part of the reason I like some of the pre-visibles without doors is I like early bikes. A handcrank pump looks great with a teens bike. Also what I like about the handcranks is they are very mechanical and nothing is hidden on them, you can look at it for a minute and figure out how it works. And handcranks are easy to display with a bike at a show, make a wooden box and just carry it.
However I dont recall ever seeing one in use(but still find them interesting and desireable), but did find one 1/4 mile from where I lived. Got used to fill a school bus.
Desireability is a great factor in building appreciating value in a collectible. Some things were just so cool to look at and touch that people have to collect them, and they will remain popular for a long time.
Biggest factor in keeping stuff for speculative future value is storage. Usually costs one way or another, and if things change and you lose storage it can be a big problem..hard to throw stuff out especially after moving it a few times, taking care of it and having paid cash for it.
Interesting subject...dodogas

Terry-When you mentioned Cities Service it
reminded me of an old gent(imagine me calling someone else old)I ran into this past summer.I use to work for him at a Cities Service station in 1960-61 I told him that I was restoring a pump from that
era,and what their selling for now.He said and we used to throw them away.HMMMMM.
maybe I'll have to do one in Cities Service.
---JERRY

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near here is a place a guy has & there are some old cars sitting out & sheds, barns & garages full, PACKED FULL of stuff, the guy lived there for over 50 years, & collected some even before that. i drove by the place whenever i was in the area but never really saw any action around there so i never stopped!
I once asked a guy who knew him good, what all was at that place? the guy told me theres not ONE thing in that whole place id want so probably nothin youd want either!!!

ive since gotten to know the guy & i helped him move some cars around his yard one day, i dug & dug around his place like an animal. ive even been in the attics! NOTHINS FOR SALE but ive dug all over the place & came out as filthy as a pig! if i drove a trunkless corvette over there i could carry everything home id even want in the passenger seat! LOL!!! .........BUT hes a GOOD guy & he loves his TREASURES! --- (model T running boards that were run over by a train or somethin!? 5 gallon oil cans you cant read! ford wrenches so pitted they look like they'd break! etc...) the neat thing about it is hes got a story for every piece!
he says when im gone & theres an auction ill bet youll be the first guy here!?!
i said OHHHHH YEAH!!!!!!! LOL!!!!!!

as far as IM or anyone else whos been there is concerned, THE GUY COLLECTED/HUNG ONTO THE WRONG STUFF!!!!!! but he had a BLAST collecting it & loves to tell everyone about it!!!!!
although i really did enjoy hearing the stories!!!!!!

2 Tone, I bet the guy did not spend much on the stuff!! Some people can have amazing amounts of stuff with almost none of it worth much.

Got a buddy he never ever buys anything really good, doesnt spend much either. Has a bunch of cheap die-cast bikes, problem is they look it too!! Sorta guy that you tell him you saw something he would like at a garage sale. Tell him at 9 or 10 in the morning, he will say maybe I will go there in the afternoon!! I say "Why even bother"

Oh well, best is to collect what makes you happy. If it was made to be collectible, it probably isnt!!
Wonder if the Beanie Baby market went flat yet?? If anyone evers sees me buying one of them "Just Shoot Me" and get it over with...LOL..dodogas

No offense but I think some of you are too quick to say the modern petro stuff won't be collected. There were probably a bunch of guys sitting around 60 years ago that would have laughed if they saw you dragging a Tokheim pump through the streets to take it home, let alone the response if you were to go through their trash looking for quart cans. There are millions of events yet to occur, some of which may vastly alter what people are going to collect. For example, if cars go electric, if alternative fuels come into use, a huge reduction in American corporations etc.. etc.. Whatever causes people to connect with their past is going to be what they collect.

I guess you should collect what you like, whatever gives you enjoyment, not to just make a buck. Im pretty young for what I collect. Im 27 and I own lots of stuff from the 50's (53 chev,gas pump,pinball,pop machines,jukebox,etc..) and I wasn't around at that time, but I love that style of stuff. I probably got the "bug" from my dad, as he has lots of cool stuff like that. As for people not remembering old stuff in the future. My parents collect old furniture from the 1800's (and they weren't around then). That stuff is still very collectible. So if you like it and it makes you happy; Get it.

I Think people will collect what they associate with there younger years. As in the collector car market, The values increase as the people reach an age where there is more disposable income. We have seen the values of antique cars level off (model A, Model T) as the people who has the desire to own one these cars actually purchase one. The current activity in the muscle car segment shows that the motorheads of the late 60's-70's now have reached a point in there lives they can afford a muuscle car, I think the same holds true for the gasoline collectibles.

Yeah guys, the bottom line to all of this is collect whatever it is you like!! I don't care if the prices go up or down, honest. I just love having petroliana sitting around my garage and it is a lot of fun huntin' it down! Our hobby will be going strong long after we're all in that big oil field in the sky. Dodogas, I was at a sale last winter that had a lot of Beany Babies.(I was there for a Zephyr globe on a red ripple body) They were selling them BY THE LOT, 10 or 12 to a box, for FIVE BUCKS a pop. Yikes. My sister-in-law was convinced they were really going to take off and she sunk a lot of coin into them. Ouch....

Midway,
Was that auction last winter or the winter before? Sounds like a sale I was at two years ago. I came home with a Zephyr on a red ripple with screw on base. Didn't have the cash to get the Zephyr Ethyl on red ripple with the base damage. Was that you that got the ethyl? If so we were about 2 feet away from each other. Both globes sold at very reasonable prices.
Bob