Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion oil can books

I've looked in the archives and read several threads on the topic but the newest one I saw was a few years ago. If you had to buy just one book on oil cans which would it be? Thanks

Tough question. What brand(s) are you MOST interested in?

Buy the one by Tom Allen best one in my opinion.

Thats a good question also. I would say the major brands as I know nothing of the small independents. I favor Sinclair, Texaco and Gulf. Thanks

You want this without question. Has great Gulf section and very very good Sinclair and Texaco.
Bid through Oldgas.
141678979822

Or here, if you want to buy it now.
311366137463

Then for sure Tom Allens book mentioned above. Which is also great!! But has no Gulf nor Sinclair. But great Texaco section.

Ultimately you need both of these and also Oil cans for Collectors. Which is also very good!!
They are great reference material for many other parts of the hobby. Not just oil cans.

Welcome to Oldgas!

Personally, in my library I own "Collecting Oil Cans" and "More Oil Cans for the Collector" by W. Clark Miller and Sabra Somewald.

Also "American Oil Cans-Volume 1" (there never has been a Volume 2)

All three Books have their strong points.

I do have to note, that "American Oil Cans" does not cover some Major Oil Company cans..(most likely because of the volume of cans they produced; these Company's were to be in Volume 2 of the series)... But, they do cover some of the smaller Regional Company's, that are not too common... (my opinion...)

If you're wanting books to help determine can values forget about it. They are all outdated.
The two can books by Clark and Sabra would be my recommendation if you're wanting to date cans.

Thanks for all the great info! I think I saw it somewhere but how do you bid through oldgas? Thanks

Copy which Ebay Auction number you want to use; go down to the "Ebay Search" below and paste in the number, click go... You are then all set...

I have to ask, has anyone written one newer than 2003?

In my opinion the best book written on US oil quarts is Ed Love's "Master list of oil containers" long out of print and not the easiest to find but worth the hunt.

Agreed. While all the information in regards to price and sometimes rarity is long obsolete, there is a lot of useful information, history, and collecting tips, not to mention photos of many VERY RARE cans.

Good information!
If there is another book out other than the 3 main known ones these days, I sure would love to find a copy.