Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana My Sinclair Aircraft Saga.....

Hello All,
I wanted to share the story of my exciting find with the group. This is a long story, so I hope you will read along as there is a 40+ year time span involved with these signs. Back in 1973, my Dad purchased our farm where I grew up. My oldest brother now owns the house and is raising his four children there. When Dad first bought the place, he was making a woodworking shop out of one of the small outbuildings, and was installing a wood burner for heat. He mentioned to one of our neighbors that he was looking for something to set the burner on to prevent any coals from possibly burning the wood floor. The neighbor had just the item for this up in his old barn. It turns out my Dad brought home two Sinclair Aircraft signs, one to set the burner on, and another to put behind it to guard the wall. When our newer shop was completed, the Sinclair signs were brought in and put up on the walls as decoration, which would have been in the mid-1980's. I grew up always liking the "airplane" signs. Dad still has one, but traded the other for a paint job on his 1949 Ford coupe a few years ago.

Fast forward to April of 2015. I've been in the hobby for about 10 years now, and why Dad had never mentioned this before, I have no clue! We were talking about the Sinclair sign when he said, "When I got the two years ago, there were more of them in that barn." Of course I was intrigued by this little tid-bit, but obviously 40 years later never dreamed there would be any left in this barn. The folks Dad got the signs from had since passed away, and the barn and land was sold to a farmer around the corner. Luckily I knew this family as I went to school with the guy's daughters. To be honest, I wasn't in any hurry to contact these people, since as I mentioned I figured any other signs would be long gone. That was until 3 weeks ago my brother that lives down the road told Dad and I, "I think there's one of those Sinclair signs patching a window on the old barn down the road." I was absolutely floored to hear this! So, that weekend, I drove down to the old homestead, wondering if my brother was correct in what he was seeing. I first drove south bound, and didn't see anything. Then on the way back up the road, there it was! Up in the very peak of the barn was a Sinclair Aircraft sign! It had been painted over many times, but I could see the "SI and the "AIR" letters showing through the weathered paint. I truly couldn't believe there was still one there.

With a new found urgency, I decided I better get a hold of the owners. Last Sunday I did my first "cold call" drop in inquiring on an old gas item. Luckily the owner Fred recognized me although it has been 21 years since I graduated High School and rode the bus with his daughters. I told him my Dad said that years ago there were some old signs in his barn and that I had actually seen one in the peak from the road. I asked if we could go over and take a look so I could make an offer on the sign and he agreed. We open the door to the basement of the barn and straight ahead was another Aircraft sign!! There were two of them. This sign was a bit rough, but to find another was crazy. We went upstairs to look at the other sign in the peak, but the sun was so bright shining through the slats that I really couldn't get a good look at it. We agreed that if I came back we would get the sign down for a better look. Personally, I'm afraid of heights, lol, so luckily for me my brother is a lineman for the Board of Public Utilities. I called Fred yesterday after work and said my brother and I would be there shortly to get the sign down, well Eric would get the sign down! It took about an hour to get it down and replace the opening with tin, and I want to thank my brother for his help. The peak sign was certainly in better shape than the other. I wish now I would have taken a photo inside the barn before we took it down, but I think I was too excited to worry about documenting it all. Below are some photos I took over the last week, from the sign still in the peak on my first visit, seeing the sign in the basement as we opened the door, getting the peak sign down, loading them, and bringing them home. I have not cleaned the paint off the peak sign yet, but it looks glossy like the side I cleaned up a bit last night. I know these are not high grade signs, but how they came to be mine will always be unforgettable, and now I finally have a sign like Dad's.

The stuff is still out there folks...don't think it's all bought up or rare signs are unobtainable. And I learned to follow leads, even if they ARE 40 years old! On a side note, Fred told me his Dad brought home probably 15 of these Sinclair Aircraft signs in the early 1950's to use around the farm, and he got them from a scrap dealer. Somehow they got distributed around the neighborhood over time and some ended up in this barn before they ended up owning it. He said they used to unload feed on them and use the scoop shovel to move the grain. He said "I always wondered what they were made of, because when my shovel would dig into the sign these shards would just fly everywhere!" I think I cried a little for the departed signs!
Thanks for reading the story, and happy hunting everyone.
Darin

Here are a few pics of the sign after we got it down, and loaded up. The last pic is the better sign of the two after a quick cleaning.....

And last but not least, the sign in worse condition, but still happy to be found and cleaned up a little!
Darin

Awesome story Darin and incredible find.
Good for you.
Thanks for sharing & Congrats, Mike

Still can't believe you found two of them. Nice story my friend

Dan

Awesome! That's a great story and great signs!

Sure feels good when you find something like that and with a story behind it like yours to boot. Nice find Darin.....GB

good long story but worth reading- congratulations ...

Wow ! That made my night reading that so cool . Congratulations !

That is so awesome! That is why I love this hobby, you never know where it will show up! Congratulations!

Great story and it shows if you treat people right 20 years ago they will remember and do you right when the opportunity arises.
Nice score Darin.

Simply amazing! Congratulations!!

What a story! And great sign, congrats!

Simply fantastic story! I still feel the best part of this hobby is finding these items as they were repurposed in the wild way back when. Over the years Iv'e seen/heard some interesting things. Now you have to talk Dad into swapping his out for one of yours..if his is better anyway..lol.

Great find! Great story as well, Sounds like It was a great experience!

Great story Darin! Now i know why they are so hard to find, they're all in Michigan….LOL

Very cool story Darin. That's amazing that those signs were still there!

Darin,Amazing story.Thanks for sharing,you have given me renewed hope!

Thank you to everyone for the comments, I appreciate you all taking the time to read about it. I agree that the "stories" of how we make the finds are what make some items more special than others in our collections. There is no better feeling than rescuing some item and preserving it for future generations. The owner of the barn told me they were basically just waiting for it to fall down as they had no use for it anymore, so I'm glad I made the effort to save the signs.

We all dream of a find like this. For you it became reality. Congrats!

Great story Darin! Your story outlines one of the basic reasons why we all keep hunting for this stuff. There is a story in every piece that's found, and hopefully these stories get passed along with the pieces as the next generation of owners take possession! Thank you for sharing!

Thanks again all..
I spent several hours this morning with oven cleaner and fine steel wool, cleaning the painted side of the sign. I think I'm finally coming back to my senses!
I think it too came out pretty well. It's fun cleaning a sign and bringing it back to life.
Darin

Great story and signs. One on my to buy list. Looks like they go well with your other red and white items in the background.

Congrats on the find and for saving the signs, Darin!

I really enjoyed the Story behind the discoveries; As most Collectors know; whether they are long time Hobbyists or just starting out. The Stories behind a find so often add to the mystic of an item....

Congrats on the finds!

Good stuff. Stories like these are what makes this site such a great resource.

Wow. What a great find and story.

That's awesome!!

Good Lord! Great find D! Thanks for taking the time to tell the story. It is fascinating to me. Congratulations!

Great story and great finds Darin!!! Thank of course for sharing!!
That has to have been so fun to find them like you did!!

Good story Darin, I am glad you were able to get them.

Congrats... Those are a bucket list sign for me as I was fortunate enough to be able to fly for a living in the USAF...the cross over of my retired hobbie and ties to aviation is what draws me to the sign... I better keep saving my quarters.

Just curious....does anyone have a period photo of the Aircraft signs in use at a station? I would love to see it if so!
Thank you,
Darin

I just love stories like this! Thanks for sharing!

...I'm sure I saw one in one of the earlier gas station photo books, like '10 Gallons for a Dollar' or 'Check the Oil'...