Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Something needs to be done

I don't mind telling others what kind of a guy I am. Even at 81 I am very active in playing darts, but most will tell you that if I don't like something about the rules, etc. I am the first to speak out, I am doing this now.

I have been in this hobby for almost 30 years and I have no idea what "Fortune and Life PP" means. This title was posted on the Petro Wanted section. If I don't know what that means, can you imagine what someone just getting into the hobby feels like.

We continually post that newbes should look up stuff they have questions about, but we oldies continue to talk in code.

I don't know if this some kind of a code having to do with signs, but I think it is. I am not a sign guy, but I see all of you taking in codes: "DSP" Please quit posting like this, how else will the new guys understand what you are talking about.

I don't know if you guys have noticed that the posts on this site have gotten less and less. In my opinion it is we oldies have not reach out with information that makes this the site the one to come to, to learn more about the things we collect.

This is the Christmas time, the time of giving. I know I have never given anything directly to support this site and I apologize. Let's each one of us find something that we don't need anymore, post it on the Petro for Sale page, have the payment sent to Jim and we eat the shipping.

Hopefully, Jim will see this early enough to let us know how to send payments to Old Gas, he will let us know he has receive payment and where to send item to.

Come on guys, don't let this site go the ways of cheese on a hamburger.

Jack Sim

Jack,
Here are the meaning of the terms you were questioning.
PP = Pump Plate
DSP = Double Sided Porcelain
SSP = Single Sided Porcelain
SST = Single Sided Tin
There are many others Like this

This site is for collectors, its not a kindergarten class.

I am with Jack, I hate abbreviations. Thank you Jack for bringing this up. If you are too lazy to type complete words and sentences, than please don't add to the confusion.

Just another kindergartener.

GAS 2U!
DQMOT, BSF IDK WCA 2TXT W/LOA.
IYO, ITS EZ &PDQ... IDTS.
IMHO, ARE =ADIH. TBH, FUBAR &2M2H. GIAR, PLZ! KISS.

.02

RX


Translation:

Greetings and Salutations to you!
Don't quote me on this, but seriously folks I don't know who cares anyway to text with lists of acronyms.
In your opinion, its easy and pretty darn quick... I don't think so.
In my humble opinion, an acronym rich environment is another day in hell. To be honest. its *fouled* up beyond all recognition and too much to handle. Give it a rest, please! Keep it simple, stupid.

Just my two cents.

Regards,

CP, Tftltm!

Translation.

Cold Pizza, Thanks for the laugh this morning!

Personally, I don't see a problem with using standardized acronyms. New technologies=progress. With progress comes change. That change usually means we have to step out of our comfort zone and learn and try new things.

I hate to say it, but there is one reason why we have all seen posts on this site fade away in the last year or 2...facebook. It's the in thing with the younger half of the people in the hobby. Many of the older generation have also jumped in. I myself absolutely hated facebook for years, now I find myself there daily. Although it surely has it's uses for buying and selling as well as seeing what's being uncovered daily. I personally don't believe facebook is what this site has been to the hobby for CORRECT information and KNOWLEDGE and it may never be.

I'm with Jack!! If you are too lazy to ask your question in simple English, why should we take our time, which is way to valuable to you, since you can't take it to write, to give you an answer? As for people not coming to the site, I see how many of the newbies are berated for being stupid and not knowing the answer already! I wouldn't come back either. Some people on here act as though it is a grumpy old boys club, and they are the qualification police!

And here I thought acronyms were only for people that texted while driving, making the text shorter and avoid accidents!

Jack... looking back at your most recent couple posts... you used:

Ed - Edition
M&S - Martin Schwartz
PM - Private Message


c'mon guys... complaining about acronyms, and blaming the younger generation.

these acronyms are widely used in the hobby... they were introduced by auctioneers originally because the character limitations on title fields when listing lots online.

i actually wish they were used more often.

Sorry Dave, I humbly disagree. This is about proper communication and not technology progress. I am all for progress and making technological improvements but, this is not even close to being in this category. If this site wants to be its own collector club rather than a hobby site that welcomes all individuals then that is fine. But then, don't question why the participation rate is down.

It is nice we can all joke about it but at times it is frustrating to try and decipher the gibberish. Then you post a question for clarification and get made fun of because you do not know what is being talked about. This is not an encouraging method to get new members or retain the ones that are already here. Let's just try and be more helpful and not condemn someone for asking a question that has been asked 100s of times before. I am not against joking around and having fun, but it needs to be done in good taste. Jack and I are frustrated and when I see posts like that I just ignore them not knowing what was even said. If it pertains to a topic I really want to know about, I'll ask for clarification. It really is about common courtesy and communication.

This is a great site full of excellent information. I'd hope that it continues to provide this service and not become an exclusive elitist club. Sorry for the rant.

I recently talked on the phone with a "Newbie" from Oldgas who was seeking info.He told me he came here from Facebook,and wanted to see what it was like.
Told me this place is too slow and long winded.
All he wanted was a quick reply & to be on his way.As has been said already,Sadly,I think this is a testament to our culture today.
I told him you will not find a more knowledgeable base of people in this hobby,and it takes time to learn.
He told me he didn't want to learn,just wanted the answer to his question & to move on.

LSMFT!-Bet Jack knows that one!

For reference... here are all the ones I've seen. Some of the bottom ones I have only seen used by Mecum.

SSP - Single-Sided Porcelain
DSP - Double-Sided Porcelain
SST - Single-Sided Tin
DST - Double-Sided Tin
PP - Pump plate
PPP - Porcelain Pump Plate
SSPN - Single-Sided Porcelain Neon
DSPN - Double-Sided Porcelain Neon
SSTN - Single-Sided Tin Neon
DSTN - Double-Sided Tin Neon
SSN - Single-Sided Neon
DSN - Double-Sided Neon
SSL - Single-Sided Light-Up Sign
DSL - Double-Sided Light-Up Sign
E - Embossed
Flange - 90 degree Bend Double Sided

That's really sad to me.....I guess I'm just an "old" 40 year old collector that likes to gather as much information and history as I can about the items and hobby I enjoy. I guess it takes all kinds, but the younger collectors do not sound like people I care to share my knowledge with honestly. Some will say this is not welcoming to "newbies" and with no new/future collectors the value of this stuff will suffer. Well, I don't collect it for the value, I hope I'm preserving it for future generations to get a sense of the glory days of advertising and service stations. I guess it boils down to feeling almost "used" for our knowledge for the most part anymore, for those wanting "quick answers" and that's it. And a lot of these people will never be future contributors to the site anyways.
Darin

First again With Tobacco Men as well.

This is a great example. He obviously is not a collector. And, he is correct, this is not Facebook, it is a hobby forum. No one has time for anything today. I have all my life saved my money to buy things. If I didn't have the money, I waited until I did. Nobody wants to communicate properly either. Kids will not even answer a telephone call, you have to text them. I am glad I am as old as I am. I myself do not even own a cell phone. They are being misused and are contributing to the decay of society. Sorry, ranting again.

I find the two above statements to be contradictory. Enough said. I respect your point of view and respectfully chose to disagree.

Fact is that the way we communicate and the mediums by which we communicate have changed vastly. How we communicate is changing due to the new technologies of the past 30 plus years. During this time the changes that have taken place are astounding, even mind boggling.

Personal computers, cell phones, internet, smart phones have impacted us all and our lifestyles have drastically changed as a result. I'm 49 years old and what I observed my parents life to be when I was young compared what my life is today. Talk about technological progress in a short time.

I have a 5 year old daughter who just started kindergarten this year. She will not be taught penmanship, if her handwriting is messy they don't care. Furthermore, she will not be taught cursive writing. They are only taught how to print, because that is all that is needed to use a keyboard. Same with math times tables and division tables, are no longer taught or memorized because of calculators. About three weeks into the school year each student was issued a I-pad and that is their notebook. I'm sure they will be taught standardized acronyms. Whether we agree or not; it`s happening and it`s as a result of all the merging technologies.

Easier for me, to go with the flow then to resist change. I`m going to sit back and enjoy all the technologies that didn`t exist during my early years and now they are 75-90% of my daily routine.

And the brain turns to mush

I am surprised a 'want to buy' would use acronyms - there could be a newbie (or an oldie) out there that collects in another area, but has some signs that he or she might part with, but has no idea what you want...

Selling or buying you want to reach as large a group as you can, and sticking with just the guys 'in the know' (the acronym club) might make you miss out on a real catch! Ya' never know...

Generation X and Y think, relate, and communicate differently than the old guard on here.

You can complain about it, dislike it, and resist it ... none of that is going to change it.

The generation before you had the same complaints ... you thought they were unenlightened and too old.

Funny how that goes.

When I started collecting back in the mid 80's this same wanted ad would have been worded the same. We understood it back then.
SorryJack, PM sent ty and gl

Anyone that was in the military should be used to acronyms. As long as I've been in this hobby (late 70's) I'm used to them. They are easier to figure out than some guys spelling.

Put me down as G2G with acronyms.

Especially if someone can't spell.

Looking at the above post I know NJ stands for New Jersey. I was taught that, I wasn't taught PP stands for pump plate. I see Jacks point. I think acronyms was put in place for texting while driving. Please don't do that,I'm still trying to share the same road on a motorcycle. And one more does LOL stand for laugh out loud, lots of love, or lots of luck. Me and the wife both are on the fence. I think it means all three changes in meaning depending on content.

Never mind I looked it up. 109 meanings. LOL!!

Stumbled upon this thread just now. Abbreviation, acronyms and short form are part of all walks of life both military and civilian. I love to sit in the right seat of a buddy's plane and listening to the verbiage on the radio. It takes some getting used to..it's a whole different language. But learn it I did to my enjoyment. Same here on old gas. At swap meets people speak in "the language" of collectors. Truncated words and acronyms are the norm in the parking lot exchange; all we see in print is more of the same.
Advertologist uses verbal minimalism to effectively communicate his knowledge. More of the same in its own way.
BTW FWIW CP TWH!(by the way for what it's worth Rick that was hilarious!)

Too much BS.

Damn, I have to quit coming home drunk and posting things on OG!

But...I did get us talking about something, things were getting a little dull there for while.

Jack

LOL

you are tha man jack!!

OK now we need a new discussion area: "Posts While Drunk"

might be the most interesting one on here..LOL (oops!)

As a newbie to this hobby I agree with Jack 100%. I came to this site to be able to ask questions and learn from the seasoned veterans. I am first and foremost a car collector and I wouldn't be where I am today if someone had not shared their wisdom or belittled me for lack of knowledge. I have a lot to learn here and am looking forward to it.
Cheers and happy holidays

I would like to add my 2 cents . I'm new to this hobbie and have learned allot and I'm sure this site has saved me thousands of dollars in fantasy and repoped signs.It took my while to learn all the terms and if I do have questions I asked. I try to find the answer myself now because I love this hobbie and want to learn, I have found when you have a bunch of people there are always opinions on how things should be. I really like the fact there is forum that list all the junk signs and a page where you can see who all the ebay scam artists are. We all may never agree but we all are here because we love patolianna items. Maybe someone that has a little time and knows all the acronym make a place on the site we can send people that want to get educated. The ones that just wants answer and don't want to put forth any effort. They will fade into the darkness because they don't have passion and it's just a faze for them have a great weekend everyone

I think you old school guys on old gas are the best.cant beat the knowledge here. Very helpful to a dedicated nubie.i don't always get the answer I want,but I appreciate the knowledge. Been hanging around for a year now.and I plan on staying

Randy just left me a comment on a question in the general discussion and it's one of those acronym. lmo or imo . Sucks being a newbie. Im not sure what he meant.😏 How funny!!! I think it meant (I might of.)?

Rasorrat, Imo = In my opinion.

Still enjoy this site and hope we continue to share knowledge with anyone who ask . The only way it can continue is new people joining into the discussion and not just look for instant gratification and move on . That seems to be the new mind set these days demand to be given something not earn it by participation.

You MUST be referring to my son .....

I'm still a newbie to this site and to the hobby as well. I find that the knowledge that many on this forum have is amazing and I hope I can get there one day. I am on the fence about acronyms. I see where Jack is coming from 100% and feel the same way, but I also know we live in society where everything is rushed. I personally come to this site to learn as much as possible and interact with others of same interest. I guess if that means I have to look up some acronyms then so-be-it.

I have read a few posts where others have 'belittled' a newbie or even a veteran for that matter, but I can't say I have had that interaction yet. Those I've PM'd (ha an acronym) have been awesome and explained things when I had a question. If I had a negative first experience I maybe wouldn't have come back. We should keep this hobby alive and teach each other...IMO (in my opinion). Great forum and hope to keep learning.