Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana Globe Of The Month for October

I get alot of emails with questions about globes. I'll try to answer some of them with this month's globe of the month. We're going to do something a little different this month. We're going to post pictures of as many different types of globe bodies. It's very important to know the differences in the types of globe bodies if you're going to collect globes.
Here are the types of globe bodies:
Capco #216(plastic);
"old" Capco (plastic);
wide Capco (plastic)
oval Capco (plastic)and oval glass;....[these aren't really oval, they're eliptical];
narrow glass;
wide glass;
there are also wide and narrow glass with screw on, and crimped on bases;
Gill;
ripple Gill;
Hull;
banded glass;
Balcrank;
These are also known with different types of bases;
one piece narrow, glass;
one piece wide, glass;
one piece rounded wide, glass;
in addition to the different shapes, there are etched, cast, and versions with baked on paint;
high profile metal;
low profile metal;
and a host of figural globe bodies.
Bob

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 10-15-2003).]

I'll get us started with two versions of capco bodies.

The version on the left is a capco #216. Each half is exactly the same. Each half has two tabs to hold the lenses in the proper position. You'll find "Capcolite 216" and some other writing near the base on this type of body. The capco body was available in white,red, yellow, orange, blue, green, shiny gold, creamy yellow, and probably some other colors.

The body on the right is an old capco. These were the first plastic bodied globes. This style body dates from 1932 and '33. Look closely at the top. Each half is different. Each half has two tabs to locate the lenses. Most of the old capco bodies I've seen are discolored. This version says Capcolite on just one half. These old capco bodies are made out of a harder, more brittle plastic. These were made in white and red for sure. Other colors were probably used too.
[img]http://members.aol.com/lastgas15/capcobodies[/img]
There really isn't much difference in value between these two types of capco bodies (if they are the same color, and condition).
Some of the rarer colors can bring 4 times what a white one would fetch.

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 10-15-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 10-15-2003).]

Bob:

Question for you globe guys (& gals).

Can you put the new 13.5" reproduction lenses on the 13.5" reproduction milk glass globe bodies? Or do you need an original 'style' of lenses to make this arrangement work?

Thanks in advance for the answer.

Later . . .

Jim

I have posted this before but now i am sure it will be the only one posted because there are not very many of these. This is a ballcrank globe. Notice most wide and narrow bodies the lenes mount at 3,9 where these lenes mount at 12,4,8. I know Skelly, Mobil and BP made ballcrank globes but are there any others? Why did they mount these lenes differant?

Jim,
I don't know if the repop lenses will fit a repop glass body. Better ask one of the repop vendors. Why not spring for an all original globe (unless you're going to display it outside)? You can't go wrong buying good original globes.

John,
Add Johnson and Marland to that list. Don't know why Balcrank bodies are different than other brands.
Most lenses that are notched for a balcrank body, are also notched for a regular glass body, giving them five notches.
A guy told me he had a spare balcrank body he'd sell me. I drove 60 miles to get it. He changed his mind and wouldn't sell it. I wasn't happy!
Bob

T-Way, just 15 minutes ago I put repo lenses on a repo glass body. Fit well with no problems. The lenses don't rock at all, a good fit. Can't say they are all that way but the few I've done fit very well.

Bob, excellent thread--I always wondered about this stuff being a sign collector and all...

Great thread Pops. I just recently got a green capco on Ebay which I thought was original. When I recieved it today there were no "capco" markings on it at all. I was curious because it looked old. I looked in the globe books and found out in the early 80's the reproduced plastic bodies with no capco markings on it until someone along the way found the original casting, now most if not all repop plastic bodies have "capco" embossed on them. Looks like i have a real early reproduction that might have been displayed outside ..giving it that aged look. I am glad I didnt pay alot for it. It will still look good..just gotta find some original lenses that go good with a green body.
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hubba

Here are a couple of metal bodied globes. Both take 15" lenses. The one on the left is a high profile body. The one on the right a low profile.
The globe book says metal bodies were first produced in 1914! Some oil companies used metal body globes well into the 60's.

Sometimes the low profile bodies are a bit smaller in diameter(about 14 7/8") and won't hold all 15" lenses.

Most metal globe bodies have 6 " bases. Some companies used 7" bases.

The most common sizes of metal globe bodies are 15" and 16 1/5". There were a few other sizes, but they are extremely rare. Many collectors think the 16 1/5" globes are older than the 15". The heavy hitters say it's the other way around! 16 1/2" bodies didn't show up until the 20's.

The Pure globe pictured above is white porcelain. There are other colors of porcelain/metal bodies. Yellow, orange, and I think red have been discovered. All that I know of are high profile. There are probably more colors of porcelain/metal bodies out there. The metal bodies with porcelain are worth quite a bit more than the painted versions.
Bob




[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 10-16-2003).]

GREAT TOPIC BOB.. I'VE LEARNED ALOT ALREADY.. ONE QUESTION THOUGH,, YOU DATED THOSE PLASTIC BODIES IN THE EARLY THIRTIES,, I THOUGHT PLASTIC WAS DISCOVERED/INVENTED AROUND W.W.2.???? CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG,, BUT THE HISTORY CHANNEL HAD A THING ON PLASTIC AWHILE BACK AND I COULD OF SWORE THE WAR #2 WAS WHEN IT WAS MADE PRACTICAL FOR USE?? ON A LITTLE DIFFERENT NOTE,, WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME A GLOBE KING?? WHAT WHY AND WHERE?? I REMEMBER YOU MENTIONING SOMETHING AWHILE AGO ABOUT THIS,, BUT REFRESH OUR MEMORIES.. THANKS AGAIN FOR YOUR HELP ON THAT KANOTEX GLOBE,, THERE WERE SOME UPSET LOCALS AT THAT AUCTION WHO THOUGHT THEY WERE GONNA GET IT FOR $300.00,, [FOR A LAMP SHADE..] ME AND THIS OTHER GUY SHOWED THEM,, $1650.00,, AND IT WAS MINE ,,FOR A COUPLE WEEKS,, THEN IT HAD TO GO, THATS A HALF A YEARS WAGE HERE IN IDAHO.... OH' YEAH,, YOUR STILL ON THE LIST FOR THE GUY'S COLLECTION WHEN HE DECIDES TO SELL.. I WON'T FORGET ABOUT YOU.. THANKS FOR YOUR HELP AND WISDOM..... FRANK "THE T-BONE////// "

[This message has been edited by T-BONE (edited 10-16-2003).]

T-BONE,
There are different types of plastic. Most of the early plastics were very brittle. It was right around WW2 when the use of plastic became more commonplace. Did you ever see the pictures of Henry Ford swinging an axe at the plastic trunk lid on his 41 Ford? Ford developed, or helped develope a soy bean based plastic that was very pliable.

Why globes?
Like most of us, I was a car guy. It just seemed natural to collect gas station junk. My first petro collectible was a Conoco globe with a green plastic body. One of our customers gave it to me. He said it was from 1936. That was in 1981. I wish I had really started collecting then! I didn't become a "collector" until 1995. I bought mostly cheap cans a few cheap signs, and one or two globes a year. I decided I'd rather have globes than the other stuff. I sold alot of my collection, so I could buy more globes.

At first I thought you buried yourself in that Kanotex globe. Just goes to show that you can't go wrong buying good stuff.

Thanks for the kind words.
Bob

Rex sent me this picture. Thats a black porcelain body. Anyone ever see another?


[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 10-18-2003).]

Here are three different types of wide glass bodies.
On the left is a wide body for 12 1/2" lenses.
The body in the center is the more common version that holds 13 1/2" lenses. Note the flanged glass base.
The globe on the right has a screw on metal base. This one happens to be a 7" base. Most are 6".

Anyone have an oval GLASS body they can show? How about a banded glass body or a wide capco?

I'll try to post a couple of different types of Gill bodies and a Hull body in the next few days.

Anyone have a 15" glass body with the metal retainers?

If you a globe that has a type of body that hasn't been pictured yet please post a picture.
Bob

Here are three narrow glass bodies.

The body on the left has a screw on metal base. Bodies like this are more desireable than the flanged glass base to many collectors so they are valued higher. Screw on bases were made from steel, copper, or aluminum. This type body is now being reproduced (unmarked I've heard)so be careful!
The body in the center is the most common type of glass body. It has a 6" flanged glass base. Many companies made this type of body so there are lots of slight variations.
The body on the right is a reproduction, unmarked of course.

One thing thats the same on the narrow and wide bodies is that the lenses are held on with brass screws at the 3:00 and 9:00 positions.
Ballcrank bodies are the same except there are three screws holding each lens. Take a close look at the Skelly globe John posted above.
There are glass bodies with crimped on metal bases. Can anyone share a picture of one?
I'd like a detailed picture of a banded glass body without a lens so everyone can see how the lenses are held in.
I'm working on getting pictures of other types of globe bodies from other collectors. If you have something that hasn't been pictured, email a picture to me.
Thanks,
Bob

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 10-31-2003).]

Bob, Here is an early hull crimped base globe. I bought this from a Texaco Jobber and these lenses were on it and had been on it for years. The lenses should be marked "HULL".




[This message has been edited by Jarvis (edited 10-31-2003).]

Look close guys, you may never see one of these again. The yellow capco body is hard enough to find but the blue one is even tougher. Notice that the blue body is a WIDE old style capco. This is a very rare body dating from '32 or '33.
The lenses aren't too shabby either!
Thanks to Lonnie and Aaron Hop for sharing pictures of their globes.

Here are two oval body globes. The lenses are sanwiched in the plastic body. The lenses are bolted on the glass body. If you find oval lenses that aren't notched they go on a plastic body.
The two ovals pictured here are some of the best that exist. Most ovals are rather plain. These are from the collection of Lonnie and Aaron Hop.

Here we have a couple of nice ripple gill bodied globes. Note the screw on base on the green ripple.

Thanks again to Lonnie and Aaron.

Here are the two styles of clover bodies.


The one on the left is a Hull body. Note that it takes ROUND lenses.
Again many thanks to the Hop's for sharing their great globes with us.

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 11-01-2003).]

The next several pictures show banded glass and gill bodies, and how each holds its lenses.





Note how the gill ring clamps the lens to the body with the screw at the bottom. There are many sizes of gill bodies.
The banded glass body uses a metal band that has four studs protruding from the back. Banded glass bodies are uncommon. You mostly see them with Diamond DX lenses. A few other companies such as Tydol used them too.
These are from the Hop collection also. Thanks for sharing!

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 11-01-2003).]

Here are some extremely rare globes from Lonnie and Aaron Hop.
The Texaco is an original leaded glass on a special metal body. Note how wide the body is.
The Tiwowser is on a jeweled metal body. These look amazing when lit up.




Do you get the feeling these guys have all the nice stuff? LOL

A special thanks to Lonnie and Aaron for submitting pictures of their globes. Hopefully someone has benefitted from seeing all the different types of globe bodies.

We've still got one piece globes to do!

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 11-01-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 11-01-2003).]

Bob....

A small independent oil company here in Western Pennsylvania also used Banded Glass globe bodies on their earlier gas pump globes. Their name was "Wolf's Head", which was later purchased by Pennzoil....

[This message has been edited by Sinclair Joe (edited 11-01-2003).]

North Star and Mobil used banded glass bodies too. Diamond DX are the most common lenses you'll find on banded glass.
Bob

Anyone have original advertising for globe body manufacturers. I will try to find it, I have a color full page ad from Signs of The Times from I think 1935. It is for a maker of glass bodied globes with a hole right through it and uses a metal band or clamp. Also I think on the other side of the page it showed either making ad glass or signs. It had a pic of the Indian Gas logo the green and blue with that round top jukebox looking thing on it.

Also Home Oil Co up here used glass bodied globes either banded or gill I think...dodogas

Bob,Great Job your efforts to educated us is appreciated by all.You made it easy to ID globe bodies.A lot of the I don't know about globes guys will give globes a second look.
And what can you say about the HOP globes the BEST!! A big thanks to the HOP family for sharing and helping the hobby HTH.Ain't it great,Rex.

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Dodogas, Post a picture of your ad. I'd like to see it. Home oil used banded glass bodies.

Rex,I hope this months "globe of the month" will help some of the new collectors. Many don't realize how many different types of globes there are.

I plan to add a few more pictures as time permits.
Bob

Was at an auction in Springfield, Ill. last weekend. I was bidding on an original wide bodied glass globe BODY and I quit at $240 as I was going by Scott Benjamin's book value of 150 bucks, retail. The thing sold for over 280 dollars, kind of high!! I was hoping someone would out bid me and they did!!!

Super job on this topic Bob. Could you inform the readers of the various sizes of Gill bodied globes with the retaining ring held on by a screw? They are not all 13 1/2 inch.

Gary, You're right. Not all gill bodies are 13 1/2". I've seen 13 1/4, 13 3/8, 13 1/2, 14 inch gills. There are probably other sizes too. 13 3/8 seems to be the most common size (at least with the gills I have). Since the body sizes are so close together, different size lenses will sometimes interchange between the different body sizes.

Lenses for gill and banded bodies do not have notches. It's possible to put notched lenses that were meant for plastic and sometimes glass bodies on a gill body. The retainer rings cover the notches. Alot of times collectors will put graphic lenses that are notched,on a ripple gill body.

National (White Rose) used 14" gills. Any 14" globe is hard to find (there are regular 14" 3 piece glass globes too).

Does anyone have any info on what size gill globes different companies used? National and some independants used 14". What companies used 13 1/2, 13 3/8, etc ?

We need some pics of one piece globes showing the different profiles (narrow, wide, rounded wide). It would be nice to have some detailed pics of one piece etched, baked, and cast globes too.
Bob

Here's a picture that was sent to me to post.
This is a very early oval, one piece etched, chimney cap globe. My guess is this is the only known example of this globe.

Thanks to Jeff T.

Here's a one piece etched narrow body chimney cap Wadhams globe.

Thanks to Aumann Auctions for the use of their picture.

WADHAMS WADHAMS...DROOL DROOL DROOL
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Hubba

Here are three more one piece globes submitted by the Hop's.
The Indian Gas is a wide body with baked on paint.
The Texaco Ethyl is a narrow cast letter globe.
The Texaco is a narrow etched globe.



I again wish to thank Lonnie and Aaron. They have always been willing to help the hobby. Their efforts with this months feature are much appreciated.
Bob

[This message has been edited by Lastgas15 (edited 11-02-2003).]