I enjoy the stories on Old Gas about the road trips to get a load of pumps or the background on a new found sign. T Buckles and Kevin can spin a good yarn about their recent finds. It lets others sort of take part in the Thrill of the Hunt. I got this United States Tires sign about five years ago from my brother. It is not a Sinclair sign that I normally collect but it has great color, shine/ gloss to it with heavy shelving. There is also a vertical version of this sign. This signs story, as I recall it...
My brother has a friend that is a fellow collector. He knew a guy that had a "Shed made of signs". I think we all heard stories like this before and a lot of time, that's all they are, stories. Supposedly, back in the day when the Beach Company was making porcelain signs, they had a pile out back that were seconds, overruns or not sold for what ever reason. The story also goes that it was cheaper to sell the signs to the local farmers than it would be to try to remove the porcelain and reuse the metal. The farmers would then use the signs to patch a hole in the barn or fix a fence or any of a hundred other uses for cheap metal during the depression era. This sign supposedly was on the roof of the "Shed made of signs" until the wind blew it off back when. My brothers friend gave they guy $50 for it and he then kept it several years until my brother bought it. I then bought it from him.
The letters are actually deep blue but the camera flash changed the colors. My brother and his friend both said they saw this shed of signs but the owner all of a sudden got an attitude and would not sell any more. My brother would go by about once a year to check up and keep his name on the list for the day the guy decided to sell. I got a nice sign out of the deal and it has an interesting story to go with it.
