Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums New Members & Non-members Welcome New Members Young and Eager :)

Hello all!

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to the users of Old Gas! Ive been reading the forums on here for a few months or so but I figured it was time to make my first post.

My name is Koby, Im 17 years old and currently a junior in High school. I live on Long Island, New York. I just turned 17 two weeks ago today so I am a new driver.

I am interested in antique automobiles, and of course gas and oil collectibles. I also collect License Plates. I am a member of the Antique Automobile Club of America and I hope to restore my own car once I graduate from college and have the space and funds. I am a member of my schools auto club and student government. My free time is spent playing sports with my friends and family, attending local car shows, and attending garage sales.

I am very interested in starting a gas and oil collection but being that I live with my parents, space is tight. Therefore I think it would be wise to stick to smaller items like signs and cans, and maybe even globes, and hopefully move into pumps once I have my own place in the future.

I work odd jobs here and there while trying to balance my schoolwork in order to raise funds for my purchases. Midterms at school are finally over so now I am going to begin hunting for a part time job. I think I've saved up enough money to make my first large purchase ( large to me at least) and I am very excited about that!

Sadly, I am very scared to start buying. I read on here about all of the fakes and reproductions that are out there that people try to pass off as original. I work very hard for money and wouldn't want to get taken advantage of. I don't know how to tell if items are fake or not. No one in my family, or friends share these interests with me so I have no one to learn from.

Are there any books Out there that I can read to start improving my knowledge on genuine items in comparison to fakes? I really would like to learn as much as I can about the history of gas and oil in America and I would like to help preserve automotive and petro history for future generations.

Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing any suggestions that any of you experts may have! Happy Super Bowl Sunday

Koby

Koby,
First welcome to the site and sorry to hear you caught the "bug" and just so you know there is no known cure! lol..

If there is any advice I can give it would be do your research before you buy something, it's hard not to get excited when you first see an item and just pull out the money only to find out it's not what you thought it was.
Everyone on here has done it and we all learned from it, there are plenty of books to get information from but it's always wise to get a picture of an item and post it on the site to get information from the membership here if your not sure they are more than willing to give you some feedback.

Again knowledge is power take your time and buy wisely and most importantly have fun because that's what it's about not the money an item is worth because in the end it's really only worth your memories and what someone else is willing to pay.

Good luck and make sure to keep everyone up on how you do.
Bob.

Koby Welcome to Old Gas!! Glad to see that you are also interested in this stuff at a young age. The best thing to do is study up on this stuff & ask questions if you are not sure. Once you get a feel of things & get more experience it will get easier for you. Like we say here a lot the only dumb question is the one not asked

Koby--Thats great advice that Bob offers and I don't have much to add except the fact that there are some wonderful people on this site that will bend over backward to help others and preveent the scammers from taking advantge of anyone!
You've taken the first step by announcing yourself and making us aware of your presence. From here on out, its a matter of researching different items to learn where the fakes are. The catalogs offered by the reproduction people are a good reference as they show all of the common signs that have been repopped. There are often discussions on Old Gas about different signs and that is an excellent place to learn from.
An old rule used by almost everyone is--when in doubt, just walk away! There's always another day, another sign! Glad to have you on board and I'm sure you'll do well, as you seem brighter than the average youngster and are willing to ask for help! WELCOME!

Hi Koby,

Welcome to OLDGAS,and you are certainly on the right track in asking for reference books.As Kevin noted get the catalogs as soon as you can;Vic's 66 publishes one as does Gas Pump Heaven.You might want to get bothe as their product lines are not exactly the same.

In addition to those I recommend PCM's Guide to Gas Pump Restoration because they have excellent sections on pump plates and ad glass.Both those things are small and display nicely together IMO.That book is very useful to cross reference with the catalogs.Just remember that nothing will beat the real experience and knowledge of the members around here.

Welcome to Oldgas.com!

There is no substitute for experience. Keep an open mind and a positive learning attitude and you will be amazed at how much info is available on this site. The depth of knowledge you will be exposed to on this site is immeasurable.

Spend the time to spot the ones that know and the ones that think they know it.

Don't get to0 caught up on values...you're young and have the rest of your life to earn money. Not everything has to be an investment...buy it cause you like it and have fun doing it!

Welcome Koby,

Right now, my advise is: forget the books and catalogs! They can come later...

If I were a "New Collector" again, I would do what I did at the time....

Contact Collectors in "Your neck of the Woods"/surrounding area, and see if you can visit them.... (I believe some Oldgas Members live fairly close to you) That way you will see first hand "established Collections"... Collections with original signs, cans, globes etc... If you are lucky they will have both original and repop items so you can do a "first hand" comparison... If you are real lucky, they will have signs/other items that you can handle...

That way you get "hands on" knowledge... Again, if you are lucky enough; you may see some of the different nuances that one needs to know... You possibly will learn first hand, what shelving is... How fonts can different on the "same" signage... from different regions... etc...

I started in the hobby at a young age and have been thankful ever since for the opportunity that more experienced Collectors afforded me.. I hope you have the same... good experiences!

Hi Koby and Welcome to a great hobby. There is something for every one in this great hobby. Whether your rich or poor. Mechanically inclined or not. So many avenues you can choose. There are books for just about every phase of the hobby. Only thing, I'm not sure if there are any devoted to just specifically educating the new collector about reproductions. Like Bob said, nothing will compare to learning from journeymen. If you cant connect face to face with guys in your area, Oldgas is a great place to learn about stuff that is happening out there currently. There are tons of great people on here that will not intentionally steer you wrong. And if one happens to give you bogus info, theres enough guys around with the guts to call them on it.
Like I said , theres lots of books, but maybe you might need to be more specific as to what company, or field of collecting your looking to learn about. There are some good ones for specific areas. Lots of the general books like "Gas station collectables" pretty much show pictures of various items and have outdated values. Some of them where written quite a while back- even before the internet. (If you could imagine such a time LOL) Now days you can just look at Ebay under completed listings and get a feel for prices. Although there are lots of unedjucated people WAY overpaying for fake or fantasy items on there.
Anyways welcome and I for one am glad to see you here.
PS- I still buy reference books. We have accumulated hundred over the years. I am looking at one on Rookwood Pottery that just arrived. Knowledge is power in the antique world.

There are a number of collectors on this site from LI. For example if you look in the non-petro section for the Sunday post, you will see Doc has posted some snowy pictures of his place. Start local...

Also talk to collectors like Bob Richards who collect 'smalls' such as ad glass, licence plate toppers, oil company pins/pens, etc. for your space limitations, tho I am sure Bob would be the first to tell you that if ya get enough smalls you can still run out of room! Paper products like maps and newspaper and magazine ads are another way to go as most can be stored in files.

Have fun!

Welcome to Oldgas.