A rusty and an unrestored pump are two seperate pumps, in my opinion. A service station owner would never allow his pumps to be displayed rusty. Or atleast none that I ever saw and I traveled quite a bit from the 60s on. The places I worked at, made sure that their pumps displayed well, just like the rest of the station and the attendants. I worked in these stations from the mid to late 60s. Gas was plentiful and cheap. There seemed to be a station on most every street, in some places on every corner and sometimes in between. Stations were so plentiful that Oil Companies and stations, waged war against each other. Promotions were the norm and were geared towards all members of the family, especially mom and the kids. So a great looking station was the norm, not the exception. Our coveralls were expected to be clean each day when we started work. If one didn't work in the service bay they were expected to be clean all day long. If they became "soiled" we had an extra pair to put on. We painted the pumps twice each year with "touch ups" in between. We wiped down the pumps continously. With so many stations, service and "curb appeal" did make a difference. Now pumps did get abused and "beat to hell", but they better never be rusty on the outside. Or like I said, at least the owners of the stations I worked at never would have allowed such a thing.
