Hello, everybody! I am new to "Primarily Petroliana," but...couldn't you just thank God for a great forum like this? I cut trademarks out of road maps (the older, the better!) and first doodled gas-stations, both at age two (1965-'66). This was LONG before I first cartooned (age five, 1969)...or designed my first logo (age eight, 1972)...or first doodled antique, classic, & sports cars (age ten, 1974). More details in my "About Me" page on eBay.
Hmmmm...other collectibles? What most of you collect, I call "commercial/popular culture" collectibles. (Not "Americana"--because Europe, Canada, Australia, & New Zealand ALL have THEIR share of antique-car & "petrol" collectors. And hey--don't forget about Japanese comics/animation collectors over here!) They're ALL from impoverished & middle-class culture, just like folk art). BUT: They were (and are) designed, written, or composed by the professionals, for mass-production. (However: For rap, heavy metal, & bubblegum-pop CDs...early-1990s imitators of DC & Marvel Comics...ninja videogames... 1970s Detroit (and TV "kidvid")...and videos of R-rated, teen-guy comedies--are all these "professional"? Uh...gotta think about that one....)
Anyway, here are my five categories
other than "Petroliana." (1.) PLASTIC soft-drink signs (graphic-design work). (2.)Old magazines, esp. pre-1930 (again, graphic design). (3.)Old stereo LPs, almost any music genre (graphic-design, amateur Music Therapy). (4.)Automobilia--esp. from medium-priced & independent brands (auto & industrial design). (5.) Animal-humanoid, "furry-fandom" (MGM/Warners/Disney-style cartooning & writing, learning computer animation). But I include funny-animal comic-books, videogames, Olympic & athletic mascots, &c.--not just movie & TV animation!
To "V-Gas" (model-cars), "danceswithpumps" (whose wife collects M&Ms characters), and Jack Sim (i.e., sales catalogues)--any chance we can write & phone one another, maybe?
I LOVE this Web-site thus far; "Oldgas" has done us a BIG service, hasn't he? (And I've never designed a Web-page yet!) Before I leave you: Although I had been against ol' George W's military intervention, at first--please PRAY for VICTORY! Pray for a GENEROUS "Marshall Plan" for both Iraq and Afghanistan. And, of course--PRAY for our HEROES in the stinking, dusty midst of it all! (How many of you collectors out there have 'em in your families?) God bless!
------------------
Michael Shepherd Studio
