Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Fake? How to tell? FireChief sign.

Can you tell me, are there any specific things to look for in order to spot a fake of the FireChief pump sign? There seems to be tons of them out there.

Here are a couple
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I am not sure of the first one you have photoed but the 2nd is legit as far as I can tell. The first one may be legit as well but just a marking I haven't seen before.
Usually, repops are undated and the quality of craftsmanship is just not there.
I maybe wrong on both accounts and trust me there are other guys here that have way more knowledge than I do but I would buy the 2nd sign.

They're both original. The first one you pictured is Canadian made (it's marked P&M). The other one is American made.

P&M used an ink stamp on their Texaco signs way after American companies had stopped (I have seen P&M signs inked stamped and dated all the way up to the late sixties).

Another thing i noticed about the first sign...Notice that the grommets are not crushed flat at all,with that much damage to the middle one on the left you would think grommets would be flat.

First sign is a fake, second is legit. Colors and markings are all wrong on first sign. Sometimes you just have to go with your gut.
Cliff

Also the first sign is 8"x12". I'm not aware of any one reproducing the smaller size Texaco pump plates.

Rest assure they're both original.

Interesting! Me being new to this, how would I even know there was a smaller version of the sign? There is so much to learn it's sick!!

Keep doing what you're doing (by asking questions). Look at completed auctions (eBay, proxibid, ect) buy books (the prices are out dated, but they're a wonderful source of information). Get out and go to shows (even if you don't have any money to buy with, you can learn a lot by just looking).

BTW, Texaco had three sizes of their pump plates made 8"x12", 10"x15", and the most common 12"x18".