Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Chinese Gargoyle Arctic Special Motor Oil Can

Ebay item number 111298166899

I wanted to know whether anyone had seen Chinese Gargoyle five-quart cans in the past. My girlfriend, who has studied in China and is working in Beijing next year, translated some of the characters and told me that they are definitely related to the product. The characters above the Gargoyle brand even spell out "Gargoyle" phonetically in Chinese. However, neither of us are convinced of its authenticity. I could not tell you what my concerns are exactly, and it might just be the vague suspicion of looking at something you have never seen before, but all the same I wanted to have another opinion before going forward.

Thanks very much for any help. Sincerely, James.

Hi James,
Definitely the genuine article, no question. You see these Chinese gallon cans with some frequency. Vacuum Oil Co. was a worldwide company, even in the early days. You will find other cans with different languages on them. I have a couple Arabic quarts from the early 1930's.
Darin

I got one. Real deal for sure.
Dan

Thanks very much for the responses, Darin, Dan. I have seen all kinds of oil cans from France and Belgium before but never from Asia. Knowing how important the automobile has been in America for the last century, I tend to think of motor oil as a distinctly American product, so finding this one with Chinese characters threw me for a loop, especially since the Gargoyle brand was used before World War II.

Darin, I found your Arabic Mobiloil cans in a previous thread. Very, very cool. The condition is almost bizarre.

James