33 NOS Socony Oil signs were sold at Iowa Gas. They were found together back east. Most were the aircraft version shown in this image. Most of them sold for $1500-$2500 depending on condition. There were some with no airplane graphic, or "Aircraft" wording for less.



This is the crowd that gathered when the signs were first laid out. The sign without the airplane is visible on the lower right.





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Jim "Oldgas" Potts
Your host and moderator

You can almost see the drool from a couple of the guys watching.... More picture of Iowa gas please!!!

OH Yes..If I were there I would be in that droolin crowd as well. Nice signs. Whooo hooo
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Hubba

How can you tell the repops from the orginals with these signs? Is there a size or gromet difference?

DC, there were two grommits used on the older signs .
1. stain-less steel or Brass/copper type.
2. on the back they starred out, not smooth,
3. the very old signs had no grommits at all.
but it also varied with what part of the country they were made. and you will get different opinions on this , all I can say is my older signs(1900-1919) have no grommits, the early signal door/pump plate on ebay now had no Grommits, but later ones did ?? don't know why. now Texaco and Mobil had signs made all over the world, and some had stain-less and some had brass/copper type?? don't know why. thats why its confusing because you might see that same sign somewhere with out Grommits.

I don't know the exact measurments, but the repro signs are smaller than the originals. I also know that the originals have many mounting holes (see photos) and the repros only have them on the corners.
Anyone know if they made a repro that was the same size as the original?


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Don "oltoydoc" Sherwood
Vintage Gas

Click here for more pictures of Iowa Gas .

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Jim "Oldgas" Potts
Your host and moderator

I wondered why there have been so many of the SOCONY AIRCRAFT on ebay lately not all were NOS but nice.ITS STILL OUT THERE GUYS!!!!
It use to be easy to spot a repop porcelain sign its getting harder all the time.TIPS:Price to low,No sign makers name on sign when other similar signs do,Vendor selling sign,Recent quanity of signs on ebay and at shows,Sign to nice,no signs of age.
There are more ways Experence is best and ask a lot of questions.Rex

Thank you very much for posting pics. I hope to go out there next year.

Great pictures Jim. Sure wish I could have gone.
I thought repro globes and signs weren't allowed at Iowa Gas. I saw at least 11 repro globes pictured (probably more), not counting the ones on the pumps.
Bob

Thank for the pic's. There is always next year.

You are right about the repros, Bob. There has been a rule like for years, but there didn't seem to be any enforcement of it this year. On my Iowa Gas pictures pages there are 2 images of globes standing up in a row of five. Those were repros that were new to me. New repro Flying A die-cut signs and several new Mobil repro signs are now out there. The indoor images of a Wayne 60 and a National in bare metal are both 100% made of repro parts.

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Jim "Oldgas" Potts
Your host and moderator

As requested, here are images of new repro signs I first saw at Iowa Gas:







The Mobil lube and Flying A signs were seen in 2 sizes, one over a foot and another over 2 foot. Sorry I didn't measure. These are available from Time Passages for $22 and $37, I think.

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Jim "Oldgas" Potts
Your host and moderator

was at an antique store a little while back... that repro mobil tire sign had a price of 125.00 on it !!!... be careful out there....

I had several original Mobil Tire signs. The originals have a blue raised outer edge and some lettering (G-348 on mine) in the lower right corner. The signs were also wood framed in the back and staples were used, so there would be no mounting holes.

[This message has been edited by Gary Drye (edited 08-19-2003).]

Everyone:

For those of you that like the look of these reproduction signs (I do) - here is the web site address: www.graphicsexpress.net for the Mobile reproductions.

The two Mobile signs shown here retail for $45 each + shipping/handling. They also have clothing, wall clocks, pewter figurines, etc. Check it out!

I haven't run across the 'Flying A' signs yet so I don't know where to find them or the pricing. Anyone?

Later . . .

Jim

Thank god I found this site. I happen to be in possession of a Socony Aircraft sign exactly like the one at the top of the page - with airplane, and multiple grommets. I found it when helping to rebuild an old house in Portland ME about 10 years ago. I am looking for more information on its age, etc. If anyone can help me out, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!

Ps. What does NOS, in your original post, stand for? Thanks!

[This message has been edited by pachler (edited 10-25-2003).]

NOS= new old stock, but doesn't mean its in ten condition, hope this helps.....Paul

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Thanks! That does. I just took some pictures of my sign. If I posted them up here would someone be able to help me out with what it's all about? It has grommits that star out, and there are a number of them - two of the holes do not have grommits. There are just a few nicks and dings in the porcelain on the front, and soem rust spots on the back, as well as some paint spray from what looks like the original blue paint. I'll post the pics in a bit. I would love to know more history about it, since, for me, it has been a college souvenir, and not much more.
Thanks!
Jess