Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Wayne Greek Column Gas Pump Paint Question

When these pumps were delivered to the gas stations; how were they painted back then? I was thinking they were just painted red and maybe with oil base paint. Most restorations you see, they are multicolored, but I'm wondering if they did that back in the early 20's at the local gas station. Your time is appreciated.

John, you would need to refer to old literature with pictures to get a feel for color Schemes. I would say a lot of pumps 90 years ago would have been painted in red. Oil based paint was the only type available in those days.

Here's one with original multicolored paint.

http://www.gaspumps.info/gallery/v/pumps/original/MitchandRoman.jpg.html?g2_enterAlbum=0

As I understood it they were all green when delivered, the two I owned were both green under all the paint

That's interesting that both were green underneath. Were your two from the same State or area? I'm getting ready to restore one and want to make it as factory looking as I can. It will have a Texaco globe.

Here is an ad and a restored pump in green. Not mine but wish it was. It looks really good green.

One from Oregon and one from California, both were the green like the above pic

That is the green that was under the paint when I stripped the last one.

When I paint something in red, I do green underneath to give it depth--tho I imagine there is more of a practical reason for the green. Like to distinguish it from white pumps of other brands - to make it unique. Plus a color would show off the ridges better than white. Grey or beige to match the actual Grecian columns would have looked too much like the concrete at the station, while green makes them different enough to stand out. IMHO

yes, they came from the factory painted green.