Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Old Thermometer... History, Value, Collector Interest!

Have just located a very old thermometer that may be of some interest to a few.
The thermometer apparently still works. Its about 40 inches long by 8 inches wide, finished in red and black print etc on a white back with a touch of surface rust.
At the top in bold script it has... 24 HOUR WRECKER SERVICE. Followed by what appears to be a neat action picure of their tow vehicle. Down below, under the actual thermometer it reads: DAY VA.6661, NITE VE.0811, followed by the company name... VICTORY MOTORS. There address at the very bottom, is or was: North Ave.N.E. Between ??? Can't quite read the rest of that line. Looks something like... the Viaduct. Unfortunately not knowing where its from, could say any number of other things.
Its beleived to be from the south but I really dont have a clue. That goes for where and when they used 6 digit phone numbers or va and ve prefixes.
Your input, thoughts and estimated values are both welcomed and appreciated!

[This message has been edited by gearhead (edited 10-22-2007).]

Hi gearhead,
We really need to see good photos of the thermometer to give you any help.

The key element is the tow truck graphic. How old does the truck look? Is the graphic large and detailed?

If it is porcelain it would be worth more than a painted sign. A painted sign with surface rust just depends on how bad the rust is.

The phone number with 2 letters and 4 numbers does say it is somewhat old. Urban areas after World War II standardized 2 letter, 5 digit phone numbers. In the mid-1960s new phone numbers were issued with all numbers and no letters. So your phone numbers could be rural or pre-WWII. Not much help for figuring the date of the sign.

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Jim "Oldgas" Potts
Your host and moderator

pictures are worth a thooooooooooooosand words for sure!

[This message has been edited by cdncon (edited 10-24-2007).]

Here's hoping if this picture thing works, it may show enough to help.
http://kijiji.ebayimg.com/i22/06/k/000/78/06/fe41_20.JPG

Have not touched it yet but believe most of this should clean off with some TLC

hey gear head!!!! are you going to sell this thermometer???? txs alan

Although hadn't even thought much about that. Guess most anything is possible, huh!

A new toy for us, was hoping to learn something about its age or origin and background. Also any possible approximate values would be nice too.

i keep pretty good records of unuasal thermom sales and auctions....i saw this one last year on the computer sell for 250 in really nice condition.....i would expect to see a price tag of around 400 retail or at a show.....and i would guesstimate yours at around 100 due to condtion