You are assuming that the major oil companies had stations in ever town and city. Back in the 1920s and 1930s most stations in a town the size of Sullivan were owned by the owner. He contracted to purchase gasoline from a local distributor. In your area the distributor could have been as far away as Rolla.
Assuming it was Shell (just for example purposes), the distributor would bring you decals and a globe to put on your pump. These were compliments of Shell. Shell would not purchase a pump for you or nor would they paint your pump, you had to take care of it yourself.
If you didn't have a pump, you called the closest equipment distributor and asked him to come out and sell you a pump.
The quipment salesman would bring some brochures from the gas pump companies he represented. You picked out the pump. The equipment dealer kept some pumps in stock in the warehouse so you probably took one of these.
It was delivered in the color red, and would have either a clear or tinted cylinder on it.
Gilbarco called their cylinders NULTRA bowl, and they said it would display your gas in all its sparkling brilliance.
As far as a globe is concerned, if you are planning on putting the pump outside, we would all advise you to purchase a reproduction globe as they break easy and why break a $1000 globe when you can break a $100 globe.
As for who used Gilbarcos in Missouri, no one can really tell you.
Standard always had a connection with Gilbarco, so their major stations in large cities probably had Gilbarcos when they were new.
Pumps were traded in when a new pump came out, so maybe the dealer in Sullivan purchase a used pump that was once used in St. Louis.
Don't worry about who used Gilbarco pumps, paint it anything you want. If you used to work at a Gulf station when you were a kid, restore it to Gulf, if your uncle's from Scotland and his last name was Sinclair, restore it to Sinclair. Have fun with your pump, there are no PUMP POLICE out there to tell you, you did it wrong, and we don't drag pumps to shows to be judged, like old cars.
Jack Sim
Author, Gas Pump Identification book
[This message has been edited by Jack Sim (edited 05-04-2006).]