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Joined: Nov 2000
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At 2:00 in th morning, after having won most of my dart matches, and having probably more than the local police say I should't have been drinking (I did arrive home safely), I find it very easy to express my feelings. I just replied to a post about a book that I recommended you all read, then because of the way I replied I got the feelings I really don't know you guys.
I really don't want to know what you did in high school, but if you are like me, something happened to you thet lead you into this hobby.
Just to explain what happened to me, even at an early age I was as collector (stamps, coins) and after the Army (in 1958) I became a picker, I just didn't know I had a name. In a barn in 1958 trying to by a Henderson Motorcycle, in a lady's bsement where I did buy a 1916 Harley-Davidson.
Guys, go back, don't tell us what happened last year, give us stories, maybe is wasn't finding a gas pump, maybe is was like where I found two Model A's and a Overland Touring car in a garage in Southern Missouri.
Why am I asking for this, it is just to get us away from all the negative stuff we have been reading about here lately, let's tell each other about the good time we remember, even it it happend in the 1980's.

Jack Sim

Last edited by Jack Sim; Wed Mar 27 2013 01:11 AM.

Author, 1st & 2nd editions of Gas Pump ID book, 3rd edition is now available at www.gaspumpbible.com
Air Meter ID book also available
Please use For Sale forums to sell

Please - NO offers to Buy or Sell in this forum category

Statements such as, "I'm thinking about selling this." are considered an offer to sell.
Joined: Jun 2011
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Man I feel like we need to be sitting in a large circle in chairs like other addiction groups!
My (addiction) started around 1980 with simple things like go fast cars. Then I needed some signs for the garage so I would go to the flea markets and pick up some road signs. That led to oil and gas signs, gas pumps, coke machines and on and on.

I remember family and friends thought I was crazy for collecting this stuff, they just dont get it to this day. I honestly thought back then I was the only one that collected this stuff, boy I found out later how wrong I was.

(standing up) My name is Ron and I am addicted to this stuff!


I am always looking for anything Texaco or Oklahoma oil and gas company's, also I am a newbie at seeking globes.
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I saw a parking meter at a local yard sale. Thought to myself,"How cool is that!" Now I have lost track of how many I have. Driving through town my Wife says, "Didn't you see that Chevron sign?". A quick u-turn and now I have Chevron signs on and in my shop and backyard, given to friends and traded for other signs. If your looking for a good book to read may I suggest the Bible. Good for the soul and salvation. May God bless us all.
Mike

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I was raised on a Maryland tobacco farm in the fifties. Dad was a carpenter at a large Ship Yard in Baltimore and farmed on the side to make ends meet. We never had much money so had to constantly keep all the old farm machinery running with whatever means we could? We had a visible gas pump on the farm.....I was too young to recall the model nor did I care, at that time. I pumped a lot of gas thru that pump. It was always fun watching the gas fill the cylinder. As I grew older and found cars, all things revolved around that new discovery. Then came the Military in the Vietman era. Fast forward to the seventies, marriage and the love for antique furniture that my wife taught me. During our visits to shops, I came to appreciate advertising items and bought a few. Because of my fondness for old machinery, I started buying bigger stuff. Just stopping at someones house to inquire if "such and such" was for sale came as a natural progression. Never knew I was a picker until it was pointed out to me? I could have been an ax murderer so picking is much better. LOL! Paul www.severngaspumps.com

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In 1984 while infield at the Carlisle Fall show picking up 2 huge 1930's Coca-Cola signs (collecting coke since 1972), I was loaded up and driving slowly towards the exit for the ride home and window shopping, looking to spend my final $100 cash.
Sure enough, I spotted a DSP 42" 1930 Texaco sign in decent shape. I asked how much....Guy says $85. Done! I was hooked! smile


DOC @ THE AMERICAN GARAGE
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Me being only 37 I have not seen nothing like most of you guys but I was lucky to have been born on a farm in se mo that by grandfather bought before the great depression where he had a sawmill and farmed also .Next to our farm my great uncle had a rather large salvage yard during the 70's and 80's as a kid I was always in there like kids do , a few years ago he gave me the old gas pump off his farm and that's where my ms 80 mobil special came , always have collected things but that's when I got interest into petrolina, .


I like SINCLAIR and old American made stuff ... No china items.
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What happened to the Harley.... Jack ? LOL
Dave


Dave Jones
It's All Just Stuff
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My wife says I am a hoarder, lol. But she doesn't want to count the number of pairs of shoes she has. I grew up on a small farm north of Kansas City. I remember in the late 50's it seemed like all my uncles had dark green Chevy pickups, beat all to hell. I grew up using old farm machinery and we had old (hand me down) furniture in the house. Always liked the old stuff, not into the brass and glass that my daughter has.
My first buy I can remember was at about age 7. Was at an auction in early May, I bought 2 crystal wine glasses for my Mom for Mother's Day. $ 1.50 for the pair, wiped me out. I have been buying and selling ever since. Have had a few old signs from the farm that I kept, but working with this friend on disposing of his collection has got me hooked in a new area. I am retired so can go out scouting a lot, just got to put them away for a few weeks before the wife sees them.

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Started collecting stuff as a kid in the 60's. Rock, Stickers, Matchbooks(found the rocks and stickers when I cleaned out my parent's home. Mom must have thrown out the matches) Bought a 1970 Buick GS Stage 1 when I turned forty.
Went to an auction to buy a Buick sign. Walked in the auction room and it was filled with signs for sale. I was mesmerized and hooked! Started buying signs, sold the Buick and the rest is history.

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I’m 45 but when I was young, like 9-10, we lived on the edge of town and there was a scrap iron shop close by. I rode my bike to and from school past that thing every day. People used to dump cars outside the gates at night after it was closed for the day and I would always stop and play around in the cars and started collecting the emblems off of them. Maybe a hub cap here and there, etc. Saved quiet a few from the crusher. I think that's where it started for me. My dad collected license plates and gave me his collection so I started collecting those too. Then street signs and then gas-oil and pumps, now just about anything I think is cool, exciting, or different. Jukebox, coke machine, even have an old barber’s chair in my shop. I love the nostalgia of the stuff from days past and the quality of the items and just enjoy having it around.

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Pretty simple story for me... my grandfather passed away and my father & his siblings were in a hurry to clean out his house. No auction or anything of that sort. I had 1 day to get whatever I wanted to keep out of the house. I found lots of handy oilers and noticed many were Cities Service (I had not owned a single collectible petrol item at this point). I then found other Cities Service cans, receipts, pictures, smalls, and then I came across a set of Cities Service coveralls & hard hat.

Questioned my father about it and sure enough my grandfather was a Cities Service employee. Worked at the refinery in Pekin, IL. My goal is to obtain enough artifacts of Cities Service to decorate an entire corner of my garage as a tribute to my grandfather. (which means I will also need to find a vintage manikin so i can display the coveralls and hardhat appropriately smile )

All the other items I buy are merely decoration until they can be used as trade-bait or sold for more Cities stuff.


Wanted: Sweney Oil items - Peoria, IL
Weekly Oil Can Auctions: www.OilCanAuctions.com
Collection & Items for Sale: www.OnceAlwaysPetro.com
Joined: Sep 2012
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In 1989 I was born, so my collecting life is short at the moment.
I am 23 years old and have seen lots of collectables over the short years of my life. My family is collectors and traders. Everything from guns, coins, knives, diamonds, and antiques. If you ask me about any of these, i can tell you.

I have been trading since I was 5, grandpa taught me how to wheel&deal from a young age and we still do it to this day. I am with him everyday for the most part. Every weekend and most weekdays we trade and buy. I remember me buying old Parker Brothers shotguns at the age of 8. I purchased a 20ga Parker DHE and a local show. Most people thought it was grandpa buying it for me but a few knew it was my trading money. Now i have upgraded my collection greatly since then. I have always bought quality over quantity and it has done me well. I have built my collection gained on knowledge from others and my own experiences.

I never got into gas and oil until about a year and a half ago. Purchased a Mobilgas PPP from a local sale and that got me started. Now my Mobil and Sinclair collection builds almost daily with an influx of packages to my door. I can't stop reading up on companies and i have become more knowledgeable in this area of the collecting world. I am no expert in the field of Petroliana but I can tell about a few companies.

I am an unemployed college graduate and I still make ends meet and have time and funds to collect. I am out of debt thanks to the lessons I learned awhile ago on how to make your money work for you. I am a horse-trader and have been for the past 18+ years. If you think because I am young that i am dumb, well try me.


Quart and Liter can relidding and dent removal services.PM for detail and pricing.
Collecting Mobil and other graphic quart cans.
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I was walking home after school past a antique store 25 years ago. My eyes were drawn to a Coke machine in the window. I went inside to ask how old it was and if it worked. It was a complete working Vendo 44, the price $350. Income from my part time job was $90 a month. I purchased the machine with help from my family. It took me 6 months to pay off.
3 years later I purchased a 4 foot Coke button sign for $75.

Boy how prices have changed. The last Vendo 44 machine I sold for $2800 and Coke button $700

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I was 13 (1970) and just had topped off the gas tank in my Rupp Enduro mini bike at the nearby Standard oil station and as I went thru the back lot of the station I noticed this Standard Oil LDO oil sign back there. I went back inside and asked the owner if I could have it and the addiction was on as I carried it 2 blocks home and came back for the minibike. After that the owner of the Pure Oil station on the other corner nearby and I became friends and I got a few of his signs up through my high school years. Then a marriage and starting a business took me other directions but once life settled down to a nice old farm in Wisconsin the signs that had been packed away for years got hung up and the addiction of farm auctions, picking and swap meets came back to life.

It's a addiction of Love and if you stop at any paint store and ask them for a stress free color to paint your walls, they only wish they cold sell you the color of many old signs on a barn wall.....cause it's a calm summer day all year long!!!

The LDO sign has now moved indoors so the weather dosn't take any more toll on it's life but it sure looke good on the barn for all those years to remind me everyday that this is a fun addiction.

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Thanks
Mike

Always Looking for any Pure Oil and Sunoco Items.
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Just want to add, Great thread Jack! Your the best!


Thanks
Mike

Always Looking for any Pure Oil and Sunoco Items.
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