Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums Showcase and Stories, Petroliana COTM November 2013 Cities Service

Not much, Kevin has it all.

these 2 bases and a lubester sign that has been shown.

Awesome stuff everyone...

I don't have a collection that's going to 'wow' anyone, so I am going to step away from the traditional collection photos, and instead share some of the Cities stuff that I found in my grandfather's basement:

He worked for Cities Service, more specifically the distribution center in Pekin, IL. When most think of Cities Service, you think service station, but that was only a small part of the overall operations.

Aerial photo of the Pekin, IL facility & grounds:



Article about the Pekin facility in the 'Empire' Newsletter that was printed for Cities Service employees in the 50s.





Photos that my grandfather took after a tanker caught on fire at the terminal



Sales ledger and retirement plan booklet:

Here are some other items out of the employee newsletter 'Empire' from the same issue as above:

WOW, you guy s have some great stuff!That globe collection is something else.

Great pics. Thanks for posting.

Thanks for hosting another great COTM, Shawn! Lots of great stuff has been shown so far, love the globes the most!

Here are some Cities Service quarts that we have in our collection.

Thanks

Lonnie & Aaron Hop

Thanks to all of you that have posted COTM is only good as long as members are posting. Aaron I had no idea CS had so many oil cans

some of my collection...






Grandfather's coveralls & hard hat (unfortunately only part of the decal remaining)

Any info on " The Blue Club " motor oil?
Time period ? Was it an economy brand?
Thanks

Five Gallon Milwaukee i fixed up over 10 years ago ,after all this time i moved it home from a buddies shop so i can enjoy it.I treid to buy this from a farmer for years. One day he said a cousin that was an antique dealer was coming to give him an offer. I said i would double his offer. It was a gamble ,i was nervous. He said it was just another common gas pump and offered him $200

Blue Club was the cheap non-detergent oil. If you had an old oil burner car etc this was what to use in it. Sold mostly in 2 gallon cans. Lots of guys used it for hydraulic fluid in their machinery. I delivered it mostly to farmers and truckers in 2 gallon can by the case before a good grade of hydraulic fluid came out. That was in the 60s and it was on the market in 70s yet. Don't know when it first appeared,20s/30s I'm thinking or before. A good multi grade oil wasn't on the market until the 60s that was a detergent oil. I have a CS collection and have found only 1 qt Blue Club can in 30yrs.

Thanks--Blue Club for blue smoke!

Does Kevin know of this thread? I was figuring this thread would be 8 pages long with his collection!

He`s holding out on us. It`s sorta like saving the best for last.