Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Shell Motor Oil sign, Real or fake?

Hi gassers, is this ebay sign real or fake? Item No 350972486751. It looks different to a very similar sign listed and dimensions of sign not the same??

Looked at it in person today when picking up a can and the lettering is raised and feels like sandpaper, almost like rhinoliner. The sign is painted... Weird weird, and he has a lot of fake items from a collection he bought.
I dont like it. Dont feel right.

Dan

Thanks Dan, it doesn't look right to me either. I am not an expert on porcelain signs but I would not think signs of the 1920-30's era would have been painted?? I could be wrong.

Lots of painted signs from that era.
example:


Tin tackers were mostly painted. But i believe these should be porcelain. I dont collect shell but i am sure more people will chime in.
Dan

The sign is double sided, Die Cut and there is red paint under the reflective paint I have seen and held one just like it! To much work for a non Porcelain POP
IMO REAL!

Fake, just look at the transition from yellow to red it's paper thin.

Thanks guys. Are there any Shell 'experts' out there willing to make a comment?

hawkike (Frank) you need too comment!..

I am not an expert but to me I would not bid on it because the grommets look strange and not lined up, I am not sure what it would mount to with grommets in those places unless it was a curb sign, on the last photo the first red line is overlapping the other line and also my larger shell sign has a property of shell stamped on it which I do not see one on this sign. That is my opinion though.

Real sign. Sorry if some haven't seen the sand-reflective finish signs, but they are a well known version used by Shell.

Here is a porcelain version. The holes are in the same spots.

Matt I notice on that one though all the lines are lining up right. Like the red lines toward the outside full touch the edge of the clam but the on on ebay there is a gap between the very outside edge of the clam and the red lines. Also the red lines on the outside that are overlapping. Would there be a reason for this? If it is real does that boil down to quality control?

I think it just might be a different sign maker. The vee shapped red line at the bottom is much thicker also. Or it could be quality control like you said. Here is the ebay sign to compare.

This is interesting discussion, guys. i an no expert but it does look like a painted sign as you can see some yellow coming thru the red with some letters. My guess is that it's provably made around the 1950's by another manufacturer. I know Shell did change the tone of yellow over the years where the 1920-30's had a pale yellow with the later stuff a more mustard looking yellow. Both of these signs look different, especially with the lines at top of clam. One set of lines are shorter than the other which tells me they're made in different era. Still not sure if ebay sign is original. if in doubt, stick to the Property Of Shell signs.

LOL, "Property of" is seen on sooo few original US signs it isn't funny George.

But for those who can't be comfortable with the signs authenticity just don't bid. You're not seeing the guys who usually report fakes turning up and telling us to report it jumping in on this one.